The proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) requires employers to make a conscious decision about how they treat their employees every day. Those choices will influence the attractiveness of union representation to workers. Pat Lynch, president of Business Alignment Strategies, Inc., a firm that helps clients optimize business results, is available to discuss the topic in more detail and/or provide contributed articles and commentary.
Employers who prefer to communicate and work with their employees directly will ensure that workplace conditions provide no reason for workers to believe they need third-party intervention in the form of a union.
By creating work environments in which employees feel respected, valued, trusted, challenged, and recognized for their contributions, employers should find their relationship with their workers unaffected by the passage of the EFCA or similar legislation.
On the other hand, employers who decide that it's okay for their employees to feel disrespected, short-changed by their pay and benefits, without a voice, and untrustworthy are likely to find themselves dealing with one or more unions in the near future.
Lynch believes that employers who realize their workplaces come up short have a limited time to remedy that situation. Under current labor law, once a union organizing campaign begins, management is prohibited from taking actions that represent changes in existing terms and conditions of employment, such as providing a new perk or implementing an unplanned pay increase. Employees will make their choices about third party intervention based on how they have been treated on a day-to-day basis.
A business productivity expert, Lynch believes management should evaluate important workplace elements such as employee satisfaction with the immediate supervisor, beliefs about employee voice (e.g., do individuals feel safe in challenging the status quo, and do they believe their ideas will be considered?), and employee perceptions of procedural fairness. All three of these factors are under the control of the employer.
However, none of these issues will change overnight, making it vital for employers wanting to create meaningful and lasting change in their work environments to begin immediately.
Lynch advises management to think of the EFCA as an opportunity to conduct a performance evaluation of its own workplace.
Employers whose employees rate the work environment as “commendable” or “exceptional” can continue and even improve their practices, secure in the knowledge that union representation is likely to be of little interest to their workforce. Employers whose workplaces are rated as “needs improvement” or “unacceptable” must act immediately to improve the environment or face the very likely scenario that their employees will exercise their right to seek third party intervention. Individuals who view their workplace as average or satisfactory may be ambivalent about maintaining the status quo. The time has come for management to make a conscious decision about how high employees are on the organization’s priority list.
About Pat Lynch and Business Alignment Strategies, Inc.
Pat Lynch, Ph.D. is president of Business Alignment Strategies, Inc., a firm that helps clients optimize business results by aligning people, programs, and processes with clear organizational goals. A consultant, executive coach, and speaker, Lynch’s specialties include strategy formulation and implementation, measurement, and communication. Lynch is known for her keen ability to assist business owners in clarifying their value to maximize their profit.
She earned a B.A. in Sociology at Smith College, an MBA in Economics at The University of Memphis, and a Ph.D. in Personnel and Employment Relations at Georgia State University. She also attended Wheaton College (Mass.). Additional information is available at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com.
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