Nick Bacon

Trade Unions, Union Learning Representatives and Employer‐Provided Training in Britain

This article provides an empirical assessment of the relationship between trade union recognition, union density, union learning representatives (ULRs) and employer‐provided training in British workplaces using linked employer–employee data from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey. The results suggest that the relationship between union recognition and training is, at best, weak. We find no consistent relationship between union density and training or between the presence of ULRs and training. We do, however, find some evidence of greater equality in the distribution of training in ULR workplaces than in other workplaces.

Assessing the impact of private equity on industrial relations in Europe

Private equity firms are accused by trade unions of changing industrial relations in buyouts by demonstrating an unwillingness to recognize and work with trade unions, and by downgrading information and consultation. To explore these important policy issues, this article reports the first representative pan-European survey of managers’ perceptions of the impact of private equity on industrial relations. Managers report that private equity investment does not result in changes to union recognition, membership density or changes in management attitudes to trade union membership. Furthermore, managers in firms recognizing unions after private equity buyouts do not report reductions in the terms and conditions subject to joint regulation. Under private equity ownership more firms report consultative committees, managers regard these as more influential on their decisions, and indicate increased consultation over firm performance and future plans. Comparing industrial relations changes in different social models in Europe, the results suggest private equity firms adapt to national systems and traditional national industrial relations differences persist after buyout.

A longitudinal study of the influence of shop floor work teams on expressions of ‘us’ and ‘them’

A discourse analysis of employee rhetoric before and after the introduction of shop floor work teams in a steel mill reveals important changes in expressions of ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitudes. The normative rhetoric of teamworking used by managers, insisting that all employees are working towards the same goal, raised an expectation of change in the traditional ‘them’ and ‘us’ divide between managers and workers. When workers detected little subsequent change they used the new language of teamworking to critique management in private although working in teams they reported pressure to behave differently. New working roles in teams did undermine traditional ‘them’ and ‘us’ loyalties, which fragmented to encompass finer distinctions (e.g. middle and upper management, workers and slackers) and employee attitudes became more individualistic.

The Impact of Private Equity on Management Practices in European Buy‐Outs: Short‐Termism, Anglo‐Saxon, or Host Country Effects?

This article explores the impact of private equity (PE) firms on human resource management practices in buy-outs using data drawn from the first representative pan-European survey into this issue. The findings suggest the overall impact of PE on high-performance work practices (HPWP) is affected more by length of the investment relationship than the countries where PE is going to or is coming from. PE investment results in the increased use of HPWP in buy-outs the longer the anticipated time to exit. With respect to the PE firms’ country of origin, buy-outs backed by Anglo-Saxon PE firms are as likely to introduce new HPWP (and are specifically more likely to extend performance-related pay schemes) as those backed by non-Anglo-Saxon PE firms, suggesting some adaptation to the local host country contexts of buy-outs.

The adoption of high performance work practices in small businesses: the influence of markets, business characteristics and HR expertise

This paper explores the extent to which the adoption of high performance work practices (HPWPs) in UK small businesses with less than 50 employees is associated with the nature of the market in which the business operates, its business characteristics and its access to HR expertise. Drawing on data from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey, the analysis suggests that, where market-related factors are concerned, the uptake of HPWPs is higher in small businesses that require a highly skilled workforce but is unrelated to either the degree of market competition or the presence of large dominant customers. In terms of access to HR expertise, the analysis finds greater use of HPWPs in small businesses that have contact with external sources of HR advice via membership of business advisory networks or Investors in People (IiP) recognition. However, uptake is unrelated to the presence of personnel/HR specialists. Overall, the findings suggest that rather than depicting employment practices in small businesses as the inevitable consequence of market circumstances, encouraging greater small business involvement with business advisory networks and IiP may have the potential to increase the adoption of HPWPs in the sector.

The impact of organizational change on steelworkers in craft and production occupational groups

This article examines the impact of organizational change on different occupational groups in the steel industry. In difficult financial circumstances and resulting pressure to downsize, a move to new forms of team-based working, in combination with staffing reductions, led to differential effects on craft and production occupational groups. Job satisfaction declined as a result of these changes with production workers reporting work intensification, while craft workers joining production teams reported skills under-utilization and reduced commitment to the organization. The existing occupational distribution of knowledge, skills and abilities led to the creation of multi-skilled production teams rather than developing teams of multi-skilled workers.The results clearly demonstrate the importance of understanding the limits imposed on new work arrangements such as teamworking by financial pressures and the occupational structure of the traditional labour process. In particular, the article highlights the significance of occupation in understanding how people experienced the work changes that occurred.

Brexit, Private Equity and Management

We analyse the expected impact of Brexit on private equity and its implications for management research. Specifically, we explore the implications for PE funds and funding, and at the portfolio firm level with respect to employment and performance.

Union representation, collective voice and job quality: An analysis of a survey of union members in the UK finance sector

This article seeks to identify whether employee perceptions of job quality are better in instances where an onsite union representative is present. It also seeks to identify whether the relationship between onsite representative presence and job quality is explained by employee perceptions of union collective voice. The analysis, based on a survey of union members in the UK finance sector, demonstrates that employee perceptions of several dimensions of job quality are better where an onsite representative is present, and that this can be explained by the higher perceptions of union collective voice that onsite representatives engender.

Pay in the Public Sector: Editorial

The Labour Government, elected in 1997, inherited a perceived crisis in public services and acute short-term recruitment and retention problems. The Comprehensive Spending Review of 1998 sought to address these issues by establishing three-year spending plans linked to specific performance targets for public services. In pursuit of more efficient and effective public services, government departments have responded by continuing to broaden the pay agenda to encompass ‘modernization’ of working practices. However, it became evident in the initial stages of Labour’s second term of office that the Government had failed to win the support of public sector employees who reported widespread work intensification and a decline in pay levels relative to the private sector. These issues were central in the resurgence in disputes during 2002 over pay and conditions, most notably in the fire service, but also in the medical profession, higher education, local government and the prison service. At the heart of many of these struggles are the two traditions of pay determination (Kessler, 1993), with unions making the case for comparability of earnings and government using pay flexibility as a management tool to incentivize employees to strive towards performance targets. However, the theme of modernizing public services emerged as central to the Labour Party’s attempt to win a third consecutive general election when it announced a £61 billion increase in public expenditure in 2003. It is this theme of modernization that represents our starting point in presenting this collection of articles on pay in public services.

Editorial: Lessons (that should have been) Learned

No abstract available.