Learning to talk the hard way: information and consultation

Just one in 20 employers plan to consult employees on their financial performance and prospects, but seven out of ten are prepared to tell them what is going on, according to research issued today (October 11 2004) by IRS Employment Review, published by LexisNexis.

The findings suggest that employers still have some way to go if they are to live up to the spirit of the Information and Consultation of Employees (ICE) Directive which takes effect in April 2005 for larger employers.

The Directive - and UK Regulations implementing it - raise questions for employers about the range of issues on which they should adopt different approaches to inform, consult or negotiate with employers on different issues.

The survey found that at present half of the employers taking part reported that they had some form of joint consultative committee, staff forum or works council. In future, they will need some form of machinery to inform and consult, and while this need not be a standing body, some employers believe such a forum is the best way forward.

The full survey, which looks at employersí information and consultation arrangements, is available in the new issue (809) of IRS Employment Review (www.irsemploymentreview.com). The findings are based on responses from 82 private and public sector organisations employing 106,640 staff.

Additional key findings:

More than half the employers surveyed have either made changes to their information and consultation arrangements over the past 12 months or plan to make changes in the following 12 months.

Almost the entire sample (98%) used team meetings or briefings to communicate with their staff. The use of a noticeboard (91%), individual letters or emails to all employees (83%) and a staff newsletter or journal (78%) were the next most popular methods. An intranet site is used by 67% of organisations.

Around two-thirds of employers said that they evaluated the effectiveness of their employee communications on a regular basis, while a third did not.

Eight in 10 (82%) of employers reported that staff representatives were elected by employees rather than appointed by management.

The two most popular issues for consultation - and the only ones where a higher percentage of employers said that they consulted employees rather than informed them - were changes to employment levels or status, and to pay and working conditions.

Only two organisations had a European works council.

More than two thirds (67%) of respondents believe that the HR department has responsibility for communicating with employees but for some - 27% - respondents said that it would depend on the issue.


IRS Employment Review managing editor, Mark Crail said:

ìMost employers acknowledge that there is a business case for effective information and consultation as they agreed that, ëwe make more effective business decisions as a result of effective consultation with employeesí.

ìWhile information, consultation and negotiation have different purposes and often different structures, effective internal communication is common to all three. Our research found a high awareness of the forthcoming Regulations and a high level of confidence among employers that their organisation would meet their requirements, which seems encouraging. But some may be over-confident, particularly on such issues as pensions where future legislation will force them to consult with their staff.

ìWriting in IRS Employment Review, Professor Keith Sisson from Acas warns that employers may not have done everything necessary to comply with the implementation date in April 2005. Employers should double check their procedures and documentation to ensure that they do meet the legal requirements.î