Align Management News Digest
February 2005
Communication key to adaptable workplaces
EMPLOYERS and managers will have to start communicating effectively
with workers if modern and adaptable workplaces are to develop in
Ireland according to a study which will was published this week.
The
Forum on the Workplace of the Future report highlights the disadvantages
of women and those with lower skills. It criticised the under-utilisation
of the workforce due to insufficient employee involvement and participation
noting uneven investment in training and `life-long learning'.
The report comes as the Government has failed to publish legislation
to transpose the EU Directive on Information and Consultation of
employees which is due to come into force for larger companies later
this month. The British government has its legislation in place
for the past year and the Irish proposals will be fairly similar
when published later this year.
The two-year study of modern workplaces is a social partnership
initiative under the terms of the Sustaining Progress pay deal.
Both IBEC and the ICTU have been careful to ensure that neither
side faces any additional statutory or performance burdens arising
from the study.
According to some members of the Forum in recent months there have
been attempts by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
to side-step responsibility for promoting better workplace consultation.
The project found more favour with the Department of the Taoiseach
which runs its own social partnership section managed by Philip
Kelly who has been effective chair of the Workplace Forum for the
past ten months.
The report found in Irish firms and organisations:
Skill gaps in literacy, numeracy and foreign languages
Weaknesses in management competencies and leadership abilities
Lagging behind other EU states in `life-long' education
Failures to communicate and consult effectively with staff
Insufficient employee involvement and participation
A lack of `family-friendly' working arrangements
Nearly one-third of Irish workers have not achieved pass Leaving
Cert standard
The study slams the serious under-utilisation of women's high standards
of education and skills as well as unequal treatment in key areas
such as pay and employment in management
roles.
The report follows an extensive survey of managers and employees
conducted by the National Centre for Partnership and Performance
that found many Irish workers were kept `in the dark' about new
products or services, financial performance or organisational strategies.
Critics of the Forum study described it as "as lightweight,
aspiration and more like a best-practice guide". It is intended
that regular national workplace surveys will be undertaken similar
to the Workplace Employment Relations Surveys (WERs) conducted every
few years in Britain for its Department of Employment.
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