Post on 21-Jun-2020
Employee and Labor Relations Academy
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS THAT WORK(S)!MARCH 2, 2017
FACILITATED BY:
ANITA D. TINNEY, ESQ.
ADTINNEY@ELRAACADEMY.ORG
215-600-5090 PH
3/2/2017
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yright © 2017 Em
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Anita D. Tinney, Esq.
The Employee and Labor Relations Academy is a consulting firm focused on training and best practices in Employee Relations, Labor Relations, HR Compliance, Workplace Investigations, Preventative and Proactive Labor Relations and Organized Labor.
Anita became Principal Consultant at ELRA after twenty-two years in the private sector as an internal consultant in HR, Operations and Employee and Labor Relations. She has had a very successful career in ER/LR at some of the largest Fortune 100 Companies in the world, including Merck & Co., Inc., Johnson & Johnson World Headquarters, Comcast Cable and AmerisourceBergen Corporation. She has extensive experience in all facets of Employee and Labor Relations in both U.S and Global ER/LR.
Anita holds an Employment and Labor Law degree from Temple University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Hampton University. She is Six Sigma certified, a certified Mediator and EEO Investigator, a certified Corporate Trainer, and member of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
Contact Information: adtinney@elraacademy.org or 215-600-5090
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3/2/2017
Defining the Terms and Language
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HR C
ompl
ianc
e Those activities necessary to ensure the organization is in compliance with Company policy and employment laws
e.g. Compliance posters, harassment training, OFCCP audits, AAP planning, FLSA audits, policy management
Wor
kpla
ce C
onfli
ct Those activities by People Managers and/or HR professionals to properly manage conflict (or potential) in the workplace and to ensure a harmonious working environment
e.g. Conflict resolution, workplace investigations, performance improvement and corrective action, building employee relations capabilities
Prev
enta
tive
Labo
r Rel
atio
ns Those activities by People Managers and/or HR professionals to maintain a workplace free from unionization.
e.g. Labor Risk Assessment, Straw Polling, Preventative Labor Training, Managing Labor Disruptions, Managing Labor Campaigns
Labo
r Rel
atio
ns Those activities by People Managers and/or HR Professionals to properly manage the Company-Union relationship of a workplace that is already part of an organized labor union
e.g. Contract Negotiations and Management, Grievance and Arbitration Management, Decertification procedures
Engagement and Diversity and Inclusion (activities designed to ensure each employee can maximize their individual potential
When I Say Employee Relations Today, I mean …
Building an Effective Employee Relations System
Strategize
Build the Team
Align the Policy Portfolio
Track and Measure
Engage and Institutionalize
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The Impact of HR Transformation on ER/LROrganizational Alignment
Strategic HR Business
Partners
Centers of
ExpertiseHRSC
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The ER Wo(Man)
Goal Planning Upside Down
List of all activity you have been asked or think you need to do
Prioritized by who screams the loudest or has the most resources
Executed based on the available talent
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2016 Goals
Strategic Planning Right Side Up
Vision: What are we playing for?
Mission: What outcomes do we expect?
Strategic Objectives: How will we impact the outcomes?
Assessment: Where are We Today Against these Objectives?
Goal Planning: What Activity will we do next year to close the gap?
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Inspirational/Motivational
Not This:Using best practices in Employment, manage and resolve employee
conflict to create harmonious working
environments.
Something Like This: Create and maintain a highly engaged and
inclusive work environment where our employees, individually and collectively, have the best opportunity to
maximize their potential to optimize business
results.
Strategic Planning Right Side Up
Vision: What are we playing for?
Mission: What outcomes do we expect?
Strategic Objectives: How will we impact the outcomes?
Assessment: Where are We Today Against these Objectives?
Goal Planning: What Activity will we do next year to close the gap?
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The Vision Personified: What Outcomes Look Like!
OUR Vision
Create and maintain a highly engaged and
inclusive work environment where our employees,
individually and collectively, have the best opportunity to maximize
their potential to optimize business results.
Sample Mission Statement – What Outcomes Do We Expect?
Something Like ThisThrough expert guidance and execution, create and maintain a highly engaged and inclusive work environment where:
Employees are treated fairly and consistently in all aspects of employment
We preserve the Company’s reputation internally and externally and mitigate unnecessary employment risk
Employment Issues are resolved compliantly and effectively, at the lowest level possible
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The mission is the vision personified in the workplace – what would the vision feel like?
NOT THIS: MISSIONS ARE NOT METRICS Increase Employee Survey Results by 20 % YOY
from 2016-2018
Employee complaints are decreased by 60% by the end of 2017.
Reduce the number of employee lawsuits by 50% in 2016.
Employees customer satisfaction with ER/LR services is above 80%
Metrics are indicators as health and progress
Metrics as goals can generate bad behavior
Strategic Planning Right Side Up
Vision: What are we playing for?
Mission (Outcomes): Employees are treated fairly and
consistently in all aspects of employment
Strategic Objectives (Impact): Develop and implement harmonized employment policies,
tools, practices and systems.
Assessment: Where are We Today Against these Objectives?
Goal Planning: What Activity will we do next year to close the gap?
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How will we impact the outcomes?
OUR Vision
Create and maintain a highly engaged and
inclusive work environment where our employees,
individually and collectively, have the best opportunity to maximize
their potential to optimize business results.
Strategic Planning Right Side Up
Vision: What are we playing for?
Mission (Outcomes): Employees are treated fairly and
consistently in all aspects of employment
Strategic Objectives (Impact): Develop and implement harmonized employment policies,
tools, practices and systems.
Assessment (Metrics): % harmonized policies/tools; claims of favoritism, SC questions on interpretation, complaints
about job posting/movement
Goal Planning: What Activity will we do next year to close the gap?
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Where We Today using Metrics Here as Indicators!
OUR Vision
Create and maintain a highly engaged and
inclusive work environment where our employees,
individually and collectively, have the best opportunity to maximize
their potential to optimize business results.
Strategic Planning Right Side Up
Vision: What are we playing for?
Mission (Outcomes): Employees are treated fairly and
consistently in all aspects of employment
Strategic Objectives (Impact): Develop and implement harmonized employment policies,
tools, practices and systems.
Assessment (Metrics): % harmonized policies/tools; claims of favoritism, SC questions on interpretation, complaints
about job posting/movement
Goal Planning (Activity): Create a harmonized job posting policy across the enterprise.
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The Smart Goal!
OUR Vision
Create and maintain a highly engaged and
inclusive work environment where our employees, individually and collectively, have the best opportunity to
maximize their potential to optimize business
results.
Building an Effective Employee Relations System
Strategize
Build the Team
Align the Policy Portfolio
Track and Measure
Engage and Institutionalize
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Employee Relations Team Considerations
Ratios• How many Employee Relations Professionals Do You Need?
Profile• Who makes the best Employee Relations Employees?
Location and Assignment• Where/How should Employee Relations Professionals be located to optimize their effectiveness?
Skills• How to assess Employee Relations Professionals skill level and build individual development plans•
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THE FORMULA
General HR Ratio at
your Company
Account for Your Scope
Account for Your
Skill
Account for Your Culture
Number of ER on Your
Team
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Closing the Ratio Gap
Organizational Risk
Close the Gap Strategy Financial Cost
Hire more Employee Relations professionals!Increase the skill level of the existing staff through training and/or experiencesNarrow Your ER/LR Scope of Services (eliminate services)Outsource some of your ER/LR Scope of Services (shift services)Streamline Your Non-Harmonized ProcessesIncrease ER ownership across stakeholders and release low level workIncrease Risk Tolerance
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What if you don’t have what you need?
What Type of Background Should My Team Have?
Lawyer+ can see and appreciate the risks
+ can develop solution strategies
-- may be too conservative
-- may miss the big organizational picture
HR Professional+ can align with business needs
+ can connect ER/LR to larger HR strategy and processes
-- may lack analytical aptitude
-- may dismiss risks to make the business happy
Operations Leader+ can connect from experience
+ can balance employment with business risk
-- may lack HR technical aptitude
-- may oversimplify the complexity of the ER/LR profession
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What about Law Enforcement Professionals?
What Key Characteristics Should Everyone On Your Team Possess?
The Art: The ability to:… influence, train and coach… quickly engender trust and credibility… see and hear what is not being said… be intellectually curious… manage their own emotions and stress… deal with difficult subjects and people and de-escalate matters… simultaneously manage multiple issues… manage employee advocacy with objectivity
The Science: The ability to… identify employment and labor risk… analyze facts and data and draw reasonable conclusions… find the root connection of ER/LR to D&I and Engagement… engage in both objective and persuasive writing… read, understand and apply employment, labor law and policy… create technically sound, productive solutions
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Should Your ER/LR Team be Virtual?
Maintain objectivity (actual and appearance)Larger recruiting poolForces more best practices and harmonization tools, systemsIncrease Job SatisfactionIncrease Retention
Focus and Disciplined Work EthicPotential Disconnection from realities of businessOversight and managementHigher skill levelHarder for LR support
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How Should ER/LR Professionals be Aligned?
Alignment Considerations
Example Pros Cons
Aligning the work by skill and background or subject area
Breaking down ER into sub-specialties: Higher skilled ER doing EEOC charges; lower skill doing PIPs/CAPs; some do labor only
Higher quality output; job satisfaction and retention
Lose development opportunities through stretch assignments; total resource count goes up; can’t cover for each other
Aligning the work geographically
ER professional per geographic area of the country; ER for West, ER for NE, etc.
Consistency and familiarity with client areas / business partners; broader skill background
Can’t cover for each other; potentially lower quality output
Aligning the work by businessclient
ER professional assigned to a business client: ER for sales, ER for operations, etc.
Stronger client support and alignment with business goals
Perceived lack of objectivity
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Building an Effective Employee Relations System
Strategize
Build the Team
Align the Policy Portfolio
Track and Measure
Engage and Institutionalize
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Policy Management Protocol
Compliant
Updated
OwnedSimple
Transparent
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If Employees can’t see it, it isn’t a policy. Train
managers on interpretation
Regular cadence, acknowledgement
In Compliance with Fed, State and Local. Include
“lead to”
1) Portfolio Mgmt 2) Subject Matter Expertise 3) Local
Business
Simple words, not contracts, no fine print
Policy Content Principles: The Big Five
Good Policy
ContentProcessRelevantPermissive
Standard-ization
For the Many
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Do not makePolicies for the 1% unless required by Law.
Standardize Smartly and only when you need it
Tell employees what they can do vs. what they can’t
Always leave discretion
*Example
Scenario #3: Permissive
Unpaid Personal Leave PolicyNOT: “Employees may receive an unpaid personal leave for no more than 30 days each calendar year. This time cannot be approved until the employee has exhausted all of their allotted PTO time.”
BUT: “The Company recognizes that employees may have personal needs that require attention away from work beyond the allotted PTO time. After PTO has exhausted, the employee is allowed an additional unpaid person leave for up to 30 days each calendar year.”
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Policy Content Principles: The Big Five
Good Policy
ContentProcess
Relevant and
NecessaryPermissive
Standard-ization
For the Many
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Do not makePolicies for the 1% unless required by Law.
Standardize Smartly and only when you need it
Tell employees what they can do vs. what they can’t
Always leave discretion
*Example
Beware of solutions looking for problems you don’t have.
Process should enable, not drive policy.
1st let the policy create the experience, then build a policy to support it.
Unambiguous, enables consistent interpretation, does not force the same answer
Building an Effective Employee Relations System
Strategize
Build the Team
Align the Policy Portfolio
Track and Measure
Engage and Institutionalize
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Case Management System
Who?
Intake Process
Practices
Documentation
Escalation
Tracking /Retention
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Management System
What is a case and who manages them? EXAMPLE
Managing Cases … Who Does It?
Smart Management with Consultation Intervention Investigation
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Trained HR investigator conducts the investigation
Employees and Managers with or without the assistance from HR.
HR conducts an intervention or mediation or coaches parties through the conflict to facilitate resolution.
Case Management System
Who?
Intake Process
Practices
Documentation
Escalation
Tracking /Retention
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What is a case and who manages them? EXAMPLE
Articulate a specific way issues get into the case management
system
Articulate employer and employee rights
Some standardization here
Have a place for it to go!
Invest in a Case Tracking System
Employee Relations Metrics: 3-Part Approach
Employee Relations Culture
How HEALTHY is the environment?
Ex: Surveys, Manager Performance, EE Productivity
Employee Relations Process Excellence
How are ER matters handled through our process?
Ex: Case Volume and Efficiency, Escalations
Risk MitigationKeeping an eye on Systemic ER
Issues
Ex: Emerging Issues; Class Action issues like FLSA, Labor Risk
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Employee Relations Dashboards and Metrics
Building an Effective Employee Relations System
Strategize
Build the Team
Align the Policy Portfolio
Track and Measure
Engage and Institutionalize
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Background of Employee Engagement
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What is It? What Does It Look Like?
Why Do It? How to Measure It?
How to Realize It?
*When companies focus on measuring engagement rather than on improving it, they often fail to make necessary changes that will engage employees.
Investment v. Impact
Workforce At-LargeThe 5C’s
Targeted High
Impact Execution
High Engagement
Workforce
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75% of the investment;25% of the results
25% of the investment75% of the results
Engaging the Workforce At-LargeC
ultu
re How do I feel about the work environment in which I work?
Do I feel included as part of my environment? C
onne
ctio
n Do I know what is going on in my company, my department, my work?
And, do I understand how my work brings the Company value
Con
sider
atio
n Do I feel rewarded and appreciated for my contribution?
Do I have a voice in the things that matter to me in the work environment?
Car
eer Do I have career
options, even if unrealized?
Can a person like me advance here?
Cyc
le Consider the natural engagement cycle based on tenure.
What stage of my employment experience am I in?
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Cycle
• High level engagement
• Happy to have a new job!
• Window of tolerance is open
0-2 Years
• The honeymoon is over!
• Too much red-tape
• I didn’t get promoted yet
• Grass not greener
3-5 Years • Contentment• Acceptance• Established social
circles• Feeling of security
6-10 Years
• The good outweighs the bad!
• Vested in career and company
11+ Years
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Front Line Managers are the Key
Sr. Leadership
Frontline Sups and Managers
Non-Management Employees
Traditional Engagement Plan
lifts from the bottom
Workforce At-LargeThe 5C’s
Targeted High
Impact Execution
High Engagement
Workforce
Workforce At-LargeThe 5C’s
25%
Targeted High Impact
Execution75%
Dedicate engagement efforts here!
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*Engagement levels stagnated since 2011
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Defining the Ownership
Management Owns The relationship with their employees and between multiple employees
Safeguarding the Company Culture
The final decision for any employee/labor relations issues for their employees
Human Resources Owns Skilling and coaching business leaders and employees on all aspects of ER/LR and maintaining productive and
positive employee relations environment.
Providing expertise for complex employee and labor relations and compliance issues
Developing the ER/LR Strategy for the Company and supporting Leaders in the execution of those strategies
Monitoring the Effectiveness of the ER/LR Strategy, Programs and Processes
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Principle Alert: You can’t absolve managers of vicarious liability.
Employee Relations is most effective at the point of decision!
How to Engage Leaders
Prepare Them
Talent Mange Them
Support Them
Raise the Value
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Engaging Front Line Leadership
THE BIG 5… Employee Relations Concepts
EEO
“Give me the same
chance”
At Will
Vs. Notice, Opportunity and Warning
Due Process
“I Didn’t Do It!”
Transparency
“What I Can’t See …”
Pre-cursors
Predict what is coming …
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Contact Information
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Employee and Labor Relations Academy
http://www.elraacademy.org/elraacademy@mail.com
Anita D. Tinney, Esq.SVP and Principal Consultantadtinney@elraacademy.org215-600-5090 ph