How can employee representatives make a difference?
How can we make a difference? This is the question I’m asked most often when training employee representatives – and it’s a good question. Reps want to know how to structure their efforts to tackle the most important issues, make a real impact, and ensure their work is meaningful.
No one wants a role that has no purpose and no tangible outcomes. That’s soul destroying and a sure-fire way to get your representatives to step down early, leading to an endless conveyor belt of new staff reps who quickly become dissatisfied and step down.
The importance of communication skills
At the start of every session, when I ask what people’s concerns are, the general theme that comes through is around communication:
- How can I communicate difficult issues to the business, but not get penalised for being the one who raises them?
- How can I get staff to share their ideas more?
- How can we set up the agenda for meetings so it feels more of a partnership approach rather than us being seen as mere company ‘stooges’?
- How can we convey ‘bad’ news back to those we represent without people losing faith in what we do and the process?
- How can I present my ideas positively in the formal forum meetings?
- How can I make sure I’m taken seriously and push back if the business isn’t taking our role seriously?
My advice is always to think about what will make an impact and a difference to people’s working environments. I encourage representatives not to get sidetracked.
Given the limited time available at most representative meetings, what would staff most like their forum to focus on?
- What fruit is in the canteen or regular communication?
- Maintenance of toilets or honest communication?
- Parking arrangements or being reassured that what you say has been genuinely heard and understood?
The fact is, most people just want to be respected at work, to feel they have value and are heard. Good communication is critical in achieving this. If people feel respected the fruit, the toilets and the car parking just won’t become such big issues (most of the time) as everyone understands the bigger picture, while also taking responsibility for working together to resolve the little things that make the workplace function well. No toilet will ever get fixed if 20 people see the problem but decide it’s not their job to let the right person know it’s blocked. Disengaged people disengage from even the little things that could in fact make their own working environments better, including supporting their own representative by putting forward suggestions and ideas.
Creating a culture that is respectful will engage people and take you down the path towards accountability and responsibility across the organisation. And respect starts with effective communication… upwards, downwards, sideways, and every other which way you look! The Representatives who understand this can have a huge impact.
If improving communication and communication skills becomes your key focus, representatives may just find their role takes on a whole new meaning.
Addressing communication issues to build respect
Communication skills take many forms and many of us are lacking in many of them:
- We might listen but not hear.
- We might speak but not be clear in what we’re saying.
- We might think we’re open to feedback, but we react to feedback with defensiveness and hostility.
- We might think we communicate when there is something to say, while everyone around us assumes our silence is bad news.
- We might say one thing, while our body language is saying something entirely different resulting in people not finding us authentic or honest.
We could probably all benefit from learning how to increase our emotional intelligence, our ability to influence, or our confidence when we present ideas to others. Communication can and should be a work in progress for most of us, across most of our careers. My challenge to representatives is how to take some of these ideas so they have something to work with, something to work on.
I genuinely believe that if employee representative forums spend more time on understanding and tackling poor communication behaviours that lead to people not feeling respected, then all representatives in their organisation will feel that the role they have is more meaningful, more likely to deliver change for their colleagues, and a more valuable use of their time.
Whatever you do, don’t find all you’re doing is sucking on lemons because you prioritised the fruit offering in the canteen!
Communication skills self-assessment
Always here to help with a few ideas though, so here’s a quick self-assessment about communication skills generally with a focus on what is required to build respect.
This self-assessment has been designed for chairs of employee representative committees and/or employee representatives themselves to complete as a group. If that’s not you, please feel free to share this article.
These questions have been ‘stolen’ from our article on assessing management and leadership skills – with a few tweaks to make them relevant here, of course! If you’d like the full assessment, keep an eye out for our next HR Blast. Sign up here.
Select the tab below to see the assessment, as you read through think about if you agree or disagree with each statement.
Oral/verbal communication skills
- Representatives all speak clearly and concisely and people find it easy to understand what we are saying or asking or expecting of them.
- The company and its HR team all speak clearly and concisely and people find it easy to understand what they are saying or asking or expecting of them.
Public speaking
- Within the representative group we have sufficient confident public speakers and we’re confident too in developing good materials for presentations.
- The organisation and its HR team all speak confidently in meetings and publicly and produce strong easy to follow materials that are used in their communications.
Formal communications
- Representatives are confident to speak or write formally as required (eg reports), having good attention to spelling, grammar and format/design.
- The formal communications from the organisation are written well too. Easy to read and accessible to all.
Written communications
- Within the representative group we have sufficient reps who are confident when communicating in writing and we are known for the clarity of our communications. The representatives understand the courtesies of emailing and messaging and understand how to avoid being misunderstood
- The organisation and its HR team are confident when communicating in writing. Communications are timely, clear, and respectful and never open to misinterpretation.
Open and honest communications
- The representatives strive to be as transparent and open as they can be to ensure people feel included and heard at work
- The organisation and its HR team strive to be as transparent and open as they can be to build respect and ensure people feel included and genuinely heard at work.
Regular communications
- Staff know that the representatives communicate regularly and keep people in the loop. People do not say they have been kept them in the dark about issues of importance or failed to communicate when required.
- The organisation and its HR team communicate regularly and keep people in the loop. People do not say they have been kept in the dark about issues of importance or failed to communicate when required.
Self presentation
- Representatives have strong self presentation skills such as in meetings or when talking to colleagues in their role of representative. This includes non verbal behaviours, that ensure they are taken seriously and listened to as needed.
- The organisation and its HR team have strong self presentation skills such as in meetings or when talking to staff. This includes non verbal behaviours that ensure their messaging is consistent and clearly demonstrates good emotional intelligence.
Technology supporting communication
- Representatives have a good grasp of a wide selection of current technology available for communicating and use technology to effectively support their communications.
- The organisation and its HR team have a good grasp of a wide selection of current technology available for communicating and use technology to effectively support their communications.
Consistency and reputation
- Representatives are known for the consistency of their communications, their colleagues know they can rely on them to communicate and to communicate on what is important.
- The organisation and its HR team have built up a reputation for being consistent in their communication both in when they communicate, what they communicate and how they communicate. Employer communications are trusted.
How did you do when self assessing? Any ideas come to the fore in terms of where you might focus your energies? Remember that we can learn the most just from being aware of the good role models around us.
If you asked those you represent what aspect of communication would they want you to focus on first?
Always here for training and support, please do ask otherwise we wish you success on your journeys!
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Disclaimer: The information contained within this article is for general guidance only and represents our understanding of employment and associated law and employee relations issues as at the date of publication. Jaluch Limited, or any of its directors or employees, cannot be held responsible for any action or inaction taken in reliance upon the contents. Specific advice should be sought on all individual matters.
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