The Information and Consultation Directive should be fully implemented within the UK by 2008. Michelle Guina from Rebus HR believes that where implemented appropriately and effectively, it can only serve to strengthen existing arrangements and enhance employee relations.
Employers in the UK currently adopt various methods of communicating with employees and legislation requires employers to ‘communicate’ on several issues including health and safety and collective redundancies.
The Information and Consultation Directive, where implemented appropriately and effectively, can only serve to strengthen existing arrangements and enhance employee relations. In reality, ‘good’ employers have nothing to fear from involving and communicating with their staff. This directive is not intended to overwrite existing methods and should allow enough flexibility, different styles and approaches to be adopted by organisations. Individual and group consultation should still be used as necessary.
However, the proposals are not without their problems. For many organisations the changes resulting from the directive could be cumbersome and time consuming. It could, particularly during the implementation stage, result in a drain on resources and be a lengthy process. Some organisations may need to go through balloting processes, negotiation with existing works councils or trade union representatives, whereas others will need to develop full communication strategies and these will need to be negotiated with their staff.
Where methods of communication previously have been informal and somewhat haphazard, for example, where employees have historically been informed of a decision and no consultation has taken place, then changes could be quite significant and consideration to their impact must be given at an early stage.
Whatever the current state of play in the organisation, some form of consultation over the directive will need to take place. Many employees may be unaware of the changes that will be taking place and/or that they have the right to ask their employers.
Managed effectively, the directive will stimulate a better working relationship between managers and employees and facilitate an environment that projects greater levels of trust and honesty. It is hoped that the directive will result in a continual flow of ideas being exchanged throughout a company and will create a sense of partnership over changes within a business.
Furthermore, experience suggests that where employees have a voice within an organisation and an opportunity to contribute to the way their business is operated and managed, they will be more motivated and productive.
The financial and non-financial rewards on implementing changes to the way we communicate are difficult to quantify. Some people estimate that millions of pounds will be saved over the years, for others it may be difficult to ever put a figure on it. How do you place a cost on a happy and motivated workforce? Can you measure competitive advantage based on the support your employees give to management plans?
Each organisation will need to evaluate its current procedures and the level of change and development required, balanced with the costs associated with implementation. I am confident that most employers will see the value of communication and try to accommodate this directive in the workplace.
The directive should be fully implemented within the UK by 2008. By then, employers will probably have forgotten that there was ever a time when they did not have effective mechanisms for communicating with their staff in the workplace.
