The Client

A large multinational supplying a wide range of products to OEM’s within the car industry asked us to work with and train their company council representatives. They employed over 300 staff and utilised state-of-the-art CNC machines and sophisticated management control and reporting techniques.

The Problem

As part of a drive to improve productivity and reduce costs, the business needed to make significant changes in the production unit. One of their targets was to reduce employee costs by some £1.1m. They had identified a number of changes to employee terms & conditions and shift systems that would help them achieve this.

They were aware that these proposals would have a significant effect upon employees earnings, and that the proposed changes to shift working hours and practices would bring lifestyle changes to many employees. Whilst change was crucial, the organisation wanted to maintain good employee relations and retain all of its skilled workforce.

What We Did

We worked with employee representatives and helped them analyse the detailed impact of the company’s proposals and prepare well costed counter proposals that could meet the business objectives but which minimised many of the negative consequences of the original proposals. Where appropriate we helped representatives present these to the management team.

The Results

The business achieved the necessary savings and employees accepted and agreed the changes to their terms & conditions.

Employee relations remained positive and at the end of the consultation period only one employee elected to leave the organisation.

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