Union and manufacturing bosses agree to agree

Adjust font size:

Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 05 Jan 2004 9:16
Free whitepapers: Achieve Lean Success | Supply Chain Solutions

Manufacturing bosses and factory shop stewards have agreed to agree according to new research that explodes the myth of top floor versus shop floor war.

Commissioned by the trade union Amicus and carried out by Conquest Business Media’s Manufacturing Research Centre, the study is based on 200 questionnaires sent out to CEOs and factory shop stewards in UK manufacturing.

The most striking finding of the research is that, in modern manufacturing, the perceptions and opinions of shopfloor stewards and CEOs are more closely aligned than one would expect; in fact, in many areas of the survey, it is difficult to separate the responses of CEOs from those of the stewards.

From a purely business point of view, stewards have a very accurate knowledge of their company’s approach to growth and development, of current and projected investment levels and the health of the order book.

It also highlighted quite high levels of collaboration between management and staff when it comes to decision making in UK manufacturing. Only six per cent and one per cent of CEOs and stewards respectively agreed that the statement ‘we pay managers to make decisions and staff understand and respect that’ applied to their company. The most popular statements were: ‘Employees are encouraged to voice ideas and opinions and managers always try to implement good ones’, and, ‘Important operational issues are discussed with staff but the final decision is always taken by management’.

Unsurprisingly, opinions differed on the impact that job cuts have on employee confidence and morale. Just 36 per cent of CEOs said that jobs cuts had a ‘quite negative’ impact on morale, while 50 per cent of stewards concurred. Over half (55 per cent) of CEOs thought that job cuts had no real impact, while four out of ten stewards agreed.