Industrial and Labour Relations Training

Creating Shared Value by unlocking Human Potential

There is no greater contribution an organization can make than to the training and skill development of their employees.  

Training is a key element to mitigate against innumerable risks

  • Safety Risks
  • Productivity Risks.
  • Labour Supply Risks (having the Skilled labour to meet the business demands)
  • Risks to your brand and reputation

The objective of all training must be to bring about real change in the way the business is managed and in the results that are achieved. Our bespoke training is designed to meet your specific measurable goals and to bring about behavioural change.

Specific LR training is beneficial to avoid these risks:

  • Labour Costs (Collective Agreement wages, benefits AND onerous Collective Agreement required processes)
  • Management Rights erosion

At the most senior levels the organization needs to understand their role in development of culture.  Business decisions that affect culture start with leadership.  Business strategy decisions, leadership behaviours, leaders chosen, organization structure, business processes all create behaviours that in totality are the culture.  Union environments run the risk of creating some high risk cultures such as:

  • Culture of Entitlement
  • Culture of poor safety,
  • Culture discrimination etc.)

This is NOT because of the Union per se.  It occurs because of the managements reaction to the new stakeholder (the union) in its mix.

Understanding and planning and making business decisions with Industrial and Labour Relations strategy as an input can help mitigate these risks.  This starts with well trained management and supervision as to how to manage in a multi-stakeholder environment.

We offer custom and off the shelf workshops and online courses.

Courses and Workshops:

  • What is Industrial Relations Strategy?
  • Management Rights Labour Relations Training
  • Management and Supervisory Training
  • Performance Management in Union Environments
  • Bargaining Preparation Workshops
  • Understanding your Collective Agreement
  • Performance Management 101 in Union Environments
  • 5 min refresher courses

“We hired Oakbridges to run three separate workshops over the course of two years for all levels of our management and supervisory staff.  We gained confidence as managers and supervisors to deal with common yet difficult everyday management matters.  They challenged us to think strategically and proactively about labour relations and not viewing it as only reactive grievance work.  We have seen lasting positive effects in the workplace with better management planning and responses, and better employee behaviours.  In my opinion, Oakbridges has a depth of management and labour relations experience to offer that is unparalleled.  I would wholeheartedly recommend and refer them to others.”

Stephanie Hossack
Director, Human Resources
City of Saint John, NB