Following a recent
advertising campaign, we have gained a lot of
new members from management graded employees
in a number of businesses beyond our traditional
catchment area.
One particular comment is worth repeating here,
from a senior manager who found that he needed
our services rather urgently (- albeit after
he had joined! We do not chase after cases where
the problem started prior to membership.)
"I have worked over
twenty years in management roles and you cannot
believe what a relief it is to have someone
there for me, to whom I can talk in confidence
and who understands the business issues I am
facing on a day to day basis.
I thought I was alone out there and no-one could
help or would understand. I cannot understate
the value of this service and wish I had known
about the RBA earlier in my working life."
Managers are paid to manage, to cope.
In some organisations, managers who call upon
help and advice from a Union are considered
to be weak!
This flies in the face of the fact that those
same organisations will invariably spend a great
deal of money on teams of highly skilled personnel
professionals, and when an issue escalates into
the "courtroom", rely upon the services
of very expensive lawyers.
Managers cope by knowing and using all the resources
at their disposal - if this were not so, why
have anyone above store management level in
an organisation?
The store manager can report directly to the
City and shareholders without the need for all
those people in between!
Although I have a sneaking suspicion that a
lot of managers may well like this thought,
clearly it cannot work.
There is a need for economies of scale to be
considered, and no-one is expert in all things.
Store Support functions exist as a useful resource
for managers to call upon.
The RBA is a similar type of resource, where
the only difference is that it's role is to
support the person rather than the business,
although there are a lot of issues where both
interests coincide.
Unions do not interfere, or disrupt, and anyone
who still thinks they do is living thirty years
in the past.
We do our best, however, to ensure that good
practice is maintained, and that misunderstandings
and pressures of business life do not escalate.
We prefer to prevent issues occurring rather
than cure them, and avoid causing them unnecessarily
in the first place.
We have no desire to interfere in the operation
of any business but do strongly believe that
we have a role to play in maintaining good employment
relations, because where, people are concerned,
relationship issues will occur.
The main role we play is therefore for individual
managers and staff within formal grievance and
disciplinary procedures.
We do have an interest in collective personnel
issues, but this depends upon high levels of
membership within any "bargaining unit".
Business (Operational) issues are best dealt
with in a different forum and should not usually
require Union involvement (although we do like
to know what's going on, because everything
that occurs in a business will have some effect
upon its employees).
The message is simple - as with any type
of insurance, hopefully you won't have any problems,
but if you do, you will be glad that we are
there for you.
Paul Lee, RBA National Officer |
