Bringing Practitioner-Focused Research to People Management Practitioners
Feb. 2014
In This Issue
The Way Forward in Employment Relations
Why Coaching Must Play an Integral Role in Leading and Managing in Today's Workplace
Flashback Feature:
Employee Ownership: How Do You Spell Success?
The Way Forward in Employment Relations Using Social Dialogue as a Means of Improving the Organizational Effectiveness of a Credit Union
Christa Sankarsingh-Glasgow
The idea of co-operation seems to be one that exists only in children's books with no real place in the business world. However, to survive in the times that we live in, the more successful organizations, and indeed nations, are embracing the values of co-operation. In my thesis, "Social Dialogue: The Way Forward in Employment Relations", I studied a financial co-operative, whose founding principles are based on co-operation. The study sought to determine the relevance of utilizing the tools of co-operation such as social dialogue in a dynamic setting. The other variables under consideration were the existence of a very militant trade union as the employees' representative, and environmental factors which were clamoring for a solid response from the organization to determine whether or not it would continue to exist. All of this in a developing country in the sunny Caribbean, with an economy that is dependent on the fickle fortunes of oil and gas.
Case Study Background
The organization at the centre of the study is over sixty years old and has a long history of success through turbulent times and has outlived many more powerful predecessors. Over the years, while other financial co-operatives have developed a more corporate business model, this Credit Union has held strong to the Co-operative Principles. The Credit Union is now challenged by the need to comply with proposed legislation for the governance and supervision of Credit Unions which would require some significant changes to the way that the Credit Union operates. Additionally, fierce competition from other organizations in the financial services sector forces the Credit Union to re-examine its market positioning and determine strategies to ensure its survival. Ultimately, the Credit Union must achieve organizational effectiveness through stakeholder buy-in and participation in order to remain successful.
Why Coaching Must Play an Integral Role in Leading and Managing in Today's Workplace
Bev Patwell, 2013
In my consulting work over the last 25 years, I've seen a significant shift in the role of coaching in the workplace. In our more global, technological, and complex workplaces, today's leaders must master the dance of leading, managing, engaging others, and delivering results in a fast-paced environment. You can't pick up a business magazine, listen to a podcast, or read a blog that doesn't talk about today's new world and the critical leadership challenges facing our leaders at all levels of the organization.
Coaching, therefore, is an integral part of leading and managing. In addition to coaching others, leaders must also learn how to be coached themselves to more effectively lead and manage others.
In this article, I will explore the following questions, as they pertain to the new roles that coaches must play in helping today's leaders:
Why must coaching play an integral role in leading and managing in today's workplace?
What are the current trends in the field of coaching?
What are the implications for our coaching work going forward?
What role might technology and social media play in coaching?
How can you create coaching cultures in your workplace?
Flashback Feature: Employee Ownership: How Do You Spell Success?
Carol A. Beatty and Mary Lou Coates, 1997
In this paper from 1997, the authors look at the evidence of increased employee ownership in Canada. Employee ownership of a company may involve a 100 percent buyout to avoid closure, a transfer of ownership to employees (e.g., at the retirement of the owner), or the establishment of a company stock purchase plan.
The paper looks at case studies of seven employee-owned firms in Canada. The studies show that employee ownership has meant survival, a return to profitability, and in many situations continued growth for these companies.
