Works Councils/Consultation Groups
What are staff consultation groups?Some organisations set up groups to work together to ensure that consultations are as effective as possible. They may be for a number of reasons:
- The prospect of redundancy within the organisation
- The implementation of new processes such as performance management
- Organisational changes such as an office relocation
The main purpose of these groups are:
That employees are not overloaded with consultations regarding new ways of working. The purpose of the Forum is to provide a structured mechanism for employee consultation on major issues affecting their employment; to supplement existing means of communication; to encourage a greater understanding of the business, its products and services, its clients and market places; to provide an additional means of capturing employees' views at all levels across the company; and to help equip management to respond to employees' views.
Who is invited onto the group?
Usually a key member of the leadership team would chair the groups meetings, the Managing Director or Chief Executive. The lead of Human Resources would attend along with a variety of individuals from different divisions of the business and in an ideal world at different levels in the business.
How often would they meet?
We would recommend that this group has a very tight agenda and meet quarterly at best. If there is enough to discuss and actions to take then this can continue, in many organisations they meet every six months and this is satisfactory with effective communications in-between.
How are they appointed?
People can be nominated by colleagues or nominate themselves.
If you would like more help with this or other HR related issues please call us on
0845 4599710 or email info@pvhr.com
