Colleague Representation at Royal London – A case study

Written by Mike Calvert, Principal Officer, Colleague Representative Forum, Royal London

Colleague representation has been a long-standing principle of engagement at Royal London. By 2015 this had evolved into an Employee Representative Forum (ERF) with voluntary Organiser and Coordinator roles, providing external training for new representatives and expanded areas of involvement and influence. 

About Royal London 

A mutual, Royal London is the UK’s largest life, pensions and investment mutual looking after 8.7 million policyholders, entrusted to manage £147bn of their assets. Its stated purpose, ‘Protecting today, investing in tomorrow. Together we are mutually responsible’, defines the impact the company wants to have. It shapes what they do on behalf of their members and customers, financial advisers, colleagues and the communities in which it operates.

An important aspect of Royal London as an employer is the company culture, which is called the ‘Spirit of Royal London’. This culture is an underpin to the company Purpose and at its heart lie four core values:

• Empowered
• Trustworthy
• Collaborate
• Achieve

These values are held in high regard across the business and are a key link into the Colleague Representation Forum (CRF).

Background to Employee Forums in the UK

The development of any successful organisation is normally supported by positive and proactive communication processes which recognise the benefits of involving people in matters affecting their work. Organisations can choose from a wide range of information and consultation mechanisms.  Most choose to use a variety of face to face and arm’s length arrangements for information disclosure and direct consultation. A colleague council will complement these rather than replace them.

Effective information and consultation are valuable disciplines which reinforce a shared commitment to work and encourage greater openness, the sharing of ideas, the early identification of problems and the ability to generate better quality decision-making. 

The ability to work together in teams which span individual projects, deliver great customer service and exceed performance requirements is complemented and enhanced by the sharing of information and consultation between staff representatives and management.

One of the key roles for a forum is to provide management with an accurate ‘temperature check’ of colleagues’ opinions. This is difficult to achieve without a representative body because employees are often unwilling to present their true opinions for fear of possible recrimination. 

Whether this is a fear based on truth or perception is unclear, but the net result can be an employee voice skewed towards those who speak the loudest or those with a particularly strong point to make. This can lead to a reaction from colleagues to changes that may come as a surprise to management, which an accurate temperature check would help avoid.

Creating the Royal London Colleague Representative Forum – CRF

Colleague representation has been a long-standing principle of engagement at Royal London. By 2015 this had evolved into an Employee Representative Forum (ERF) with voluntary Organiser and Coordinator roles, providing external training for new representatives and expanded areas of involvement and influence.

In 2018 the then Chief Executive Officer agreed the ERF model had evolved as far as it could, given the natural restrictions of voluntary roles. A strategy group was created within the ERF to work with the Employee Relations team through 2019, resulting in Royal London funding a project in 2020 to define the structure, roles and guidance collateral to support a new Colleague Representative Forum (CRF), with full support of the Executive team.

The CRF was formally launched on 1 January 2021 with a full time Principal Officer, two part time Deputy Principal Officers and voluntary Lead Rep roles, who are allocated three days per month to fulfil their CRF duties. The agreed representative/colleague ratio moved from 1/100 to 1/50. Representative training was brought in-house and developed in conjunction with the IPA, removing significant costs, increasing the flexibility and targeted impact of recruitment and training.

Read more about the Royal London Case Study here.

I was invited to be the Keynote speaker at the recent IES Conference – Shaping a Fairer World of Work – and my brief was to highlight the really big issues and challenges that will affect the world of work over the next 5 years and, indeed, those that might present barriers to achieving the aim of fairness. 

When I think of where the world is at this time, I am reminded that the Japanese symbol for ‘crisis’ is also the symbol for ‘opportunity’. We are seeing significant global challenges at the same time as major geopolitical shifts. Some of these challenges may also represent some of our greatest opportunities.  

ChatGPT

A new significant issue we are facing is ’ChatGPT‘, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI and released in November 2022. In 2023, Australian MP Julian Hill advised the national parliament that the growth of AI could cause “mass destruction”. During his speech, which was partly written by the program, he warned that it could result in cheating, job losses, discrimination, disinformation, and uncontrollable military applications. I have no doubt that ChatGPT will have a profound effect on the workplace and I am not persuaded that job displacement is the major challenge we face. I am also convinced that Generative AI can help us solve some of our greatest challenges, for example Climate Change.

Science is at the very core of how we can tackle climate challenges. Our response to dealing with carbon emissions, particularly from big industrial complexes, will demonstrate how, for example, the chemical sector is adapting. Science is crucial in how we tackle food crises and in feeding a growing population. A significant side effect of  Climate Change is the growing gap between rich and poor and how this will affect migration flows

Diversity & Inclusion

My third major issue is Diversity & Inclusion. In a war for attracting the very best talent, recruiting, retaining and promoting is the key to innovation, growth and winning. But, more importantly, it’s about living the values. I am one of many people who saw the tragic death of George Floyd during 2020 and had to ask myself what more can be done to change things for the better. Back in the days when I worked for ICI, women’s equality was a priority issue. I would say it still is, but thankfully after many decades of talking we are making real progress in boardrooms across the UK.

I have always felt it was important to try to understand the issues that are faced by the most disadvantaged in our society. Having served as Chair of Teach First for six years, an organisation that is focused on ensuring that the education system benefits every child, I am still sad to see so few Principals in school for who are from Black, Asian & other Ethnic Minority backgrounds. I think that it is fair to say that many children from ethnic minorities are falling at the first hurdle, as they are still finding it hard to see themselves represented in many parts of society and business.

I believe that great sponsors and mentors are key to increasing visibility and building the confidence of underrepresented groups within all work communities. I know for sure that while building my career at ICI it was those people who saw my potential that gave me the support and confidence to develop my career. One of the things that some sectors are great at, is getting the most out of their built assets. Surely we can apply that skill set to develop people so that we get the most from the incredible and diverse talent base that this that this country has? The joy of meeting and getting to know people with different perspectives, beliefs and ideas has certainly highlighted and taught me the importance and value of embracing diversity.

Role Models

I strongly believe in appointing under-represented groups to the top table and the value that adds to everybody. Also having great role models and active sponsorship of talent is essential for any business looking to develop its inclusion and diversity strategy. Timpson, Diageo, the NHS and many media companies are taking action. However, the Parker Review would suggest that in terms of public companies in the UK, none are far enough ahead. Diversity, in all its forms, must also remain an essential part of everyone’s ongoing work. Without doubt, diversity in terms of thought and perspective are needed to help drive the innovation that is required to deal with the challenges we are aware of and those that are yet to emerge.

My fourth issue is around executive capability and whether they are ready for the new world of communications where one single word can alter how an organisation is perceived either positively or negatively. I have observed that executives are now working in an environment where the speed of loss of trust from clients and employees is supersonic, happening overnight.

Young people in the workplace

We also have to consider younger people entering the UK workplace, their presence is now significant. It is clear that millennials require a different approach to management, but the effect of Generation Z will be to transform the basic challenges of leadership. For them, work/life balance and working from home is not an area of compromise. It is likely that this generation will halt the relatively easy ride that employers have had from their staff over the last two decades whilst at the same time requiring a different type of nurturing – one that takes into account the comparatively more difficult world they have inherited from previous generations, those who now populate most boardrooms.

In closing I would say if the UK is to truly ‘level up’ in the broader sense of the phrase, it must start with schools, and skilling youth for the future. There will be no ‘levelling up’ if we do not have the skilled people to engage in an increasingly competitive world. To this end, I believe that science, digital and essential skills are absolutely fundamental in this endeavour.

Written by Paul Dreschler, CBE

Slides: The IES Annual Conference 2023

Shaping a fairer world of work

A collection of presentation slides from the 2023 IES Annual Conference: Shaping a fairer world of work.

Download here.

The Involvement & Participation Association (IPA) and Institute for Employment Studies (IES) are delighted to announce that the two organisations will merge from 1^st May. The move will see the IPA team join IES, while continuing to retain their operational independence.

The merger follows a period of the two charities working in partnership towards their shared objective of making the world of work better and seeking improved outcomes for those in work, those out of work and employers. The merged organisation will respect, protect and build upon the long-established history, values and commercial activities of both charities, and will retain charitable status and purpose.

IES and IPA believe the merger will greatly enhance the impact of the work of both organisations: supporting higher participation in work; improving the workplace experience for employees, enhancing productivity and performance; and influencing public policy on workplace and workforce issues. Both have complementary client bases across the public, private and third sector and are considered leaders in the field of employee engagement and voice in the case of the IPA, and HR and workforce research and consulting in the case of the IES. These synergies will enable a wider offer to clients, marrying robust research with practice-based solutions.

IES is a leading centre for applied research, analysis and strategic insight to inform decision-making in HR practice and public policy. IES’s vision is for a future where everyone has the opportunity of good quality, secure and meaningful work; and IES believes that equipping people and employers to achieve this is key to delivering a strong economy, a fair society and a happy and healthy workforce. IES works with a range of partners to try to support this – including governments, professional bodies, employers, academics and those delivering services.

IES services include workforce and HR research and analysis; modelling and forecasting; testing, trialling and impact assessment of workplace interventions; and strategic advice and consultancy in areas including workforce planning, diversity and inclusion, health and wellbeing at work and leadership.

IPA is over 100 years old with a long and recognised role in providing high quality services to private, public and voluntary sector employers and local and national governments and their departments. IPA’s services are rooted in a firm belief in the value of proactive workplace involvement and participation in its many guises including employee engagement, employee voice, the good work agenda, diversity and equality and the link to improved productivity in the workplace and the wider economy.

IPA delivers workplace improvement for businesses and workers through a menu of services including consultancy, diagnostic reviews, research and training. IPA is also a leading public advocate of the importance of employee engagement and employee involvement and participation at work. It is a respected and valued voice which has the support of highly regarded businesses, think tanks and trade unions.

Graham Steel, IPA chair of trustees said: ‘The terms of this merger will ensure the IPA will retain its culture and unique combination of services together with its effective flexibility and service agility. These all fit seamlessly with and will add to the highly respected services of IES, creating a new and unrivalled offering covering current and future issues in the world of work.

‘The combining of our two organisations creates a unique opportunity to expand and develop our respective products and services and to create exciting new ones which can improve the capability and productivity of businesses of all types, whilst also enhancing the quality and experience of work for thousands of employees. This is the challenge our two organisations look forward to meeting as one creative and influential voice.’

Director of the IPA Nita Clarke said: ‘I am delighted that the heritage and the ongoing work of the IPA has been secured in this merger. The combined work of IES and the IPA has never been more essential given the challenges the UK labour market faces and the importance of employers understanding and meeting the aspirations of employees for a voice and a positive experience of work.’

Tony Wilson, IES Director, said: ‘We’re really looking forward to welcoming the IPA team to IES. We share so much in common in how we work and the impact that we want to make, but also have complementary skills, offers and markets. So we’re particularly excited by the opportunity that this merger will bring for us to make a bigger impact together than we’re already making separately.’

Key points of the merger

The IPA team will join IES on 1 May. The IPA will retain its operational independence within IES and Nita Clarke will continue as Director and will join the IES senior management team. The full range of IPA services will continue to be offered to clients. Three members of the IPA Executive – Graham Steel (Chair), Linda Gregory (chair of Finance) and Steve Elliott (Director of the Chemical Industries Association) will join the IES Board, and other former members of the IPA Executive will continue as an advisory panel for the IPA operation.

In advance of the upcoming IES annual conference on fairness at work, it is worth pausing for a moment to consider the situation in which we find ourselves and why it is critical that we collectively find ways to shape a better and fairer future of work. Definitions of fairness at work and employment are myriad, but we can all broadly align with the central proposition that this is about enabling opportunity for all, removing barriers and tackling disadvantage, and very broadly enabling people to benefit as fully as possible from the potential benefits of work including purpose, growth, voice, wellbeing and income. Held against the realities of the current experience of work for many, that idea does not fare well.

Future of Employment Support

Our recent Commission on the Future of Employment Support highlighted persistent and worsening employment gaps for ethnic minorities, disabled people and others. Recent analysis has suggested that, despite the introduction of gender pay reporting requirements in 2018 and lots of positive sounding commitments, the gender pay gap today is no smaller than it was five years ago. That is not to say, of course, that there is not lots of positive action being taken by many, but the question remains what can we do to accelerate progress?

In a context of high inflation and one of the worst costs of living crises on record, the need for organisations to work collaboratively with employees and their representatives to find a path through these challenging times couldn’t be more acute. We have seen relatively unprecedented levels of strike action and workforce activism, and more than ever there is a requirement for organisations to build and maintain effective channels and mechanisms for employee voice. And then there is progression in work. Or the relative lack of it for some groups. And its adverse impact on the ability of workers to increase their own incomes. The startling reality is that one in six people are on low incomes, and one quarter of those are still in low pay a decade later with a further one in two cycling in and out of low pay. At the same time, those who wish or need to work flexibly are clearly constrained in the opportunities available to them, either to progress in their own workplace or of available opportunities elsewhere.

Research by Timewise has highlighted that people who need to work flexibly for one reason or another are discouraged from applying for 7 out of 10 jobs. This is a clearly a recipe for unfairness, lack of opportunity, stymied progression in work and constrained incomes. Our own Progression in Employment Toolkit provides a template for how organisations can start to facilitate progression in work for all. Nicola Smith, interim CEO at Timewise, will have more to say about how we can address the barriers and realise the opportunities of greater flexible working at the conference. 

Inclusion and Fairness at Work

Whilst the aforementioned paints a fairly bleak picture of where we are, the scope and opportunity for improving inclusion and fairness at work are substantive and exciting. Think of all the things we could do, the progress we could make, the lives we could change, if we were to grasp the nettle and achieve meaningful change. There are social, economic, moral, legal and financial cases for doing so too. The ESG agenda and its importance grows by the day. Fortuitously, our conference features an array of not just leading thinkers but also practitioners, who can not only tell us why but also how. From Nita Clarke on enabling employee voice, Dr Duncan Brown on pay equity, and Heledd Straker on her ground-breaking work on structural inclusion at award-winning And Digital, come and join us to shape the debate, influence practice, and make a difference.

Written by Dan Lucy, Director, HR Research and Consulting, IES

It’s always interesting when research confirms what one is seeing on a day-to-day basis. Most representatives I’ve trained over the last couple of years have stated to me that health and wellbeing is near to, or at the top of their hot topic list. In its latest research commissioned by Access – A hybrid working nation: How It’s Working Out – the University of Nottingham, have revealed the degree to which this issue is affecting UK workplaces. It does not make for comfortable reading.

Prior to Covid-19, around 12% of working adults said that they worked from home on a regular basis. Remote working then became the norm for many office-based employees for 18 months from April 2020. At present, the proportion of adults working from home at least some of the week has more than tripled. We have been aware for some time that this has had a huge effect on work/life balance and not always in a positive manner. Some employees state that their productivity has improved, and that employee engagement has increased. Others, however, have reported that their employees have felt disconnected and isolated from their colleagues and have missed the “water cooler conversations”.

Hybrid Working

Some organisations have not handled hybrid working effectively and this has become a source of stress and division within their the workforces because of the way people in different age groups, income brackets and job roles experience it. It is not easy to make strategic decisions about hybrid working and impossible to accommodate everyone’s individual needs – in the phrase work/life balance, the word “work” must assume equal importance. However, where organisations have been more prescriptive by insisting on a set number of days that employees have to attend the office or site rather than an approach based on needs and productivity, the rigid policy has contributed to the Great Resignation and its consequences.  

The study by the University of Nottingham offers a number of statistics that should make every organisation in the UK step back and consider whether its hybrid working policy is as effective as it was intended to be. On the positive side, the study revealed that just under 59% of employees in the different organisations said they were generally happy with their working arrangements. However, 41% of those surveyed reported feeling depressed most or all of the time. While it is difficult to quantify that in monetary terms, it is almost certain that those 41% would have issues around performance, productivity and days lost to sickness. The effect of this on quality of life would be equally damaging.

Training Employees

Half of those surveyed stated that “they felt worthless”. Whether they actually are deemed worthless by their organisation or whether it is a perception, that statistic shines a glaring light on how people are being managed and communicated with. Simply training employees to be more resilient will not address an issue as fundamental as this. If 38% of the employees surveyed are losing sleep due to worries about work and 45% feel under constant strain, strategic thinking is required to redress the situation rather than a single tactical intervention.

There is no simple or quick solution but those organisations that have effective voice mechanisms and well-trained managers will at least have a chance of improving the situation. I have argued for many years that the skills required by managers and representatives are close to identical. The ability to manage and represent people requires an ability to empathise, communicate and contribute to problem-solving. Amongst trade union representatives there are some who have developed themselves as counsellors and mediators and there is, I believe, a strong argument that they should be utilised as designated Wellbeing Representatives. The success of union learning representatives proves that a defined role can produce numerous benefits to employees and organisations alike. In the same way that managers and union representatives were trained together on a subject like Job Evaluation, joint training for them on how to engage people in the workplace would be invaluable.

Staff Forum

There is no reason why a representative on a staff forum could not do the same. Some forums already have designated roles in the same way that trade unions have and, although union and staff representatives have very different roles on some subjects, the wellbeing of employees is not one of them.   

Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that this problem is not getting better and will not do so in the near future unless organisations act now. We have known for over ten years that organisations need to adopt the four enablers of employee engagement and that, if they do so, employees will feel less worthless and less prone to stress. What organisations may not know is that union and staff representatives are a potentially rich resource to improving its culture and to ensure that their employees do not have to face dealing with the feelings expressed by so many of the study participants. We all need to start by listening.

Derek Luckhurst, Training and Development Director, IPA

Get in touch to find out more

At the September 2022 IPA Employer Hub I presented, to a well-attended hub, on the topic of Knowledge Exodus, an issue which is key to many organisations and builds upon the Great Resignation debate. The presentation generated much discussion around both organisational and individual experiences.

Topics discussed were wide ranging – whether it be the loss of Maintenance experience due to outsourcing or key senior managers retiring. However, there was a common theme that successful and sustainable organisations do have robust succession, talent and knowledge depositories at their disposal.

In the IPA October 2022 Newsletter “Knowledge Exodus” Derek Luckhurst summarised the challenge that we all face from the Knowledge Exodus.

“The answer lies within the 5% of workers who have critical knowledge of systems, machines, processes, and the hidden nuances that apply to most organisations – the things we all take for granted that keep things running smoothly or avoid us having to use external resources to fix a problem when something goes wrong.

We only notice these problems when the person who knew how to do it is not there anymore”.

How To Address the Exodus Challenge.

The following three questions summarise the Q&A session from September:

• What is/are the key knowledge requirements for your organisation?
• Do you record the knowledge in a meaningful and accessible way?
• How do you transfer knowledge ensuring it is implemented and ingrained?

These three questions, supplemented by anecdotal research and engagement with peer organisations, supports the paradigm that effective organisations, in all sectors, already possess systems, processes and protocols that effectively capture day-to-day key knowledge.

The focus, therefore, is on the 5% of key roles and personnel within the organisation, at all levels, that make the difference between continued success and stagnation.

The 5i Approach

Against this backdrop of identifying the 5% who are significant in ensuring continued success, and in partnership with IPA, the 5i Approach has been developed.

Next Steps

Both IPA and The Knowledge Bank Limited are seeking partners to pilot the 5i Approach in a live environment. You can join us in that journey and be a leading-edge case study. Please visit – https://www.ipa-involve.com/knowledge-transfer

Peter McCarthy, Director, The Knowledge Bank

Contact us for more information

We have known for several years that positive and proactive communication processes support the development of an organisation and that many have recognised the benefits of involving people in matters affecting their work. A staff forum or works council can be highly effective in achieving both and, although organisations can choose from a wide range of information and consultation mechanisms, the real benefits of these representative bodies are often misunderstood or unknown. A staff forum or works council, when performing at an optimum level will reinforce a shared commitment to work and encourage greater openness, the sharing of ideas and good practice, the early identification of problems and the ability to generate better quality decision-making.

Staff Forums

One of the key roles for this type of forum is to provide management with a regular and accurate “temperature check” of the broad ranges of different staff opinions and perceptions. This is difficult to achieve without a representative body because staff are often unwilling to present their true opinions for a perceived or real fear of possible recrimination. The net result can be a skewed employee voice towards those who speak the loudest or those with a particularly strong point to make. This can lead to a reaction to change amongst staff that surprises the management which a truthful temperature check would have avoided.

It is worth exploring what actually happens in organisations that invest in time and energy to making their staff forum or works council produce mutual benefits for the business and employees alike. Through intelligent and open discussions about strategic issues, these bodies contribute significantly to a more informed workforce whose voice is always worth listening to. There is more to this, however, because that informed voice is also one with a greater perspective on balancing their own individual needs with an appreciation of what an organisation must do to maintain a viable and successful operation.

An increased ability to separate fact from fiction amongst employees not only reduces the effect of the conspiracy theory information fillers, but also helps to create an environment where those employees feel more comfortable about how decisions are made due to an increased knowledge of the dilemmas senior managers must tackle when making difficult decisions. Empathy from employees towards managers may seem an odd concept for many but there is little doubt that it is good for an employee’s well-being to know that tough decisions are not taken lightly, or knee jerked. 

Disengagement

It often goes unnoticed but the effects on the day-to-day running of an organisation can be extremely positive when employees have a greater level of perspective. We hear a great deal about “the noise” coming from employees in organisations that are experiencing high levels of disengagement. The implication in that phrase is that managers find it difficult to identify the important issues that they need to address – as one manager described, “it’s difficult to see the wood for the trees”. The increased level of perspective facilitated by a best practice staff forum or works council provides managers with a clearer sight of the priority issues and an ally in resolving them. 

The challenges ahead for many organisations presented by the current economic situation will be difficult for managers and employees alike. A staff forum or works council will not solve every problem and keep every employee engaged throughout the inevitable changes that will have to be addressed but these bodies, if they are fully supported and trained effectively, will contribute to an organisational culture where change is understood and more broadly accepted. This relies on employees having this greater sense of perspective driven by a clearer understanding of the bigger picture.

In 2019, pre-pandemic, the cost of disengagement in the UK was £340 billion. Disengagement is often rooted in a sense that “change is coming out of nowhere” and a feeling that organisations are not communicating sufficient information to prove that unpopular decisions are taken as a last resort. The establishment of a staff forum or works council is an effective option for organisations who want to address their own costs of disengagement, but many still resist doing this. It is understandable to an extent because the majority of staff forums or works councils tend to get immersed in the “tea and toilets” issues, but this problem can be addressed through training and development. 

 
Effective Employee Voice

The CIPD have stated that companies with effective voice structures have reported major savings as a result – sometimes amounting to millions of pounds – through improved industrial relations, better decision-making and more workforce involvement in innovation. There is an irony here as it has never been easier for organisations or employees to establish a staff forum or works council.  “Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices” was published in July 2017 and the threshold for triggering a request from employees via the Information & Consultation Regulations was reduced to 2% in April 2020 as a direct result of that report.

Where organisations do argue against their establishment, it is generally driven by a misunderstanding of what their purpose is and what the role of the staff representative is perceived to be. On the other side of the argument, some are established as an alternative to a trade union where, in reality, there is no direct comparison. When this has happened, some organisations have seen disengagement levels increase rather than reduce.

It is understandable that some managers believe that they should be able to run a business without the help of a representative body and why some mistakenly believe that it would become a barrier to their decision-making process. Whereas it is vitally important that organisations should maintain a direct communication channel to their entire workforce, the CIPD note that around 50% of UK employees do not regard this as sufficient. A staff forum or works council should not replace this direct communication but the evidence that these bodies can add significant value to improving engagement is becoming increasingly difficult to argue against.

Contact us for more information

There is continuing debate about whether a staff forum can be as effective as a trade union and which of the two options an organisation should adopt to represent their employees. As I have often argued, it does not have to be a choice. The number of good practice examples of what can be described as a “mixed model” of a staff forum and trade unions working effectively together are enough to suggest that this model is an ideal way of ensuring that all employees in an organisation are able to express their views, good experiences and ideas to solve problems and improve the organisation and the working lives of employees.

Trade Unions

While it is still less common for these two types of representative structure to exist together, in 2022 we are finding that  trade union priorities have changed, and more are considering accepting the establishment of staff forums in organisations where they are recognised or agreeing recognition where a staff forum is already established. The reason why the “mixed model” is still a minority sport is not due to how the trade unions perceive it but more to do with a fundamental misunderstanding of what constitutes a representation of the entire workforce.

This misunderstanding is rooted in a perception that a staff forum and a trade union are alternatives to each other. In other words, that they are two sides of the same coin. There are similarities but it is important to clarify their differences and how, because of those differences, they can be complimentary to each other. Many people understand the difference between consultation and negotiation. The former is can be undertaken by a staff forum, and the latter is the core of a trade union’s purpose. Trade unions can consult effectively but a staff forum cannot negotiate – that is the clear and obvious difference. However, the more subtle difference lies in what representation actually is. A staff forum can represent the views of an entire workforce – the engaged, the disengaged and the ones somewhere in the middle. Trade unions tend to represent the majority view but are also able to act as peoples’ advocates if they are members of that union.

Employee Representation

There is a good business rationale for an organisation to have both types of representation on offer for their employees. There will always be senior managers who do accept this and will choose neither. With these organisations, at least everyone knows where they stand. Problems seem to be occurring where organisations want to provide employees with a voice through representation but are unsure how to deliver it.  In several of these cases, employees have been presented with a question that translates into a choice: would you rather have a staff forum or a trade union?

What would an employee base that decision on? Those who have a knowledge of trade unions and believe they will add value will obviously vote that way. The number of people working in organisations in 2022 that will have that knowledge is unlikely to be high. I would also anticipate that very few employees would know what a staff forum was. Owing to this lack of knowledge, the organisation will try to explain the pros and cons of each and unwittingly get involved in a debate that strays away from facts and into the difficult territory of ideology. These difficulties can then be exacerbated when a small majority of employees choose one and the rest of the employees feel resentful that their preference was not chosen. It is better to avoid these surveys and either/or questions. The benefits of staff forums and trade unions are too nuanced to capture in a couple of paragraphs under a survey question. It is even more difficult to start discussing the disadvantages of either, without moving into the bounds of subjectivity.   

Staff Forums 

The good news is that our best practice examples show that organisations can and should avoid these comparative choices. If organisations are concerned that their recognised trade union does not represent the entirety of its employees due to their levels of membership, talk to that union about whether a staff forum is a means of addressing that. Similarly, if an organisation is hearing that some employees aspire to having a trade union recognised despite there being a staff forum already established, engage people in a discussion about why that may be and investigate how a trade union might also benefit the organisation. It is invariably better for an organisation to offer voluntary recognition to a trade union rather than force that union into a statutory ballot. 

I understand that many people will disagree with this strategy. In the current industrial relations climate, it would be easy to dismiss the idea of recognising a trade union or establishing a staff forum as a direct alternative. Both representative structures offer different benefits and different challenges, and it is rarely advisable to set up either without a clear understanding of the purpose of each and a mutual understanding of how the relationships are going to work in practice. There is enough information available to avoid the traps of unwittingly disengaging employees through the presentation of an uninformed choice. Organisations still have an opportunity to embrace the “mixed model” and to reap the benefits of the staff forum and trade union’s similarities and, equally importantly, their differences.  

Contact us for more information 

Mike Calvert is Principal Officer of the Colleague Representative Forum, Royal London.

Mike has been an employee representative for 18 years and worked with Royal London to transform their staff representation model with the formation of the Colleague Representative Forum (CRF) of which he is now the Principal Officer. The CRG engages with the business at every level to support colleagues and improve the experience for everyone that works for Royal London.

Like many organisations, Royal London went through several transformations during the covid pandemic, and recruited 20% of the current head count during that time. Based on his experiences, Mike gives his view on one of the features of the labour market currently challenging UK organisations – the so-called Great Resignation.

I attended the IPA Employee Representatives Hub Meeting on 5 July 2022 when IPA director, Nita Clarke, talked about the Great Resignation and how it was affecting various aspects of our working lives – from short term additional pressure on people caused by a lack of staff, to a longer-term knowledge exodus which can have a negative effect on an organisation in the years to come. 

There can be little doubt that the Covid19 pandemic, and the two years of working from home that resulted from it, has brought many challenges as well as opportunities for UK businesses. Recent studies suggest that almost a fifth of UK workers expect to leave their current job for a new employer in the next 12 months in order to seek better pay and job satisfaction and 27% of UK workers plan to ask their employer for more money in the next 12 months.

Understanding the great resignation

With these statistics in mind, it is understandable that much has been made of the Great Resignation. Shifts in people’s priorities post-pandemic are leading them to choose career and/or lifestyle changes as a way of stepping out of the rat race of the daily commute and spending more time at home. I have also observed other aspects of the Great Resignation.

As the economy recovered in the first half of 2022, job hunters had an increased choice of employers and opportunities to improve their role and conditions. This led to pressure on recruitment, especially for lower paid roles. A direct impact has been to force an increase in the base salary offering, but this can have a negative knock-on effect on established colleagues who feel undervalued. Whether these colleagues remain in role, but lack engagement, or seek alternative opportunities elsewhere, the financial implications of such a scenario can be massive, given the potentially high number of lower grade roles in a large organisation.  Although recent developments with sharp increases in the cost of living, the war in Ukraine, and a forecast recession potentially creating redundancies across the UK may mean that this job seekers market will change.

Hybrid working

The rise of hybrid working has been a boon for many, and of great concern for others. At Royal London the Colleague Representative Forum played a key role in bringing colleague voice to the fore as the approach to hybrid working was developed. The approach continues to evolve and is working well in some areas. We continue to work closely with the business to capture the learning and shape the proposition as it develops.

It seems likely that for many businesses in the financial sector hybrid working is here to stay. I believe that this is a key time for colleague representation to be at the forefront where there are still decisions to be made, and a variety of options are available. Getting colleague voice into these discussions is key.

There are a few niche skillset areas where recruitment is highly competitive and permanent home working has now become the expectation of these employees. This has led to organisations having to be flexible in their approach and allow permanent home working for some specific roles. Not all organisations have done so, and some have adopted hybrid working policies that neither satisfy the business or the employees.

Management culture

Finally, new management appointments are often cited as a direct cause of employee attrition, particularly where staff feel that the established organisational culture has been lost. It has always been the case that managers are one of the key reasons behind resignations, but it is not something that can be ignored. It has never been more important to ensure that managers have the skills to engage and nurture an organisation’s talent.

Retaining talent through innovation

Organisations should now focus on improving internal mobility in order to accelerate productivity and the performance of existing talent. This will involve the movement of employees (vertically and laterally) to new career and development opportunities within the organisation, including promotions or the opportunity to step down a level, creation of new job roles, mentorships, cross-team working or taking on new projects, job shadowing, and job swaps. If companies fail to innovate in this way, they will suffer the dual effects of limiting careers within a company, as well as losing key talent and unnecessarily increasing recruitment costs.

As businesses and employees adapt to the various incarnations of hybrid working, there is little doubt in my view that this is the biggest change to working lives since the Industrial Revolution. As such, no organisation should underestimate the impact and challenges that such a significant change brings with it, or the value of bringing colleague voice into the discussion before the final decisions are made.

Mike Calvert is the Principal Officer of the Colleague Representative Forum at Royal London.

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The uptick in remote working for some parts of the labour market during COVID led to an initial boom in social activities at work as we attempted to find virtual replacements for those water-cooler moments. The excitement, however, was short-lived. Instead, reports suggest that many found themselves overloaded with different communication tools and suffering from Zoom fatigue.

Acas has heard too how, as time passed, focus shifted away from looking after staff wellbeing towards other business priorities, with originally well-intentioned one-to-ones soon fading. According to our latest poll, 3 in 5 employers (60%) have seen an increase in hybrid working, and over half (52%) an increase in full-time home-working. Where such transitions are not managed well, there could be a danger that workers are left to suffer in silence.

With support from senior leaders, managers should:

• create psychologically safe environments where staff feel comfortable sharing how they are feeling and trust that any disclosure will be met with empathy and kindness
• be intentional and inclusive in how, when and where they communicate and bring colleagues together, including new starters, for both work and non-work-related matters in order to build engagement and cohesion
• understand where to go for support themselves – looking after others can have a big impact on our own emotional welfare and we can end up experiencing compassion fatigue. Legal and General research reveals the mounting pressures facing managers, with 1 in 4 saying their team size has grown since before the pandemic

Individuals: self-care is not selfish

We all have a legitimate need to belong that should not be ignored or taken lightly. Of course, we all need time to ourselves occasionally, but we could also be surrounded by people and still feel lonely.

Loneliness can have a range of different causes and experiences are unique to every individual. In many cases, people’s relationship with work – how, when, where and even with whom, as colleagues went on and off furlough or left for good – has vastly shifted during COVID. And while some are now able to embrace the opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, as well as friends and family, not everyone will be in the same boat. Many will also be experiencing grief, with the return to ‘normal’ life a cruel reminder of what they have lost.

Individuals themselves know best what they need and should:

• take steps to look after their own wellbeing and recognise how loneliness might be affecting them – many will have developed their own coping strategies during the pandemic
• recognise any triggers, for example, according to Natcen, working from home is associated with larger increases in mental distress for those living alone; setting out a plan to regularly attend the workplace with other colleagues can be helpful
• work with their line managers by talking openly and mutually agreeing any adjustments or adaptations at work to increase feelings of connectedness

​Everyone: it’s time to find the unmute button

Too often we rely on individuals alone to bring issues to the fore, but as this blog highlights, every one of us has a part to play in reducing the spread of loneliness. And it begins with talking.

Initiatives like Loneliness Awareness Week and Mental Health Awareness Week and its theme of loneliness this year show the issue is rising up the agenda. But if we don’t keep up the momentum and back up our words with action, we risk having another pandemic on our hands.

Written by Simone Cheng, Senior Policy Adviser, Acas

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