“Role of HR & Union in
Business sustainability”
In my 11 years career I worked with the
MNC as well as Indian companies. I did 3 LTA’s (Long term agreements) with
unions. My seniors used to tell me to work in IR/ER is very difficult as it has
direct dealing with the unions. Of course, if we see unionization and its past movements
in industry, any new entrants in IR role feels scared and think twice before
entering in such role. But Somehow, I feel, to work in IR is most challenging
as well as enjoyable job.
In my view HR/IR team plays vital role in
long
sustainability of any business units. Would like to throw some light on
this topic.
Recently we have signed a long-term
agreement with the union. Union had given their Charter of Demand in May 2019 and discussions started with Management. Both the parties were strong and started
discussions/ negotiations with their own stands. I would say that today’s
unions are more educated as they are having complete understanding of business
functioning, labour laws and they are supported by some external associations/
political parties. In short, I would say to deal with today’s unions is more
challenging than older unions. Of course, union office bearers with whom we
were dealing were quite competent in the leadership as they are well versed
with the business functionality and labour laws knowledge.
Our LTA took around 14 months’ time to settle.
In the LTA negotiation period we worked under tremendous work pressure.
We followed three key principles in throughout negotiation:
Long sustainability of business unit
Patience
Fairness with employees
Long sustainability of business unit:
Problem solving is the essence of what
leaders exist to do. We must be resilient in our quest to create and sustain
momentum for the organization and people we serve. When an organization has its
own comparative protocols, to solve problems and make sound decisions, nobody
can coerce for unrealistic expectations.
It’s difficult to sustain growth when you operate in an environment where people are constantly being overly reactive, rather than proactive.
Hence, I certainly utter, all employed personnel
must think about organizations long sustainability factor first. Because, if
organization sustains then only our employment exists. In India, lot many
business units and start-ups got closed because of labour union matters. I
personally not against of unionization. Nonetheless I have seen how the unions
are coercing management for their unrealistic demands. In Ranjangaon MIDC only
I have seen two industries closure due to union matters. Few union members try
to do push their agendas in factories only because of they want to be in in
leadership position. Very few unions are coming upfront saying let’s discuss
on productivity improvements of the organization. Perhaps there could be some
unions those are following this principle.
I would say, if we wanted to sustain
and secure long-term employment, all workmen unions must play a role of
business partners through taking ownership and initiative on development of operational
efficiency with their ideas on productivity improvements, scrap reduction,
improvements in MTTR and MTBF, and most important is optimum utilization of
manpower etc. and focus on how we can make our unit more competitive and
best in class.
I am sure unions are having these competences
and if they adopt such mindset, business units where such a proactive union
exists, will keep growing year on year with growth of employees too.
In nutshell if any business
organization wants to sustain long time let’s say 50 years or 100 years and
more, need to focus on Operational efficiency & cost control with the focus
on variable cost which could be controlled by employees itself & fixed cost
must be maintained and controlled by both union and management team, for
example salaries, insurance, interest expenses, and
potentially some utilities.
Patience
It's one of great learning I took from
my Manager. If we have to come to a common understanding, we must be patient
while dealing with unions. Most of the time unions are coming with lot of
aggressions to HR team with their agendas of long-term agreements. It's our
responsibility to listen them, understand the reality, genuineness and
intention of the office bearers as well as workman.
It is possible, only if we know exact expectations of down the line employees who are working on shop floor. For this you must be closely connected with employees. Understanding their expectations and realistic demands. Whenever employees come to management we should be able to answer them why their expectations are not realistic, how they can get good amount of salary rise by helping management in improving work efficiency.
There are numerous benefits of Patience
makes you healthier:
Anger and stress are two things that
are enough to collapse a person's health. Patience is a very important tool in
overcoming frustration. I believe, Patience allows us to suspend judgment long
enough to make informed decisions, thus paving the path to a happy and peaceful
life.
When you're patient, you give up the
struggle. You relax and enjoy your job which creates confidence, decisiveness,
and a thoughtful outlook on our goal. I would say Patience leads to wisdom and
success.
Of Course, if you are having good
patience, you can enjoy better mental health, you will enjoy your tough times
and achieves ultimate objectives.
In short in any negotiation patience
itself is an action for better conclusions.
Fairness
with employees:
This is the moral principle which we kept in our mind while doing long term agreement or dealing with workman’s interest with the union. Being HR professional, it is our first and foremost duty to have fairness while dealing with employees. Of course, we must keep in mind that our employees are our asset. Accordingly, we should deal with them as a family member and ensure fair treatment should be given to all in terms of dignity of their job, fair wages considering their basic needs, and role responsibilities he/she is managing. Even though we faced few pressure tactics used by union to push us for accept their demands, still our Leadership team never let us trouble the union… We team HR had lot of counselling and one to one interaction with office bearers and made the union realized how their demands are unrealistic. Accordingly, we got success and finalized our long-term agreement with union, by giving them fair wages rise and increase in facilities too.
Now the question is that have we
satisfied the all the workman?
If I step into workmen’s shoes, I would
say no… Why? Union and workmen are always thinking that how much we have got in
comparison with the other industries and they keep comparing with each other
and only this is the reason they are not satisfy.
Now I would also put some views from
management side. Here being management representative I would say employees
must be happy because, being ethical company, we tried to settle the agreement
with considering the long sustainability of the unit as well as long employment
of the employees. It doesn’t mean we have paid less amount to the workmen to
settle the LTA. We have paid good wage rise which is realistic considering
their basic needs and dearness in the market.
In summary, I would say Our role as HR
leaders is ultimately to help the business perform. Everything you do should be
focused on driving high performance in your company, and your employees should
be aligned to get outcomes that the business wants to achieve. Ultimately this
would result into growth of employees too.
To do this successfully, you need a seat at the table and plan actions accordingly.
In my experience working in HR for the past 11 years, I’ve seen too many people
waiting to be invited in, it may be blue collar or white collar. The role of HR
is to build winning teams, and a passion to drive performance is vital.
Our credibility with employees is key trust factor. To become a true business partner, the relationship between “HR - Union/Employees - business leaders” must be high trust, which will help all stakeholders to be effective and have long sustainability of business and employee’s growth.
