Part 2 of 2 in NLRA’s Union Avoidance Series
There are four things that must be in every business owner’s union avoidance toolbox. Companies should monitor these on a regular basis to avoid having their business taken over by a union. A consistent focus on these four elements will position the business to prevent most attempts to unionize and beat any attempts that are undertaken.
Changes
Let’s face it, no one, and I mean no one, likes changes. Humans are creatures of habit. One of the reasons addictions are so difficult to break is because they are habits, and no one likes to change from their routines.
Now obviously business is an endeavor where change is necessary, or the business will not prosper (the same could probably be said about people). The key is all in how change is implemented. I’m not suggesting a twelve-step program for every change that a dynamic business must implement. I am suggesting that employees will respond to change in a more positive way when they know the why of a change before it is forced upon them.
“Employees have a high tolerance for change if kept in the loop.” – Tonya Slawinski, PhD – University of Pittsburgh
At a bare minimum, this alleviates feelings that company leadership acts arbitrarily and simply changes things to be changing them. These are the feelings that can send employees searching for a third party, like a union, to bring what they view as common sense to the process. Of course, those who know realize that a union will do nothing but create more chaos in the employee-employer relationship, but a good fact never gets in the way of a strong emotional reaction.
Communication
Employee surveys regularly place communication at the top of the list of items employee complaints. This statistic spans all fields and types of businesses. This is not about to become a sermon about how bad businesses are at communicating to their employees. It is important to note that there are three main types of communication in any business:
- Company to employees
- Employees to Company
- And employees to each other and others (clients, potential employees, competitors
I want to point out that each of the parties listed above is responsible for their own communication deficiencies, However, as with all problems that arise in the business, Company leadership must take the lead in improving the communication to and from all parties. The stakes are simply too high to rely on your employees to recognize or fix their own communication issues.
In nearly fifty years of labor relations and union avoidance experience, NLRA’s advocates cite as the number one reason employees claim to seek out a union is that management doesn’t listen to their needs or complaints. Our investigations often discover that employees often don’t ever express those needs or complaints, but somehow magically expect management to know. This “you should have known” standard seems unreasonable – but really, it is not. The health of your business is your responsibility. Yes, you employ adults, often highly educated and experienced adults, and yes, they should speak up. They don’t. You can stand your ground and blame them for not letting you know – as they cast their votes for a union that promised to fix their every ill. How would that work out for the business?
Communication must always be a focus. The company must accept that responsibility to truly have the best shot at union avoidance.
Curators
The curators of your business have many faces and titles. Owner, CEO, COO, President, Vice-President, General Manager, Manager, Supervisor, Foreman, Team lead, and so many more positions in businesses are tasked with ensuring the success of the company. Each of these have different levels and areas of responsibility. Each of them has various task-oriented duties, but all of them possess the overriding directive of business success.
Importance of Curators to Union Avoidance
Less obvious is the role that each play in employee satisfaction. Make no mistake, no matter how effective any number of your curators are at nurturing employee contentment, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the barrel. The number two reason, and often the cause of the number one reason cited above, that employees seek out a union to assist them is a bad boss. A boss that
- doesn’t communicate,
- shows little or no concern for employee needs,
- ignores employee complaints (or worse dismisses them as invalid),
- practices favoritism and other types of unfair treatment, or
- is just a jerk.
Bad Curators Must Go
These leaders are a cancer to your company and once discovered they must be removed. I have a client who is the CEO of a global national company. His is the largest corporation in the world that performs the services it offers, and he has been the CEO for an unheard of thirty years. I have conducted several successful union election campaigns for this company. The CEO calls me, sends me in for a few days, and then arrives on-site a few days into the campaign. The very first question he always asks me is “which manager do I need to fire?” I have had a name for him every time. See, you don’t become the CEO of the largest global national corporation in your business and stay in that position for thirty years without knowing instinctively how to care for your employees. He knew that, regardless of the issues uncovered – communication, disrespect, unfair treatment, etc. – that the blame for the lack of awareness and failure to address the issues fell upon one of his curators. It was this CEO that first used the term “curator” when referring to his leaders. I asked him why, and he just chuckled and said look up the word and you’ll know. Here’s what the Oxford Dictionary says: “A keeper or custodian of a museum or other collection.” That’s when I made the connection. Museums collect and contain items of great value and artifacts of great importance. Business leaders are properly called curators because you people, your clientele, your processes, indeed your entire business is of great value and importance. Make sure your “curators” are caring for those resources, not just from a union avoidance standpoint, but because it is in the company’s best interest.
Comprehensive Plan
Amid the customer acquisition, customer relations, supply ordering, hiring, firing, publicity, marketing, sales, call, and oh yeah, the actual work you do as a business – you must have a plan in place for union avoidance. This fourth “C” is the recipe to deal with the other three. However, instead of coming up with yet another task to add to that list just mentioned, this comprehensive plan should really be a change in the way you do all your tasks. Change your routine to include a filter through which all your business decisions, from the minor to the most major, must pass. Ask the three “Cs” each time. It will be a little cumbersome at first, but it will become second nature after a short time.
How does this look? Let’s take the first thing in the list above – customer acquisition. You have a great new idea on how to attract and grab more customers. Let’s walk through that one step at a time.
Is this a change?
Is this a change? The answer is less important than your awareness of that answer. If it is not a material change – no worries. If it is a change, you must be aware of the discussion above. People despise change, not because it is inherently flawed, but because change is uncomfortable. Once you are aware of this you can take steps to alleviate that discomfort as much as possible.
How will I communicate this new idea?
As discussed above, this most complained of business process must be a focus. This also ties in nicely to the first “C”. How you communicate the new idea will greatly impact how the idea is perceived. Note that the judgment standard here is not whether the idea is good or bad or somewhere in between. The standard is how do your employees perceive the idea. Be careful not to make a common mistake for which nearly all organizations share guilt – cheerleading. Cheerleading is not a communication strategy. Employees will not perceive an idea as good, valid, or workable just because it is introduced with a ton of fanfare. This isn’t to say that you should not communicate this idea with enthusiasm, just make sure there is some meat on those bones. Explain all the typical questions as thoroughly as you can – what, when, who, how, and most importantly why.
Hold the curators accountable
Remember that the curators run the gambit from lowest level of supervisor to the very top. Effective union avoidance requires that all must be on the right page. All must have complete buy-in. Most importantly, they all must take complete responsibility for the implementation of the new idea with the employees. They must be supportive, support the company mission, and must be quick to report relevant feedback from the staff.
If this sounds like a very mechanical way to make sure they demonstrate that they care – it is. Your curators must care. If they do not, you should divest yourself of their services. We have all seen examples in our everyday lives of “curators” of various types who simply do not care about that which they are tasked with curating. Those terribly depressing ASPCA commercials with abused or neglected animals to the child who cannot seem to keep their room clean are examples. Curators who do not care will neglect your employees and your business will be a mess as a result.
Conclusion – What is Union Avoidance
Union avoidance at its most basic level is simply good employee relations. Happy employees are productive employees. Productive employees are profit makers. If you missed part 1 in this series click here.
“Take care of your employees and they’ll take care of your business.” – Sir Richard Branson
Need help?
If you find that your labor relations have gotten a little off track, or if you find yourself under attack by a union, reach out to NLRA today. We will listen carefully, evaluate your situation, and discuss solutions. Click here to schedule a free consultation.