Employee Representatives are usually elected by the people they represent, the workforce. The skills needed to be effective in role are seldom considered. The driving factors behind election are typically a willingness to stand and popularity.

Both are useful attributes but, in isolation, they are insufficient to carry out the role effectively. This, hinders the benefits for all. Faced with situations and challenges that the reps are ill prepared for enthusiasm wanes for all and representation may even by discarded, but it doesn’t have to be like this. The solutions lies with the employer.

So the real question becomes. What should an employer do to improve the knowledge, skills and effectiveness of their employee representatives? Having said that the two questions are closely intertwined; what makes for a good employee representative falls out of what the employer should do.

When carrying out their role and duties Employee Representatives are expected to participate in a wide range of activities and duties that differ to their day to day job. Examples include, business planning and development, attending meetings, taking minutes, public speaking, negotiating, influencing, advocacy and colleague support. These are duties that few reps are fully trained and prepared for, so the focus has to be on ensuring the reps receive the training and development they need to be effective in role and that the scaffolding, frameworks and necessary support is in place from the start.

So what should an employer do to improve the knowledge, skills and effectiveness of their employee representatives?

4 key steps are essential and support from Concrew Training is available for each stage. Read our course overviews via the 3 links below:

Helping HR and Management Develop the Structure

Train Employee Representatives

Cascade information to the wider workforce

Step 1 – Create a high quality role description and person specification.
As with any other job or role within the business these are essential building blocks for success. Decide what the employee representatives will and will not be involved in. Will they for example be involved in disciplinary and grievance procedures, how does their role dove tail with union representatives, will the employee reps be expected to take on the duties demanded by law.

Step 2 – Create an Employee Representation Forum Constitution
These formalise the structures and frameworks that the employee representatives work to. They typically include the activities of the representation forum, what it’s members are involved in and what they are not involved in. For example, individual employee issues are usually best progressed through line management whilst those that impact on the organisation, as a whole, are better suited to progression through the employee representation forum. The constitution usually details how often the forum will meet, who will attend, who will take/distribute minutes; specifies what off job time, to fulfil duties, is allowed, how participants will be elected and how long the representatives will stay in post.

Step 3 – Train the Employee Representatives
The better the training and development programme, the better the contribution employee representatives can make to the business. Employee Representatives can make a critical contribution to the effective running of the organisation. They play an important role in delivering company plans and objectives, they help balance the differing needs and perceptions of the workforce and the organisation, improve the quality of planning and decision making and provide an effective way to keep staff informed, on board and motivated to deliver success.

This is not an easy task. It demands a wide range of skills and behaviours that differ to the employee representative’s day to day duties, it demands a wide range of skills and behaviours that many employee representatives have yet to develop. This means they need to be trained. This training often pays dividends in other areas too as the skills leant as an employee representative are highly transferable across the whole organisation and even beyond.

The person specification created in step one in conjunction with individual and group training needs analysis enables an initial training plan to be developed.

It is likely to include:
(note these are not exhaustive lists – merely examples)

• Key understandings:
  • The role and duties
  • The constitution
  • The organisation business plan – objectives, short/medium/longer term
  • Key Employment Legislation
    • Equality Diversity Inclusion
    • Equal Pay
    • Workforce Holiday and Pay Entitlement/Calculations
    • Preventing Sexual Harassment
    • The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023
    • The Menopause
    • Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
    • Data Protection and GDPR
  • Legal Duties
    • Collective consultation
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
• The Skills Needed
  • Proactive with Enthusiasm and Commitment
  • Confident, self-assured with good ability to speak in public
  • A desire to champion organisational objectives
  • The ability to work as a team and focus on organisational objectives
  • The ability to canvass and present new business development initiatives, positively
  • Communication and the ability to get the most out of meetings
  • Supporting Staff, empathy and confidentiality
  • A marketeer – the role needs to be promoted and supported
  • Negotiation, Influencing and Persuasion

As specific duties appear on the horizon further, topic specific, training may be required too. This is especially important if employee representatives are to be involved legally required representation duties.

The above actually answers the original question, the better the employee representative’s knowledge of these key understanding and the closer, their personal skills set to the skills needed, the more effective they will be.

Step 4 – Back to the Start
When all of this has been thought through, Employers then need to consider how the employee election process will work.