I have been forming my own query over the past while, ever
since I became involved in the concept of "learning
organization", and I've yet to come across any literature that
addresses it specifically.
My question is "Can a learning organization work within a
unionized environment?"
To me, part of what a learning organization is involves the
concept of "work vs. jobs"; ie., a view of the evolution of
business to where there are very few defined "jobs" but there is
still "work", and people do the work that has to be done as
opposed to just what's "in my job description".
In a unionized environment, a person has a job description and
is only expected to do what's outlined in that job description.
Anything "above and beyond" becomes an issue for overtime,
reclassification or, in extreme cases, grievance or arbitration.
I should say here that I do realize that dialogue with union
representatives is very important when looking at this type of
corporate change. In a sort of related issue, we are looking at a
union contract re-negotiation within the next year, and I'm
wondering if our corporate goal (ie. learning organization)
should be uppermost in our minds during some of those
negotiations.
I apologize for the length of this post, but I'd really appreciate it if
anyone can point me in the right direction as far as reading
material goes. I'd also be interested if anyone would like to share
their personal experiences in dealing with this type of situation
or if anyone has thoughts on this in general.
Thanks very much,
Deirdre A. O'Reilly
Administrative Assistant, Client Services
Workers' Compensation Board of Nova Scotia
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
e-mail: deirdre.oreilly@wcb.gov.ns.ca
--"Deirdre O'Reilly" <Deirdre.Oreilly@wcb.gov.ns.ca>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>