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Archives:
April 16, 2008
Queen's IRC Road Show Heads West
January 29, 2008
Change management for feds: Program jointly developed with CSPS
December 17, 2007
Queen's IRC Senior Fellow Dr. David Weiss Garners International Accolades
November 15, 2007
Creative collaboration: Queen’s IRC and The Banff Centre join forces
October 16, 2007
The Conductive Organization: Leveraging Knowledge to Build Capability
August 29, 2007
Vic Pakalnis of Ontario’s Ministry of Labour is Amethyst Fellow at Queen’s SPS
May 25, 2007
Queen's IRC Launches Ottawa Alumni Chapter
May 12, 2007
IRC Alumni Event in Halifax May 23, 2007
April 9, 2007
Queen’s IRC Granted $1 Million by Ontario Government for Contributions to IR Practitioner Education
March 15, 2007
HR Meeting of the Minds: Queen's Conference in Kingston
November 23, 2006
CBC’s HR/IR Leader Shares the Secrets of Strategic Negotiations
October 31, 2006
After the (Program) Rush: IRC Survey Shows How Organizational Learners Are Supported
October 30, 2006
Queen's IRC Launches First Alumni Chapter
October 24, 2006
CBC’S George Smith Presents Don Wood Lecture Nov. 9
August 3, 2006
Richard McKinnell of OPS Joins School of Policy Studies as a Fellow
July 19, 2006
New Director: Paul Juniper
June 9, 2006
Managing Across the Generations
June 1, 2006
Roy Heenan's Contributions Recognized with Award
May 29, 2006
Diversity Is the Spice of Organizational Life
May 19, 2006
Steve Lehrer Appointed NBER Research Fellow
March 21, 2006
Queen's IRC Symposium Papers Now Online
Feb 22, 2006
Queen’s MIR Program Welcomes New Professor
Feb 11, 2006
Buzz Hargrove on the State of the Unions
Oct 05, 2005
High Performance Professional Teams: A Symposium
Aug 25, 2005
IRC Director: The search for Dr. Beatty's successor begins
Aug 2, 2005
Popular SPS Fellow Is Going to the Senate
July 21, 2005
Former Queen's Business professor passes away
April 28, 2005
IRC has “Vision”: Centre wins major HR award
February 22, 2005
Change Management - Clinics
July 14, 2004
“Teams” Research Grants Announced
May 1, 2004
Industrial Relations Centre has a New Queen's Partner
April 15, 2004
Call for Research Papers: High Performance Professional Teams
January 6, 2004
Queen's IRC Makes Its Mark in School Board Reform
22 October 2003
OD Certificates: Presenting the IRC’s #1 Alumnus
June 22, 2003
IN MEMORIAM: Dr. William Donald Wood
May 15, 2003
Queen’s IRC Introduces Organization Development Training for HR Managers
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November 23, 2006
For immediate release
CBC’s HR/IR Leader Shares the Secrets of Strategic Negotiations
George C.B. Smith, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Organization at CBC/Radio-Canada, shared lessons from his 33-year career as a management negotiator at November’s Don Wood Lecture at Queen’s University School of Policy Studies.
“If you can create organizational alignment, manage the interpersonal aspects, and manage the complexities of the process, you have a good chance of being successful in strategic negotiations,” Smith told more than 80 attendees.
The three key success factors, identified by academic theory, are borne out by his experience, Smith said. And they apply equally whether you are on the management or the union side of the table.
Smith should know: over the past three decades he has participated in more than 100 negotiations of all descriptions. Since July 1996, he has been responsible for all aspects of human resources and industrial relations at CBC/Radio Canada, and was a senior negotiator during the broadcaster’s two-month lockout of 5,500 employees last year. Previously he worked in the Canadian transportation industry, in positions that include VP of Industrial Relations at CP Rail System, and Senior Director of Employee Relations at Air Canada.
Drawing on his varied experiences, Smith elaborated on each of the three success factors.
Organizational alignment
“This needs to begin at the top of the house – the Board, the CEO, and the senior management team define business strategy, and then an IR strategy in support of the business strategy.” His experiences show that there must be organizational commitment, enabling an HR/IR executive to have a seat at the executive table, and not just during bargaining. That way the IR strategy can be properly implemented, he said. “This is not easily achieved but is a constant in organizations that are successful at strategic negotiations.”
Management of interpersonal relationships
“Negotiation is far from being a rational business process," Smith reminded the audience. "I've seen people break down in tears, grown adults playing children’s games to relieve the stress, people gain or lose 20 pounds, and people from both sides of the table suffering from a type of post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Companies that are successful in negotiating find a way to manage the human element, he said, recommending training in team-building and stress management. The pressure can become intense, and it is important to find ways to keep a human face on the conflict. Smith said his daughter once gave jellybeans to Buzz Hargrove after a tense negotiation between CP Rail and the union, and a photo of this lighter moment was featured on the front page of both organizations’ magazines.
Smith also cited the example of a pilot who had been involved in difficult Air Canada negotiations in the 1980s, who later told him that the experience was good preparation for being held hostage by a hijacker with a fire-axe in the cockpit of his plane. The pilot, using techniques he had learned during negotiations, struck up a conversation with the hijacker, asking him why he smoked, helping to defuse tension.
Managing complexities at the bargaining table
“You need to be well-prepared; recognize the fundamentally adversarial nature of the process; that there is no magic formula; and that power and perceptions of power affect the negotiations,” Smith said. In particular, “consider the government of the day and how its agenda might impact your issue,” he emphasized.
The Don Wood Visiting Lectureship in Industrial Relations is organized by the Queen's University Industrial Relations Centre and Master of Industrial Relations ( MIR ) Program, School of Policy Studies . It features distinguished individuals, such as Smith, who have made an important contribution to industrial relations in Canada or abroad.
The lectureship was established by friends of Dr. W. Donald Wood to honour his outstanding contributions to Canadian industrial relations. Dr. Wood was Professor Emeritus, Queen's University, a former Director of the Industrial Relations Centre (1960-85), and the first Director of the School of Industrial Relations (1983-85).
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