It is a sad reflection on human nature that, whilst we have achieved phenomenal technological progress, our interpersonal skills remain almost as underdeveloped as ever. Royal Mail (when times are good) can send a letter across the length of the country in a few hours, for a few pence; it is even said that they can deliver a request to Santa Claus at the North Pole. But they and their trades union still cannot find common ground to resolve an industrial dispute.

In their acclaimed book Getting to Yes, Roger Fisher and William L. Ury point out that the art of negotiation is to focus on interests, not positions. In the case of the Royal Mail dispute each side holds strongly felt, conflicting positions. But they have common interests.

In a nutshell, the union’s position is to protect the working conditions of their members. The management position is to protect the commercial viability of the organisation. Each party feels that their position necessarily excludes the other’s and that is why no agreement is possible.

But both management and unions do have shared interests. Each side wants the Royal Mail to survive. Both management and workers want to keep their jobs, they both want greater prosperity, they both want Royal Mail to be successful. According to Fisher and Ury, if the negotiations were to focus on these shared interests, looking at how these goals can be achieved, rather than getting bogged down in intractable positions, there would be a far greater chance of a satisfactory resolution.

Of course it is unlikely that the negotiators have ignored the interests that both parties have in common. But whilst the media statements issued by both parties continue to focus on their differences rather than their commonality, it is hard to escape the conclusion that the real issue here is neither working conditions or commercial viability. Rather, it is the poor negotiating skills present at the table.

Related posts:

1. Winter of Discontent? “Now is the Winter of Our Discontent”. The opening words...
2. Industrial Relations A BBC analysis of labour relations notes that as the...
3. Women In Banking A cross-party group of MPs are recommending that the banking...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

We ordered goods from this supplier, with whom we have a long standing arrangement and who we pay each month by direct debit. They said they had a new company policy which required payment in advance from all customers, no matter how good their trading credit,  because they ‘have so many customers who are going bust.’

The account manager that I deal with was embarrassed and said it was a decision taken by his accounts team. Apparently the entire sales force was up in arms because the policy was upsetting long standing customers, like Career Energy, who had budgeted to pay monthly in line with standard business practice, and who now felt they were being treated with suspicion.

There were urgent meetings going on between the heads of the sales and accounts teams but where, I wondered, was senior management in all this. Was it really a case of the accounts team being over officious or was the company in trouble and desperate to get its hands on as much cash as possible, as quickly as possible?

It seems like a small matter and one which is easily corrected. But in cases like this, unless the company board or chief executive steps in to ensure that the needs of both the sales and accounts teams are met and that the company can continue to trade and get paid, the consequences are likely to be business failure and the entire staff joining the dole queue. I have no idea what the management of this company is like. But it does not seem to be very good.

Related posts:

1. A Great Opportunity We have reached the point, common to all recessions, at...
2. Career Planning For Flatter Organisations This weekend we saw the first indications of how public...
3. Winter of Discontent? “Now is the Winter of Our Discontent”. The opening words...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.