Success factors

The achievements made clearly show that this project has been a success. The parties also seem to be well placed to continue extending partnership principles across the workplace. On reflection, there are certain features in the Aubert project that proved to be significant to these results and are worth noting.

• Aubert's "social good" values and mission: The organisation's altruistic founding principles and core purpose provided a clear rationale for change, justifying the parties' commitment to the project. As a result, support for the project was widespread across the workplace and strongly supported by both union representatives. All parties wanted an end to the animosity in the workplace because it conflicted so much with Aubert's core purpose. This provided the genuine shared commitment "on both sides of the fence" and the energy for the change process.
• A systematic approach to identify the core drivers of workplace conflict: The Associates used a systematic approach to assess the workplace issues and help the parties focus on the central drivers of the conflict in the workplace. This approach enables a comprehensive examination of different aspects of the workplace so that the workplace system as a whole is considered. The parties are then able to draw connections between their specific issues, the workplace context as a whole and their vision for change. With the drivers of conflict clarified, the parties were able to develop a shared goal, clear priorities and an associated framework for the project's activities. This clarity of understanding also helped the parties progress the project's activities in between the Associates' visits, and they became increasingly alert to the risks or factors that might derail the project's focus.
• An inclusive and representative process: The Associates' were insistent about the need to create the space for all participants to express their concerns and surface issues before deciding on any specific activities. The strongly inclusive focus enabled all principal personalities and a majority of employees to have some input into setting the goals of the project. This established a broad level of employee ownership and gave a sense of hope that change was possible. While a number of operational staff could only participate in the initial stages of the project, their initial participation still helped them to develop a broad level of commitment that could be tapped into over time, giving the project some resiliency. The gradual but steady involvement of different layers of staff also enabled the Associates to lead the project "from behind" and eventually hand over direction of the project to Aubert staff.
• Key staffing changes: The departure and subsequent replacement of two key management level staff (prior to the project) and a new Board chairperson (during the project) acted as a cultural circuit breaker to create an environment more open to change. Each individual supported change, and collectively, their personal strengths and different approaches acted as a catalyst for change. In particular, the appointment of the new chairperson, who was already well known to the operational staff, forged better linkages between the governance, management and operational levels of Aubert and supported the partnership approach.
• A mixed history of workplace relationships: The history of workplace relationships at Aubert also shaped the parties' commitment to a partnership approach. Aubert had a mixed history of being a positive workplace, as well as (more recently) a highly conflicted one. This meant that many long-serving staff already had an intuitive appreciation of partnership based on past positive experiences and were able to connect to the project relatively easily.
• The use of collective negotiations as a positive opportunity: Typically, employer and union parties will have a history of adversarial and negative employment relations and tend to view collective agreement negotiations as a potential threat to the development of a partnership approach. The Associates used the upcoming negotiations at Aubert as an opportunity to practise working in partnership. The learnings that resulted were a critical turning point for those involved, enabling them to shift their attitudes and behaviours in the subsequent negotiations.
• Ongoing reflection: In addition to the systematic inclusive approach used in this partnership project, ongoing reflection by the participants was critical. In particular, "in the moment" reflection helped the parties understand and value the process of partnership development more deeply. The common core goal (i.e. a positive workplace culture) was used as a standard against which to reflect during specific activities. Participants were able to consider if and how their responses and behaviours in specific project activities reflected their core goals. They were also able to continually practise and embed partnership behaviours - even when the Associates weren't there.

Looking forward

The experience, new skills and visible change in the workplace environment has given Aubert staff the incentive and confidence to sustain and extend partnership principles across the workplace. This confidence is demonstrated in the consistency with which staff describe the resilience of their new team culture and their willingness to challenge those whose language and behaviour does not align with it. But while the parties are confident about their ability to sustain the partnership approach, they are also aware of the likely challenges ahead.

Going forward, the first challenge is to extend the influence of partnership principles to those staff who have yet to fully participate in the project. They include the casual, part-time and night shift staff who were just not able to participate in the project's activities to the same extent as others. The intention is to continue spreading the message through role-modelling and working with the delegates.

Monitoring long-term progress is also a challenge. While significant attitudinal shifts have occurred, the signs are subtle (for example, changes in language and behaviour). Gauging the extent to which attitudinal shift is continuing across the workforce is a potentially unwieldy process, but management will be looking into what sorts of future reporting strategies could be used.

In any case, when considered in light of the previously negative and conflicted nature of the workplace interactions at Aubert, the positive changes of the current workplace are noticeable indeed.

"We're a bit lucky really, we've been offered this whole process, at no cost to us and we're very aware of how much work has gone into it and what it would cost us if we had to pay for it. But I tell you, if we knew that this would be the outcome and we had asked the cost, we would probably have done it anyway - no question." (Aubert Board member)