How Do Organisations Benefit From A Partnership Approach?

Partnership is built on principles and practices of shared commitment between the organisation and the people who work there.  This should produce the following business benefits:

• Change implemented with assistance rather than resistance
• Competitive edge for the organisation
• Dealing with issues before they become problems
• Less bureaucracy
• Fewer, if any, tribunal cases
• Higher levels of staff retention
• Greater ability to recruit high quality staff
• Low levels of absenteeism
• Less conflict
• Better decision making

For a trade union, all of these are benefits too. There are also some specific areas that a trade union working in partnership will benefit from:

• Opportunity to maintain or increase its influence on company strategy
• Opportunity to ensure that the impact of staff is considered in any decision
• Opportunity to increase membership levels
• Opportunity to develop the skills of the representatives to a much higher level
• Opportunity to become an equal stakeholder within the organisation

These, if the union approaches partnership working in the right spirit, are benefits to the organisation as well.