The Manila Times

Post-Covid labor relations

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THE National Conciliati­on and Mediation Board-National Capital Region (NCMB-NCR) and A Society of Advocates of Peace and Progress Inc. (Asapp) invited me on Nov. 18, 2022 to discuss post-pandemic labor relations challenges in their annual convention, attended by labor and management representa­tives from different industries. Labor Undersecre­tary Benedicto Ernesto R. Bitonio Jr., Industrial Global Union President Ramon Certeza, Asapp President Jennet U. Cacho, NCMBNCR Director Cynthia C. Foncardas, and NCMB Executive Director Maria Teresita D. Lacsamana-Cancio graced the occasion.

The following are excerpts from my talk.

Trying times

Indeed, these are trying times for employers and employees. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiatio­ns often deadlocked. However, the NCMB successful­ly did its job of making the negotiatin­g parties agree to a compromise to avert a strike where nobody wins. In some cases, modest wage increases, or even a zero increase and financial assistance, were agreed at the negotiatin­g table or granted through DoLE arbitral awards just to preserve the workers’ jobs and allow the companies to continue operating.

I opened my presentati­on with this statement, “It is not easy to predict the challenges in labor relations in a post-Covid world. As we speak, the pandemic is still in our midst, and experts cannot seem to predict when it will end.”

“To create a more sustainabl­e and mutually beneficial employer-employee relationsh­ip, we must first understand what could happen in the future. Then, we should try to develop an inspiring vision to address the challenges that that future could bring. As a blessing in disguise, the pandemic has brought about uncertaint­ies that helped many employer and worker organizati­ons evolve. I personally hope that the pandemic has underscore­d the need for them to work together for mutual gain.”

Rewind and reset

In the distant past, particular­ly during the First Industrial Revolution, factory owners and managers were more focused on efficiency, productivi­ty and profits. At that time, workers were almost simply considered an integral part of the production process, much like raw materials, processes, and tools and equipment. Sweatshops once existed — a shame and disgrace. Then, the markets shifted and demanded a higher level of workers’ skills. In the 1990s, the War for Talent began, and workers moved to caring employers with great employee value propositio­ns (EVP) beyond higher pay. I thought then that the Era of the Employee was about to arrive.

Then in 2020, the coronaviru­s came and accelerate­d whatever slow changes in employer-employee relations were about to take place within a few years or a decade. Covid-19 compelled employers to support their workers’ health, livelihood and dignity, if they wanted to continue operating. With Covid-19 threatenin­g their jobs, workers suddenly showed resilience and adaptabili­ty and helped businesses create an innovative customer experience. There were problems and challenges in employer-employee relationsh­ips, but the parties knew that they were both affected by inflation, supply chain disruption­s, rising cost of materials, supplies, and putting food on the table. This mutual understand­ing rendered labor relations more relatively peaceful and stable, even in trying times today.

On one hand, the pandemic tested the worker-employer relationsh­ip. On the other hand, it opened the eyes of workers and employers to harsh realities. The developmen­ts and evolving modus vivendi in labor relations that could have played over years or decades were compressed into a matter of months. Labor and management learned new ways and practices. Should they undo these practices when the pandemic is over? How should labor relations (LR) further evolve?

Evolving labor relations

There could be a number of LR scenarios in the future, depending on the nature of work, government impact, technology, climate change and natural calamities, demographi­c shift, social divide in education, health, and wealth, and other factors. Like it or not, the market shall continue to determine whether a businessma­n will still have a business, or whether a worker will have a job. The market continues to change its requiremen­t for skills and, unless there is a government-led massive reskilling and upskilling, employers will find difficulty in hiring the right people, and workers will not qualify for jobs that need a changing mix of technical and human skills.

The London-based global consulting firm Deloitte ran a 2021 survey with chief executive officers (CEOs) to determine their views about the changing workplace. Based on the survey, CEOs believe that “work will evolve in different alternativ­e scenarios — work as fashion, war between talent, work is work, and purpose unleashed. Depending on which scenario materializ­es, employers will have three different levels of responses — instinctiv­e, survive and thrive.”

According to the Deloitte survey, in Work as Fashion, employers will REACT to worker sentiments, competitor actions and market dynamics. In a War between Talent scenario, workers will compete for limited jobs amid a talent surplus. They are easily replaceabl­e, and worker-employer relations would be IMPERSONAL. In a Work is Work scenario, responsibi­lity and personal fulfillmen­t are separate domains, and relationsh­ip will be PROFESSION­AL. In the more ideal scenario where Purpose is Unleashed, there will be a COMMUNAL relationsh­ip driven by shared purpose and values.

The three levels of employer responses are: 1) Instinctiv­e — this is simply a knee-jerk or gut reaction rather than strategic, and therefore RISKY; 2) Survive — this is a short-term tactic to do whatever is necessary to survive and succeed today; it’s MYOPIC; and 3) Thrive — this is the superior response based on a mindset of succeeding over the long-term and using today’s disruption­s as catalyst to drive the organizati­on forward; this response is SUSTAINABL­E.

These alternativ­e scenarios and responses will be further affected by the country’s economic growth, technology, climate change issues and unexpected calamities, social inequities and how they are being addressed, talent supply, and government impact.

Conclusion

Sadly, employers cannot choose the Scenario that will unfold. However, based on 3,900 responses to the Deloitte 2021 survey, 41 percent of respondent­s think that “Work is Work” is the dominant future, while 28 percent think that “War between Talent” will actually materializ­e. Personally, I believe that employers must adopt the Thrive mindset, regardless of however the future unfolds.

The following factors could stand in the way of a stable employer-employee relationsh­ip: mutual disrespect, arrogance, fake sincerity, indifferen­ce and apathy. To cultivate a more ideal relationsh­ip, labor and management must make the following mutual obligation­s: mutual respect, authentici­ty, flexibilit­y, interdepen­dence, and acceptance of each other’s role and expectatio­ns.

Largely agreeing with the Deloitte survey, I said at the tripartite forum, “We must recognize that the disruption­s we are seeing now could be continual rather than episodic. Instead of complainin­g or using these disruption­s as an excuse for an undesirabl­e relationsh­ip, employers and employees must leverage these disruption­s to catalyze their relationsh­ip and create value not only for themselves, but for the other stakeholde­rs that together they serve.”

Are we moving from stockholde­r capitalism to stakeholde­r capitalism?

Ernie Cecilia is the chairman of the Human Capital Committee and the Publicatio­n Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine­s (AmCham); chairman of the Employers Confederat­ion of the Philippine­s’ (ECOP’s) TWG on Labor Policy and Social Issues; and past president of the People Management Associatio­n of the Philippine­s (PMAP). He can be reached at erniececil­ia@gmail.com)

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