Enter the Negotiator
A bank robbery goes wrong. The bank robbers hold customers and employees hostage their demands are unclear but the lives of hostages are threatened. The SWAT team want to storm the building in a high risk rescue attempt. Enter the negotiator. It is a familiar scenario in action films which you may think has little in common with the average HR manager but the skills use to bring a peaceful end to the siege are the same as those used by HR to help managers resolve work place conflict or secure changes in working practices.
Typically senior HR officers become involved when the organisation wants to introduce new technology, implement a major restructuring or introduce changes to working practices. Management anticipates some resistance but is determined to achieve essential changes, employees and their TU reps have concerns and want reassurances, employees don’t trust senior management.
Successful negotiators build trust, find common ground and are flexible. They listen carefully and work hard at understanding the concerns of all parties. Betts makes the point that developing a rapport and making the other side feel their views are valued is essential and much more likely if a close personal relationship already exists. This view reflects my own extensive experience in how successful HR managers work with TU reps. The contact between key individuals is not restricted to individual cases around regrading claims , grievances and disciplinary investigations/hearings but regular meetings to discuss broader issues, exchange intelligence and establish informal pathways that can negate the need to rush to formal processes. These regular meetings, often one to one, help develop the rapport and close personal relationship that makes future negotiations more likely to be considered successful by both parties.
Blair Mcpherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
