Workplace Partnership – Northpower and the New Zealand Public Service Association

5. Benefits to the Company and the Union

The approaches described have helped build a more unified workplace culture with positive employment relationships and high levels of employee engagement.

"It's not about workers engaging with the organisation - it's about them engaging with the work. When they engage with the organisation, the interest becomes pay, promotion and the politics necessary to get on. When they engage with the work, they connect to why they are there in the first place. One is core; the other is a bit of a distraction and, for some, is a game that can get in the way of doing good work." PSA Organiser

Both parties know that the success of the company has flowed through collaboration between managers, staff and the union. Significant restructure of the business has worked with minimal conflict. In fact, people interviewed said they couldn't remember when the last significant conflict arose.

Collaboration has not been about telling the union what the company is going to do and doing it regardless. In the case of the Northpower experience, collaboration has encompassed openness, mutual confidence and trust between the parties. Some of these benefits have flowed through to measurement systems beyond the financial data.

"It is very personality dependent. If everything is buttoned down in terms of policy or procedure, we tend to lose sight of the importance of meeting individual needs. At times, there are sparks of brilliance that deliver relationships that hum. There are other times when we can be a bit down in the dumps but we get through it. There are other times when we simply need a bit of a break from one another. We have a documented problem-solving process, but whether we refer to it or not, the guiding principles are common sense. Both parties play in the space where there is freedom to interpret - again, we are comfortable about this because we trust each other's intentions. Northland has its own culture - it's a way of working, which has become, if you like, its own DNA. It has provided this to other parts of the company." Group HR and Safety Manager

It is also significant that mutual trust is not just between the company and the staff or the company and the union. For the relationships to be sustained, trust, in essence, flows around three corners of a triangle, which includes the relationship between the union and its members.

"People are happier. The culture now is, people are saying, 'If you want to get where I am, you can't slack around'. The company performance is up, and we're not having a big argument in the collective negotiations now. I like Mark Furey's approach to things - he's straight and says this is how it is. I like straight openness and honesty."Tree Cutter