1. Inside the Workplace First Findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey WERS Research Team Royal Society of Arts London 5 July 2005

2. Overview What is WERS? Design and conduct of WERS 2004 First Findings Timetable for survey outputs

3. What is WERS? Survey mapping the state of employment relations across Great Britain Data are collected from managers, employee representatives and employees at the same workplace Multi-sponsored survey: DTI/ESRC/Acas/PSI Previous surveys held in 1980, 1984, 1990, 1998

4. Design and conduct of WERS 2004

5. Aims of WERS 2004 To map workplace employment relations in Britain and changes over time To inform policy development and stimulate and inform debate and practice To provide a comprehensive and statistically reliable dataset on British workplace employment relations –which is made publicly available and easily accessible.

6. Survey structure WERS 2004 2004 Cross- section Survey of Managers Survey of Employee Representatives Survey of Employees Financial Performance Questionnaire 1998-2004 Panel Survey Survey of Managers

7. Survey content Management of personnel and employment relations Recruitment and training Consultation and information Employee representation Payment systems and pay determination Grievance, disciplinary and dispute procedures Equal opportunities, work-life balance Workplace flexibility Workplace performance Employee attitudes to work

8. Fieldwork outcomes Total responsesResponse rate Number% 2004 Cross-Section Survey of Managers2,29564 Survey of Employee Representatives99178 Survey of Employees22,45161 Financial Performance Questionnaire1,06952 1998-2004 Panel Survey Survey of Managers95677

9. First Findings

10. Key dimensions of employment relations are explored Analysis is based on workplaces with 10+ employees Primary focus of the presentation is on change since 1998

11. Recruitment, appraisal and training

12. Selection tests, performance appraisals and off-the-job training, 1998 and 2004

13. Work organisation

14. Work organisation, 1998 and 2004 74 69 16 41 72 66 21 48 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Some core employees work in formally designated teams Some core employees trained to be functionally flexible Problem-solving groups involving non- managerial employees Some core employees trained in team- working, communication or problem-solving Per cent of workplaces 19982004

15. Employee representation

16. Employee representation, 1998 and 2004 57 33 20 30 64 27 14 22 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 No union members Union recognitionJoint consultative committees Any collective bargaining Per cent of workplaces 19982004

17. Joint regulation of terms and conditions – all workplaces 71 73 75 70 5 9 11 10 6 8 5 6 13 5 16 15 10 3 18 0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100% Hours Holidays Pensions Training Pay Per cent of workplaces NothingInformConsultNegotiate

18. Joint regulation of terms and conditions – workplaces with recognised unions only 18 19 22 36 16 10 17 25 24 10 20 13 16 31 13 53 52 36 9 61 0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100% Hours Holidays Pensions Training Pay Per cent of workplaces with recognised unions NothingInformConsultNegotiate

19. Extent of trust between managers and employee representatives Managers and employee representatives asked to rate each other on 3 dimensions of trust: whether the other party could be relied on to live up to the commitments they had made whether the other party was sincere in their attempts to understand each others point of view whether the other party could be trusted to act with honesty and integrity

20. Extent of trust between managers and employee representatives Mutual trust 31% Mutual trust 64% Managers and union representatives Managers and non-union representatives No trust 23% No trust 7% Reps trust managers 13% Reps trust managers 17% Managers trust reps 33% Managers trust reps 12%

21. Addressing workplace conflict

22. Indicators of workplace conflict, 1998 and 2004

23. Incidence of grievance and disciplinary procedures 88 per cent of workplaces had grievance procedures –little change since 1998 91 per cent had disciplinary procedures –an increase from 85 per cent in 1998

24. Procedures for handling grievances and disciplinary actions

25. Equal opportunities

26. Incidence and coverage of equal opportunities policies

27. Work-life balance

28. Flexible-working and leave arrangements for non-managerial employees in continuing workplaces, 1998 and 2004 (1) 64 41 73 92 31 46 31 38 48 24 0102030405060708090100 Switching from full to part-time hours Job-sharing Parental leave Paid paternity/discretionary leave for fathers Special paid leave in emergencies Per cent of continuing workplaces 20041998

29. Flexible-working arrangements for non-managerial employees in continuing workplaces, 1998 and 2004 (2) 5 13 28 26 3 8 14 16 19 051015202530 Zero hours contracts Annualised hours Term-time only Homeworking Flexitime Per cent of continuing workplaces 20041998

30. Responsibility for work-life balance 65 per cent of managers believed that it was up to individual employees to balance their work and family responsibilities –down from 84 per cent in 1998 58 per cent of employees considered that managers were understanding of their responsibilities outside of work –up slightly from 55 per cent in 1998

31. Job-satisfaction

32. Job satisfaction (1) 72 70 63 18 19 22 11 10 11 16 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Scope for using initiative Work itselfSense of achievement Job security Per cent of employees SatisfiedNeitherDissatisfied

33. Job satisfaction (2)

34. Management-employee relations

35. Managers and employees perceptions of management-employee relations, 1998 and 2004

36. Summary

37. Stability in a number of ER areas: Incidence of procedures for handling grievances Incidence of industrial action Employees satisfaction with pay or management- employee relations Proportion of workplaces with methods of work organisation

38. Continued decline of collective organisation Employees less likely to be union members in 2004 Decline in the rate of union recognition Collective bargaining less prevalent However, Fall in union recognition had arrested in workplaces with 25+ Decline in collective bargaining was confined to the private sector. Joint regulation remains a reality for many employees: –half of employees were in workplaces with a recognised union –40 per cent had their pay set through collective bargaining.

39. Work-life balance Substantial increase in availability of a number of flexible working and paid leave arrangements – at least amongst continuing workplaces Employers increasingly concerned about employees needs to balance work and family life However, employees did not perceive such a change in employer attitudes

40. State of employment relations Overt workplace conflict remained low Managers perceptions of management-employee relations have improved – though there was little change in employees views Mutual trust appeared in only a minority of management/union rep relationships – but was more prevalent amongst managers and non-union reps

41. WERS 2004 Timetable

42. Timetable for survey outputs ActivityTiming WERS 2004 questionnaires December 2004 Data deposited in UK Data Archive November 2005 Sourcebook of findingsSpring 2006 Report on ER in small businesses Spring 2006

43. Further information Further information about the design and development of WERS 2004: www.dti.gov.uk/er/emar/wers5.htm Routledge companion website to the sourcebook of findings: www.routledge.com/textbooks/0415378133