Corporate social relations are a vital part of any organization’s dynamic. However, they are often studied in terms of conflict, and seen as a source of inevitable tension.
We propose to go beyond a dialectic of opposition to explore all their potential for fulfillment, with all the meaning that this can give. What if, in the end, accompanying social relationships meant knowing how to compose a bouquet?
In Connection Leadership’s Human Resources department, where we support major “people” transformation projects, we have often seen the subject of labor relations treated solely from a legal or political angle. When managers are involved in processes, it’s difficult to see the meaning, and actions can seem disembodied and dissonant with the organization’s stated values.
With the involvement of our senior consultants, who come from major groups and are trained in coaching and transformation consulting approaches, we have learned to perceive the accompaniment of social relations as an essential function of the organization. We suggest that you think of social support as the work of composing a bouquet of flowers that we offer to the collective: the common good, harmony, healthy confrontation of ideas, human development, respect for stakeholders…
A beautiful bouquet, energizing, soothing, from a diversity of elements, to draw attention to their positive contribution to the functioning of the organization. Social relations help to create the conditions that support development and transformation projects, as well as to
to give meaning to it, so as to engage the managerial community in its day-to-day application.
In a bouquet, the harmony of all the flowers is important, and your florist chooses his composition with meticulous care. Some flowers are numerous and blend into the bouquet, while others stand out for their brilliance and shape, or add a touch of sweetness or spiciness. Colors, textures, fragrances, size, symmetry or asymmetry are all to be taken into account. But the important thing is: each flower, however unique, plays an essential role in the final symphony, and all work together to generate the harmonious result that is our bouquet experience.
Before taking this holistic approach, we identify the needs of unions and employees, as well as those of the employer. Nevertheless, when we are aware of the integral dimension, our gaze does not stop at these needs, but seeks to cultivate and share a common vision, a whole that is not simply a collection of components.
Understanding the different issues at stake for all stakeholders means having the keys to building constructive social relations, where everyone has a role to play and contributes to the common goal.
Build a map of internal players to know how to differentiate the role of the CSE, CSSCT, DS, RRS, identify concrete actions to encourage immediate action, in particular using the 3 Cs method (Continue, Start, Stop doing)… then identify the common ambition and draw a road where stakeholders get involved in a fruitful co-responsibility.
Initiation to the talking circle at Connection Leadership
during a training course
Discover Harvard’s peer counseling method during our training session
Involving managers in labor relations is a key factor in helping us achieve this shared ambition.
We invite them to play the role of interaction facilitator, encouraging positive interactions between members of the organization, and building on tensions to transform, grow trust, and move forward together. When tensions arise, managers can learn to facilitate conflict resolution fairly and constructively, with the potential help of third parties. This involves generously listening to each other’s concerns, mediating disputes and seeking mutually beneficial solutions.
These situations require technical, legal and behavioral knowledge to support transformation efforts.
Acquiring the right managerial reflexes with teams and employee representatives, understanding the impact of a response or posture on the company’s social climate, and knowing how to identify social irritants and measure the social climate are therefore all part of a manager’s prerequisites.
A manager is not expected to know and master employment law with precision, but rather to handle all these complex and changing regulations with finesse and strategy.
However, from the moment an employee joins the company to the moment he or she leaves, as well as in the day-to-day management of his or her team, a manager is confronted with labor law rules and must adapt his or her practices and posture to take account of them. It is therefore essential to have the legal bases at hand, as taking a decision linked to the application of labor law can be a source of considerable risk.
For us, getting our bearings in social regulations is the fertile ground for the flowers that can then bloom, and internal cooperation is strengthened by a better understanding of the legal aspects and the stakes for each player.
We have used the pedagogical principle of a beautiful bouquet to structure a training course and draw attention to the positive contribution of social relations to the functioning of the organization. Social relations help create the conditions that support development and transformation projects: it’s up to us to give them back their letters of nobility!
Our approach to training activates all the levers of professional and personal learning and development: reason, logic, emotions and state of mind; but also business expertise…and the human and behavioral sciences.
We offer a course based on a 4-stage progression (Understand, Learn, Communicate, Experiment). At each stage of their career, managers will complete their bouquet by acquiring and experimenting with new skills. We use real-life situations experienced by managers to facilitate the use and appropriation of company procedures.
Sharing experience using the practice of generous listening
The interviewing method we teach is based on a certified coaching approach and listening techniques developed and consolidated over many hours of training and practice.
By analyzing the situation, the manager will be able to establish the link between the issues of the other person and those of the organization. During the training course, he will also practice exploring all possible options with his interlocutor. This interview “protocol”, which managers will be trained in, will help establish their legitimacy and strengthen the bond of trust between them and their teams and employee representatives.
More than a consulting firm, Connection Leadership is your partner in holistic transformation. Our approach, based on transversality and pragmatism, brings you all the necessary elements to co-construct the transformation of your company. This co-construction is carried out with all levels of the company to improve collective commitment. Our coaching and transformation programs are designed to bring impact and concrete results, ultimately empowering you in your transformation.
The inspiration for this article came from a recent testimonial following one of our “BOOST” seminars. A customer confided in me: “We’ve seen lots of coaches, but we’ve never had an experience like this before! At first, it may seem irrational to invest time and money in areas which, at
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