Keys to Building Good Working Relationships
Improving Employee Relations
It’s no secret productivity, performance, and teamwork require good working relationships and employee communications. This blog provides a brief summary of key actions that managers can take to help promote or maintain positive labor relations with their workforce.
As experienced labor relations consultants and employee relations consultants, at Hutchison Group we have identified five key factors that are essential for establishing positive working relationships. During our supervisor labor relations training sessions, we talk about each of these factors in more detail, but here are a few key components that every supervisor, manager, or leadership person should understand.
#1 Be Honest
To gain the trust and respect of employees, is essential for supervisors and managers to be honest and do what you say they are going to do (in other words, keeping your word). Whether communicating good news or bad, it is important for supervisors to be direct and straightforward — this improves employee relations. Employees may not always like what they hear but they should always respect the messenger and understand the rationale for a given decision.
#2 Be Clear
Employee communications is an important part of every supervisor’s job. Keeping employees up to date with accurate facts helps to avoid disruptive rumors and misinformation, which can potentially hurt union relations. Also, it is imperative for supervisors to clearly communicate their expectations for performance and hold people accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. Lastly, when asking employees to perform certain tasks or announcing new company initiatives, supervisors need to share or provide a rationale. If an adequate explanation is not provided, employees will be left to guess or make misguided assumptions.
#3 Be Respectful
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Golden Rule).
If supervisors want to be respected, they must first show respect. As we all know respect is essential for a good relationship and lays the foundation for trust — this is something we cover extensively in our supervisor labor relations training. To earn a person’s respect supervisors must act in a consistent and fair manner at all times. During our labor relations training, we share several tips to improve cooperation and teamwork; these include simple things, like saying “good morning,” “please,” “thank you,” etc.
#4 Be Fair
In order to achieve good employee relations, labor relations, and union relations it is essential for supervisors to be perceived as fair and consistent. Perceived favoritism by supervisors can quickly undermine their credibility. Accordingly, supervisors need to make sure their actions and treatment of employees is conducted in an open and equitable manner.
#5 LISTEN
Last but not least, it is essential for managers and supervisors to take time to listen to their employees’ ideas and concerns. Unfortunately, in a busy environment, many supervisors are so busy giving directives they seldom stop to ask employee opinions or solicit their ideas for improvement. Here is a quote that our employee relations consultants have cited over the years:
Leaders who don’t LISTEN will eventually be
surrounded by people who don’t speak
Over the years our HR consultants have found that supervisors who listen are generally more effective and respected by their employees. Also, taking time to listen to employees conveys a strong sense that the company values their employees opinions, ideas, etc. and this in turn leads to better labor relations.
Working Union and Nonunion Workplaces
The guiding principles listed above are applicable in both union and nonunion work environment. If interested, Hutchison Group provides union relations consulting and union avoidance consulting services.
For those companies with a union, is essential that the company continually work to improve or maintain positive union relations. Our union relations consultants work closely with union leaders’ and management to help ensure good working relationships. In addition to improving day-to-day productivity, positive union relations help to successfully negotiate labor agreements, negotiate union contracts, and maintain good labor relations.
For those companies that are nonunion, and interested in union avoidance, maintaining good relationships with employees helps to deter their interest in seeking union representation.
Hutchison Group Can Help improve Labor Relations
The above article was written by Cameron J. Hutchison, President, and Founder of Hutchison Group, Inc. With over 35 years’ experience, the Hutchison Group is a highly regarded HR and Labor Relations Consulting firm focused on all aspects of labor and employee relations; helping union and non-union employers improve productivity, teamwork, and performance. For more information about our company please contact Cameron Hutchison, CEO and Founder, at cameron@hutchgrp.com.