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:: Observations

If a piano were to fall on your head and should you survive, you will always say “ I would have known that would happen if only I had looked up”!


This may surprise you but in 99% of all Union certifications, the signals preceding the organization drive and during the organization drive are always there, you just have to be able to spot them.


Any new leaders rising up among your team members


 Any team members receiving new or an abnormal amount of attention from other team members


 Any unusual friendliness by team members who were previously considered withdrawn or unfriendly


 Any team members acting very busy/excited at break times and contrary to their normal behavior

 A halt in a conversation between team members when a member of management approaches them or walks by them


 Any team members following other team members or a stranger after leaving Company premises


 Any unusual meetings/get-togethers of team members off Company Property


 Any unusual questions regarding Company Policies, Practices or Benefits

 Any small groups of team members going to the washroom with different team members during the day


 Any increase in team members arriving early, staying late and hanging around or meeting with other team members


 Any increase in rumours

 Any Union Authorization Cards on the property or team members passing out cards or other Union materials


 Any team member trying to irritate a manager by defying him/her


 Any team members hanging around with a team member who has recently been dismissed or left with feelings of bitterness


 Any abnormal amount of absenteeism


 Any false impressions of excessive loyalty being expressed by newly hired team members


 Any team members writing down names from time cards or schedules


 Any team members talking to strangers near Company property at the end of shift


 Any feedback in relation to team members having strange visitors at their homes

Always be alert to changes in behavior of long-serving team members or unexpected behavior by new team members.

 

 

Employee Surveys

Maintaining Positive Employee Relationships


Conducting an employee survey, is an essential component of developing Positive Employee Relations, and it should be viewed as consistent with the value you hold for your people and your desire to create a strong positive workplace. One of the most powerful tools in sustaining a powerful direct relationship with your employees is the employee survey. However, here is a note of caution garnered from years of experience, no matter what you tell the employees about the confidentiality of the survey, they will not believe that a survey conducted by the managers and administered by the managers is confidential. Save your effort, and let us conduct the survey and assist you with the interpretation of the results. Your employees are also more likely to be honest in their responses.

When you as the owner/manager and your management team review and interpret the results with our survey professional and you then take the appropriate action, you can proactively set a tone of openness, understanding and listening to staff concerns. Acting on those concerns will be the catalyst to improve your relationship and the psychological contract with your staff. On the other hand, not correctly interpreting the results and/or not acting on the survey results can and will destroy the psychological contract. as such, it requires you to be open and sometimes "thick-skinned" but time and again it is shown to be worthwhile if your goal is to build a strong and positive workplace.
 

Rather than have a piano fall on your head, find out what is going on, do an employee survey.

Demonstrating Concern about Employee Issues. It is always a good time to show employees that you care about their issues as much as you care about your own. Meaningful two-way communication with employees will help understand your employees’ point of view, clarify priorities, and nip false rumors in the bud.

Although voluntary turnover is not the main threat during a recession, to the extent that it occurs, the employees most likely to leave of their own accord are the best ones.

The net effect, of course, is that your employee base becomes more mediocre. An employee survey gives you the leverage you need to retain your best and brightest. 

Remember that conducting employee surveys and working to improve identified concerns or issues is far less expensive than replacing valuable employees when you need them the most.

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