The newly introduced IR reforms are the most significant changes since the introduction of the Fair Work Act in 2009 and will shape the employment & business landscape in Australia for years to come. What is important right now is what your business is doing with it!
The good news is you have options.
Option 1: Man your weapons, organise the legal cavalry and prepare for potential confrontations with your employees, unions or regulatory bodies.
Option 2: Kick-off a strategic business review, ask your SMEs to create policies and procedures, then wait & see.
Option 3: View these changes as an opportunity for your business, develop a strategy (more than just meeting your obligations), build inhouse capability and embed the responsibility as part of your leaders’ skills.
Pivoting early to adopt Option 3 will bring you a competitive advantage and is the only way towards workforce enablement, retaining/attracting talents and winning in the marketplace.
An often-seen mistake in EA negotiation is to focus on only on compliance and approaching it as an "us against them" situation, with little consideration of creating a future focused IR strategy. A good IR strategy is set for years ahead and focusses on driving operations efficiency by rewarding employees. A vital question you need to be asking yourself & your business is: are you leveraging IR SMEs who know the landscape and can assist with developing an IR Strategy that balances the best outcomes for your business & employees?
It's important that any IR strategy is owned by the Business (P&L) leader and is supported by SMEs, not the other way around. This will become even more important as dealing with potential multi-enterprise bargaining will require you to understand the IR strategy of other organisations with a "common interest". Do you understand what is happening out there right now in the IR landscape and within your industry?
The new IR reforms are not yet fully understood in its execution details and are yet to be tested and shaped by case studies through bodies such as the FWC. Until then here are my top 3 recommendations for immediate action:
Widen the focus of your IR strategy with the introduction of multi-enterprise agreements. What happens outside my business in my industry?
Update policies & employee contracts with the ability to demonstrate how you meet your obligations. Would your business hold up to an external audit?
Build Capability of your P&L leaders through education & awareness programs. Who is owning the outcome?
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