Promoting Social Dialogue: Experiences and

expectations from employers and employee

representatives in Europe.
Dr. Patricia Elgoibar
University of Barcelona

WOW conference, Barcelona, 3th October, 2017

 Source: El Periodico. Strike TMB
Barcelona, February 2016

Source: El Pais. Strike Iberia in the

Airport El Prat, July, 2006.
The NEIRE project

• Funded by the European Commission. Employment, social affairs and inclusion

DG

• 2010 – 2012: NEIRE I Empowering employee representatives to negotiate

flexible, fair and innovative labour relations.

• 2012 -2014: NEIRE II Expectations of employers on employee representatives’

roles, attitudes and competencies to act as partners in social innovation.

• 2016 -2018: NEIRE III Mediation system effectiveness for collective organizational
conflicts: A comparative study in Europe.
Overall objectives NEIRE
• Improving the quality of Social Dialogue in Europe

• Analyse the role development of the employee representatives in Europe.

• Explore the European employers’ expectations on employee

representatives’ attitudes and competencies.

• Understand the value of the European and national legislations to promote

social dialogue and innovation

• To improve motivation of European employers to invest in innovative

structures and competences to promote social dialogue.

• To improve the dialogue between European employers and worker

representatives at company levels, through data-driven and facilitated
dialogue.
NEIRE Partners
NEIRE Researchers

7
NEW EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS I:
the worker representatives’ perspective

Empowering employee representatives to

negotiate flexible, fair and innovative labour
relations.
 Specific objectives
• Analyse the structural, institutional and personal variables that affect the
perception and role development of the ERs in the different European Industrial
relations systems.

• Explore the personal and organizational consequences for both trade unions and
their representatives.

• Design and diseminate strategies to promote sustainable motivation and

empowerment of worker representatives by means of the provision of personal
and institutional resources that will allow them to orient themselves towards
flexible and innovative labour relations.
To discuss…

1.Are you empowered in your position and

as partners in social dialogue?

1.Which are today’s challenges in social

dialogue?
The role of the WRs in Europe
 Methodology
COUNTRY ONLINE SURVEY INTERVIEWS F.GROUP
SPAIN 719 8 10 participants
BELGIUM 172 7 8 participants
THE 567 10 9 participants
NETHERLANDS
DENMARK 474 10 6 participants
GERMANY 504 10 6 participants
ESTONIA - 11 -
UNITED KINGDOM - 12 -
PORTUGAL - 11 8 participants
TOTAL 2436 79 6 (47 part.)
 ERs combine cooperative and competitive behaviors
when facing conflicts.
5

4,5 r = .37 r = .28 r = .33 r = .28 r = .20

4

3,5

2,5 Forcing
2 Integrating
1,5

Full study published: Elgoibar, P., Munduate, L., Medina, F.J., & Euwema, M.C. (2012). Why are industrial relations in
Spain competitive? Trust in management, union support and conflict behavior in worker representatives.
International Journal of Organizations. Special issue: Industrial Relations in Europe, 9, 145-168.
What did ERs say about this?
• “We can be friendly with management but preserving our ability to attack” (ER, education sector,
Belgium, 2011).

• “Management doesn’t consider us part of the decision making process. If they don’t trust us, we can’t
trust them. It’s a cultural question here: management is management” (ER, communication sector,
Spain, 2011).

• “We strive to find compromises and solutions” (Union Leader, Belgium, 2011)

• “Trust is one of the core issues – without it you face a hard time” (ERs, industrial sector, Germany,
2011).

• “The old fashioned ER who is driven by distrust will not do. There need to be trust and a common aim
and understanding” (HR manager, education sector, Denmark, 2013).
Results: Perceives social support in female and
male WRs in Spain and the Netherlands
Female WRs perceive
4
less social support
3,5
than their male
counterparts in Spain
3 however not in the
Netherlands.
2,5

1,5

Spain The Netherlands

Male Female
Perceived social support and accommodating behavior in
Spanish male and female WRs
2

1,75
Male
Female

1,5

Low perceived social High perceived social

support support

Full study published: Elgoibar, P., Munduate, L., Medina, F., & Euwema, M. (2014). Do women accommodate more than
men? Gender differences in perceived social support and negotiation behavior by Spanish and Dutch worker
representatives. Sex Roles, 70 (11-12), 538-553.
Challenges found by ERs in their role:
• Dual commitment
• Renewal of trade unions
• Empowerment
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
• Participation and Dialogue
 All results can be found at :

Munduate, L., Euwema, M. & Elgoibar, P.

(2012). Ten steps for empowering employee
representatives in the new European industrial
relations. Madrid: McGraw Hill. ISBN
9788448182663

Best Practices Proposal (BPP). Published online in 10 languages.

This publication can be downloaded for free at: http://dialogueatwork.eu/

 NEW EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS II: the
management’s perspective

Expectations of employers on employee

representatives’ roles, attitudes and competencies
to act as partners in social innovation.
Specific objectives
• To analyze European Employer’s experiences and expectations on:
– structuring and roles of employee representatives at the organizational level.
– attitudes and competencies of employee representatives

• To improve motivation of European employers to invest in innovative structures and competences to

promote social dialogue.

• To improve the dialogue between European employers and ERs at company levels, through data-
driven and facilitated dialogue.
To discuss…
How would you characterize the relation between management
and employee representatives in your organization?

To what extent do employee representatives have impact on

traditional (working hours, holidays…) and innovative (equality
policies, environmental issues) subjects?
Methodology
• Sample: data collected in 11 European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France,
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom).

• Size of the organizations: SMEs and large companies.

• Sectors: The private is represented by finance and manufacturing; and the public
sector, by higher education (universities).

• Quantitative data: 50 - 100 surveys collected in each country via online through the
project’s website: http://dialogueatworkeu.nowonline.nl/

• Qualitative data: 10 depth interviews with employers (CEO/COOs and Human

Resources Managers) in each participant member state.
Influence in decision making process
Perceived competences and influence of ERs in
organizational decision-making

.30**
Influence in
traditional issues
Perceived
competences .45** Influence in
innovative issues
*p < .05, ** p < .01

“ERs need to understand the dynamics of the organizations, finance and change management”

“We need highly competent people on the other side of the table”
Conflict behavior and influence of ERs in
organizational decision-making

Cooperative conflict .21** Influence in

behavior traditional issues
.43**

-.41** .53**
.16**

Competitive conflict Influence in

behavior innovative issues
-.01

*p < .05, ** p < .01

Perceived competences and ERs conflict behavior

.61** Cooperative
conflict behavior
Perceived
competences -.24** Competitive
conflict behavior
*p < .05, ** p < .01

“Our ERs are highly competent. We respect each other’s role. We both know when we
have to fight in a conflict, and we know how to end it.” (HR manager)
35
What did managers say about this? (I)
• “Trust climate could be improved giving to ERs the chance to intervene on specific
topics, increasing their participation” (HR manager, energy sector, Italy, 2014).

• “It is important to have someone who regardless of different ideological thinking is

part of the company and is looking for solutions that enable internal harmony,
correcting situation that might be distorted by proposing balanced, sensible, timely
solutions without threats, knowing that there are balances that are now easy to
achieve” (HR manager, production sector, Portugal).
What did managers say about this? (II)
• “I would like to see the ERs being more aware of the overall context
in which the bank operated, a greater understanding of how the
labor market works, less prejudice against the employer, or
ideological positions when we sit at the negotiation table” (HR
manager, banking sector, Italy, 2013).
• “As a manager I expect authentic decision making and mutual
understanding but I see politics.” (HR manager, banking sector,
Poland, 2014).
• “Social dialogue is very effective here. Our ERs are very competent,
they have the appropriate education. This arguably facilitated
dialogue” (HR manager, education sector, Belgium).
Practical implications

• Simple and flexible structures for social dialogue

• Investing in informal relations
• Building trust
• Developing competencies of ERs
• Make the role of ER attractive
• Contribute to willingness to change
• Constructive conflict management
 “Trust starts at company level (…)companies
with higher levels of mutual trust between
managers and workers' representatives tend to
score better in terms of well-being in the
workplace, as well as in their performance.
Despite the crisis, a majority of managers (84%)
and employee representatives (67%) in European
organizations report a 'good' or 'very good' work
climate”. EC Commissioner Thyssen.

Source: Building trust and constructive conflict management in industrial

relations. Elgoibar, P., Munduate, L. & Euwema, M. (2016) Springer International
All results can be found at:
Euwema, M., Munduate, L., Elgoibar, P., Garcia, A., & Pender,
E. (2015). Promoting social dialogue in European
organizations. Human Resources management and
constructive conflict behavior. The Netherlands: Springer
International. ISBN 978-3-319-08604-0

E-book available for free at:

http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-08605-7.pdf

The tower of power. Online publication translated into

10 languages available at:

http://dialogueatwork.eu/
Elgoibar, P., Euwema, M., &
Munduate, L. (2016). Building trust
and constructive conflict
management in organizations. The
Netherlands: Springer
International. ISBN 978-3-319-
31473-0
 NEW EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS III
Mediation system effectiveness for collective
organizational conflicts: A comparative study in
Europe.
Specific objectives
• To improve knowledge of mediation as a means for conflict resolution in collective
labour issues,
• To exchange information on the impact of mediation as a means for regulating and
strengthening social dialogue across Europe and create expertise in effective design of
mediation centred dispute resolution mechanisms for employment disputes and
cooperative dialogue in the industrial relations.
• To improve the understanding of mediation as a means for strengthening social
dialogue and innovative and creative solutions for conflict resolution and promote the
exchange of good practices in the use of mediation.
European study: action oriented project
• 12 Countries: Denmark, Estonia, Poland, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Rumania

• Documentary Analyses
• Interviews with experts
Interviews with mediators
Interviews with target groups: Employers & Empl.Reps

• National forum & debate(s)

• European forum
• Web site & publications & Book
NEIRE III is still in progress…

If you would like to participate sharing with us your

experience please write to the coordination team of the
project at:
neire@kuleuven.be
 Thank you for your attention!

“Well – managed conflict is an investment in the future.

People trust each other more, feel more powerful and
efficacious, and believe their joint efforts will pay off”
(Tjosvold, 1997).

Dr. Patricia Elgoibar

Department of Business, University of Barcelona
e.mail: patriciaelgoibar@ub.edu