Management-worker partnership key to success, Welsh bosses told. Check it out:
(Western Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Partnership between management and employees is key to the future of Wales's businesses and organisations, industry leaders claim.
High performance working and increased productivity in the face of fierce global competition depends on improved employee, employer and trade union partnership.
Some leading businesses and organisations across Wales are reaping the benefits of working in partnership but industry experts claim there remains a long way to go.
Many large companies in Wales, those employing in excess of 250 people and which make up some 70% of the workforce in the country, have developed communications and consultative processes. However only some 15-20% have so far converted these into full working partnership arrangements.
Among Welsh firms already reaping the rewards of partnership working are 10,000-employee Broughton-based aero industry business Airbus and Gorseinon's 400-worker 3M tape products plant.
A conference organised by the conciliation service Acas aims to highlight the benefits of employee involvement and partnership approaches to the successful running of businesses and organisations in Wales.
The all-day conference, at Newport's Celtic Manor Resort, will bring together leading trade union officials and major employers from across Wales.
It will be opened by Assembly Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks Andrew Davies. Other speakers include Acas chief executive John Taylor and IPA director Willy Coupar.
The Welsh Assembly Government sponsored project is supported by lead bodies such as the CBI, TUC and EEF Cymru Wales. Acas Wales Partnership at Work project director Bill Griffiths said considerable positive results have already been achieved from partnership working for businesses in Wales.
Mr Griffiths said, 'In the face of global economic pressures, increasing overseas competition and the need for organisations to respond and adapt to new challenges, the roles of employees - a key asset of any organisation - and their involvement and engagement in and with the management of their operations is as crucial as ever.'
Research clearly shows that the employers that pay greatest attention to the people that work for them are the ones that consistently achieve best results, he said.
Evidence from countries that have adopted similar partnership working patterns, such as Sweden, Germany and France, suggest impressive results can be achieved.
'Figures show that organisations and businesses that work in partnership tend to be more successful than those that don't,' Mr Griffiths said.
He said businesses operating in this way benefit from greater employee commitment, loyalty and understanding which, in turn, lead to greater operational success, productivity and better results overall.
The Partnership at Work Conference is at the Celtic Manor Resort Golf Lodge on October 12. For more details and to book a free place contact 029 2076 8129 or email [email protected]
Copyright 2006 . Western Mail & Echo Ltd
Technorati
Del.icio.us
Slashdot
Digg
