As a result of global legislative political and economic changes over the past few years labor relations has assumed a new importance in corporate management. Global labor unions are pushing a global agenda focused on winning legislative changes which facilitate organising campaigns. Examples include the new industrial relations laws in Australia, the new collective bargaining laws in China and the revised European Works Council Directive. The debate on the Employee Free Choice Act in the US is a further case in point. The unions are also mounting world-wide corporate campaigns aimed at   getting transnational corporations to sign International Framework Agreements which, in effect are global union recognition agreements. The current economic crisis may accelerate some of these trends as governments rediscover an appetite for financial and corporate regulation.

Because, over the past 20 years, Human Resource departments have tended to focus on issues other than labor relations there is an absence of the skills necessary to manage the “global labor challenge” these changes present. To help fill this gap HR Policy Association and BEERG have jointly developed a knowledge and skills building programme for high-potential HR professionals.

Program objective

Provide participants a solid grounding in global labor and employee relations knowledge and skills which combines with in-company career development programs to equip them to perform more effectively in their current generalist HR or specialist labor roles and to contribute to their further career development.

How will the program work?

The program combines five phases:

PHASE ONE

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE SETTING

Participants review  program objectives with a senior HR or labor relations executive in their company (company sponsor) identifying their learning needs and an international labor relations project to be undertaken alongside their normal job responsibilities in the 5 months following the  residential element of the program

PHASE TWO

PREWORK INCLUDING CORE READING AND IN-COMPANY RESEARCH

Undertake preparatory reading and in-company analyses to equip them to get the most from the five day event.

PHASE THREE

A CAMPUS BASED FIVE DAY INTENSIVE LEARNING EVENT

See program outline below

PHASE FOUR

IN COMPANY PROJECT COMBINED WITH EXTERNAL COACHING

Undertake a project in the company related to international labor relation agreed with their program sponsor. Receive coaching from faculty members and support from other participants in the undertaking of the project;

PHASE FIVE

PRESENTATION OF PROJECT AND REVIEW OF LEARNING

Present their project outcomes to company sponsor and review the impact of the program on their performance at work.

Participate in one day follow up event to review how they have put the theoretical and practical learning into practice and to build a personal development plan going forward

How will the five day residential element work?

Outside of the residential program the emphasis will be on internally and externally supported self-led learning. Inside the five day event the working style will be:

• Intensive – 0800 to 1800 every day with personal and team based research and case study preparation in the evenings
• Direct lectures amounting to no more than 30% of the working day (excluding evening work)
• Extensive use of case studies
• Encouragement to use on line research in developing case responses
• Use of expert and self-led coaching groups to reinforce learning

The major learning blocks in the program will cover:

• The role of the global labor relations executive
• Global labor relations trends and developments
• Understanding “hard” and “soft” law international labor standards and the ways they are enforced
• The international trade union movement and the way it works
• Assessing risks and identifying opportunities in the management of labor relations
• Auditing current labor practices and establishing early warning and “review and approve” systems
• Conducting international labor issue research
• Planning for and managing global structural change programs
• Achieving maximum advantage from collective negotiations in key markets
• Labor relations profiles in key markets
• Managing European Works Councils

Who is on the faculty?

The program will be designed and managed by Alan Wild, Tom Hayes and Jay Harvey of BEERG/HR Policy. There will also be guest instructors drawn from a broad network of global HR experts.

Costs

Participation in the programme costs $5,000, which includes the cost of the residential stay in George Washington University from Sunday, July 29 to Friday July 31.

Booking:

Bookings are being handled by our colleagues in HR Policy.