01 Dec SA employers urged to implement employee-centric strategies to minimise strike action conflict
December 2012: “A climate tolerant of violence, bloodshed and ungovernable behaviour has been created by strikes in the mining, transport and, more recently, agriculture sectors. Tactics such as intimidation and violence have been widely used with little consequence to perpetrators. With minimal responsible behaviour demonstrated by leaders, opportunists are capitalising on the situation which will have devastating consequences for the South African economy,” says Chris Jacobs, conflict resolution expert at OIM International, one of South Africa’s leading business consultancy firms.
Jacobs warns that the continual violent nature of South Africa’s strike climate will leave many companies with no option but to start retrenching workers and/or mechanising operations in an effort to cut costs. This will reinforce the low employment rate, creating more economic hardship and perpetuate this vicious cycle of poverty.
“Many companies have HR strategies in place that deal with elements such as recruitment and selection, employee satisfaction and retention, but few focus on a long-term strategy to manage a stable, productive and engaged workforce. The implementation of a comprehensive employee relations (ER) strategy is therefore essential in addressing the post-strike environment and to proactively guard against similar action in future,” he explains.
Such an ER strategy must include three main elements: creating the right corporate culture and working environment, engaging and communicating with all stakeholders, and educating the workforce with the aim of fostering holistic understanding and equipping team leaders.
“If all these elements are properly implemented, and continuously maintained, this will result in a ‘prosperity partnership’. This inclusive concept ensures that everyone has a vested interest in the company’s success and each person’s day-to-day workplace actions are governed by this notion.”
Creating the right corporate culture and climate
Jacobs explains that the first step in creating an ER strategy is to ensure a fair workplace environment.
“Companies have to ensure a just and equitable workplace environment, which includes having policies, practices and procedures in place that are legally correct and suited to the company’s culture. This can include disciplinary codes and employment equity practices, and must be consistently applied to create the right climate and culture in the workplace.
“It is also essential that leaders, managers and supervisors be properly trained and equipped to contribute to a positive, productive and stable workplace. Staff needs to understand where the company is heading in terms of vision and strategy, and they must know how this translates into goals and targets that apply to them,” Jacob argues.
Communicating and engaging with the workforce
Management must actively take up the role of primary communicator and establish formal and operational channels to engage staff. Jacobs argues that staff who are informed and engaged tend to take more ownership of their work, making it harder for intimidation to take place, or false information to fester.
“The recent strikes in the mining sector again showed the strategic mistake of abdicating management’s communication responsibility and allowing bodies such as unions to be the primary spokesperson.
“Open and honest communication directly with the workforce, rather than relying on unions, will allow correct and consistent messages to be communicated. It will also avoid the problem of not reaching staff with information in cases where staff members are dissatisfied with, or reject union leaders, and thus also their messages.”
He argues that although management should use more ‘traditional’ communication channels such as roadshows, newsletters, information campaigns and the company’s intranet to regularly communicate with staff, engaging the workforce goes far beyond this.
“Appointed leaders, that is, leaders that are appointed by the company, need to regularly engage their teams in formalised, operational structures on issues that concern them. This includes discussing the company strategy and organisational values, analysing team goals and targets, participating in collective risk identification and problem solving, sharing and debating company information, as well as focusing on relevant strategic and learning topics,” Jacob explains.
He says that another way to engage staff is to set up Prosperity Partnership forums that serve the interest of all stakeholders (such as employers and employees) to address both organisational and operational aspects pro-actively. Such structures need to give employees from all interest groups insight into the functioning of the organisation and provide them with an opportunity to make inputs into the future of the organisation.
Educating and equipping the workforce
Jacobs says that educating employees at all levels is an important factor in ensuring a balanced, stable workforce.
“The aim is to foster holistic business understanding among the general workforce,” Jacob explains. This can include training on global, political and economic realities, labour rights and responsibilities, sector-specific developments, new legislation, productivity and people management.
“As vital cogs in ensuring labour stability, employees will have a greater frame of reference and begin to understand the impact of their role on the success of the business. When people understand that their personal prosperity is linked to the success of the business, they will take greater ownership, participate more actively and become more productive. This will have a knock-on effect on the prosperity of their community.”
Jacobs argues that although stability is important, value creation and the fair distribution thereof will truly propel our society forward. He says that companies should invest in their workforce’s communities, by building social and economic infrastructures to uplift these areas.
“Lastly, employee relations practitioners, shop stewards and leaders in general need to be up-skilled in industrial relations and conflict resolution through interactive workshops. This will equip them to interpret trends and to identify, understand and deal with conflict situations before they happen,” concludes Jacobs.