3 Ways HR Can Support Union Employees

While unions are generally created to protect employees, employers can experience challenges if they don't have the proper tools or knowledge in supporting them. Not everybody is in favor of a unionized workforce, but by supporting unions, HR can maintain a pulse on employee engagement and workplace satisfaction, which can guide future strategic planning.

Open the Lines of Communication

Union leaders and company leaders have similar goals that are expressed in different ways. They all want to work somewhere that's thriving and offers a comfortable lifestyle outside of work. However, union leaders act in employee interest, and managers often have a challenging balance act of considering both the company's interest and the employee's interest.

It's necessary for managers to do so because without someone steering the ship, it would sink. But, when managers keep open lines of communication with union leaders and try to understand their needs, working toward common goals and agreements is more easily accomplished.

Managers can:

• Create office hours or an "open door policy" so union members feel comfortable discussing ideas and strategies.
• Hold weekly one-on-ones with union leaders and keep track of goals and notes in a centralized platform that everybody has access to
• Develop an internal employee relations newsletter to distribute to staff

Engage Union Workers

Employee engagement is crucial for any workforce, but especially so for companies with union workers. By introducing initiatives and programs that bring everybody toward a common purpose, like safety or workplace culture, union workers will feel more involved in their job and workplace.

Don't forget about engaging seasonal employees - if managers hope to rehire them for the next season, employee engagement is especially important to ensure they feel valued and wanted for the next season.

Try a few engagement tactics like:

• Incentives for working safely (consistently using protective eye-wear, tracking the number of days with no incidents, etc.)
• On-the-job training opportunities
• Recognizing outstanding employees at a monthly, quarterly or annual meeting
• Offering a career road-map that gives employees a clear path to success

Learn the Facts, then Create Proactive Policies

When HR departments and managers use a centralized performance management software, they can more easily track employee activities and productivity. For instance, when conducting a job site walk through, managers can document safe practices and demonstrate skills. As they go through check-ins with employees, they can use these notes to guide conversations and determine whether employees need more training. By working with union employees, managers can relay that information to union leaders to create new policies that benefit everyone.

Although unions and employees don't always see eye-to-eye, getting everyone working towards one common goal is crucial to attract and retain a winning workforce. A free HR assessment can help federal contractors learn more about attracting, engaging, and retaining a unionized workforce.