New guide urges employers to seize opportunity offered by new regulations

New guide urges employers to seize opportunity offered by new Information and Consultation Regulations

Employers that embrace the principle behind new regulations giving workers new rights to be informed and consulted about employment issues can reap real rewards in terms of employee motivation and commitment. However organisations that ignore the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations, risk being forced to adopt rigid arrangements for informing and consulting staff that donít suit their business.

These are the views of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which has published guidance to help employers meet the challenges presented by the regulations that come into force for organisations with 150 or more staff on the 6 April.

CIPD have published a guide, Information and consultation, which is available free from the CIPD website and highlights evidence showing that organisations that involve and engage their workforce benefit from a positive impact on performance, and greater input of ideas and problem solving solutions from the workforce.

Ben Willmott, CIPD adviser on employee relations, said: These new regulations are now just around the corner. For organisations that embrace them willingly, they could improve employee motivation and business performance. But employers that sit back and wait to be challenged risk losing the goodwill of their employees and having arrangements that do not fit with their business needs imposed upon them by the new legislation.

Employees who are informed and consulted about matters that affect their employment experience are more likely to feel that they and their opinions matter and that they have a stake in the organisation they work for. A substantial body of research shows that in workplaces where this íemployee voiceí exists workers are likely to be more motivated and committed to their employer.

This íemployee voiceí can be provided either collectively through employee representatives sitting in staff associations or information and consultation forums or directly between managers and employees.

Our practical guide to the regulations highlights examples of a range of companies that have established or are establishing arrangements to inform and consult with employees. Their experiences show how the regulations can bring positive benefits to the workplace.

The guide considers the different benefits to be derived from direct and collective methods of informing and consulting employees, and concludes that, particularly in larger organisations, a combination of direct and representative arrangement can be most effective.

The guide also:
- Considers what consultation means in practice
- Examines the challenges presented by informing and consulting both union and non-union members of staff
- Considers how best to ensure buy-in from staff and senior managers
- Asks how best to create arrangements that are durable and remain effective under pressure, while improving the quality of management decision- making
- Explores how to maintain interest and momentum when arrangements for informing and consulting staff are up and running

Case studies included in the Guide include care services provider Leonard Cheshire, South West Trains, ITV, as well as two manufacturing companies and an NHS Trust.

CIPD have also produced a book, Making Consultation Work: the importance of process, which is due to be published later this month. It takes a more comprehensive look at how organisations can make consultation work.

The book identifies a number of issues that will affect the consultation process and need to be considered in order to make the process work. These include the following:

- Trust is needed between all parties involved
- It is important to have representatives in place who are able to lead rather than delegate
- The organisations employee relations history will influence the consultation process
- The perceptions of employers and managers will also influence the consultation process