Keeping Unions Out, Part Two
Posted by Patti on February 21st, 2007 / Print This Post
Some thoughts and ideas about nursing homes and Unions and how to avoid them.
To avoid unionization, management must act like a union when employee grievances ariseThe number of unionized workers in the private sector continues to diminish; it is estimated that no more than a small fraction of the nongovernmental workforce is currently unionized. To maintain a productive nonunion workforce, however, the management of nursing homes and assisted living facilities needs to assume the role that unions played at an earlier time in corporate America.
Nursing homes are typically managed in a very autocratic manner. Staff are given little to no leeway in the day to day tasks they are assigned to do. CNA’s are paid poorly and the work is very hard on them. Many aides seek union representation based upon these things: Better pay and benefits; less forced overtime, a voice in policy and procedure planning. These are the nut and bolt reasons aides want to join unions.
But another set of reasons is very clear as well. For whatever reason, the nursing home environment is very degrading to so many. Staff disagreements, disrespect, poor treatment from charge nurses and others; family who make demands that are often superficial and often leave other residents with less time for care. The workplace culture of the typical nursing home is a sad sight. Aides are left feeling they have no recourse for their concerns and issues. They feel helpless and devalued.
Unfortunately, not many nursing homes and assisted living facilities have managers trained to “supplant” unions, and that lack of training can be a significant detriment to a company’s overall well-being.
This is very true…the lack of sound and basic management experience we see in so many who lead is evident…the administrators try hard to be fair, to be honest, to do the right things…but MANY of them have no real MANAGEMENT experience. Sure, they are college educated with business degrees. Yes, they are licensed to do their job. But to actually manage staff— I don’t think so.
Some ideas to make a nursing home UNION FREE:
Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs
Human resources (HR) executives must be expert in administering alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs, of which there are many types. ADR programs are generally welcomed by both management and employees, because they are cost-effective and swiftly arrive at fair resolutions. One obstacle that I frequently encounter, unfortunately, is management’s fear of giving up its traditional power. Yet by involving employees in the process, management will not be perceived as arbitrary or capricious. I always try to explain to administrators and managers that by being proactive rather than reactive, they create a general feeling among employees of inclusion, and that goes a long way toward increasing productivity and morale.While there are many ADR programs that I recommend as part of an overall proactive program, the three most common types are:
* Arbitration. This is an adjudication process during which a third party hears both sides of a dispute, weighs the evidence, and renders a decision. Both sides may agree prior to the commencement of arbitration that the arbitrator’s decision will be binding, or they may agree that there could be an appeal to another body to reach a mutually acceptable decision.
* Mediation. In this case, the third party does not render a decision but facilitates open and ongoing communication designed to lead to a mutually acceptable settlement. In most cases, the mediator is an outside professional without the authority to render a decision.
* Peer review. This is a representative adjudication process that relies upon a selected panel of managers and employees. A majority of the panel is required to render a binding decision. Peer review should not threaten management’s perquisites, because in most cases employees will side with management.
These programs give all employees a voice in every aspect of their work. Usually the issues that would be addressed by these programs would be disciplinary actions, evaluations and pay raises (or lack of). Most times, the employee filing a concern is found to be correct with their issue. Management has to agree to accept the terms of the agreements made and so do the employees.
Focus Groups
When management successfully supplants the role of a union, it also undertakes one of unions’ traditional roles: listening closely to what employees think and feel about their jobs, their futures, and their company and its policies.One of the best means of doing this is through focus groups, which provide management with significant opportunities to gather reliable and representative information about its workforce and their attitudes. Focus groups also permit management to communicate real issues through ongoing employee involvement.
Not just with employee attitudes, these groups can render extremely valuable information about procedures, risks, quality of nursing care, safety and budgetary issues. CNA’s, housekeepers and dietary workers have a lot of really good insight into the ways and hows and means of their jobs. They also have ideas for improvement and innovation. Listen to them!
Team Building
Focus groups lead to team building. While focus groups are exploratory, teams are the instruments that implement strategic plans designed to accomplish specific goals.Historically, unions have created a sense of employees playing on the same team, a sense of employee solidarity. In today’s complex work environment, management can create that same spirit of solidarity to accomplish commonly shared productivity goals and to solve important problems.
Teams can serve such purposes as enhancing communication and resolving conflicts, but teams are most effective as a means of increasing productivity and enhancing employee morale. When it comes to meeting certain productivity criteria, for example, the entire team is mutually responsible for reaching those goals. One need only look at various sports teams to see how valuable mutual cooperation is to winning. In successful corporations, no one is an individual sprinter, although individual initiative is extremely important to the overall success of a team and the achievement of its goals.
I have two thoughts about team building. I think there are two different types of teams to be spoken for…the actual teams that work together each shift…in each unit and department. And then there are other teams- groups brought together to address problems and issues. BOTH groups need to learn to work together to accomplish anything.
1) Unit based teams can and should be given some autonomy as to how they work together. Group norms, expectations and problems can be dealt with by the members of the team, without management involvement. Scheduling, assignments and activities can be planned by the staff who regularly work these units. In order to achieve a well run team it’s leader MUST be well versed in leadership skills…and most charge nurses have no real management experience. So this is risky.
2) Teams pulled together to address broader company wide issues need to be educated on how real teams work. Ideas about building consensus, debate, and all those other skills are not naturally learned.
Coaching
An essential spur for a team’s success is having an effective coach. A coach is a counselor, not a disciplinarian. The coach encourages employees to do better, to accomplish more; the coach works to rehabilitate negative employee attitudes, emphasizing what’s positive; the coach is not a punitive taskmaster.
Team leaders, focus group leaders ALL must get out of the BOSS mode and get into the “We’re working together to make it better” mode. Management has to drop it’s hat and allow others to help them MANAGE.
Of all the advice offered up through this article I have linked to here, this is one of the best:
Employee Advocate Representative
As unions have shop stewards who represent the interests of the union members by reporting back to union officials, so nonunionized companies can have what is known as an Employee Advocate Representative (EAR). The EAR position is usually a trial assignment aimed at improving morale by involving employees in a broad spectrum of management activities and decisions. When employees want to make their concerns known to management, the EAR listens and then voices those concerns to management. The EAR is both the ears and voice for employees. This position may or may not be salaried and is held for a limited time. Once a term expires, another employee is either chosen or volunteers to be the EAR. To enhance a sense of employee inclusion, the EAR position should be filled by as many employees as possible. Such rotation ensures the greatest amount of employee inclusion and further guarantees that no employee is perceived as a being a tool of management. In small companies, the EAR can work in that position for an hour or two each week.
An in house mediator…someone who is trusted to speak up for those who don’t want to speak for themselves. Someone who is respected and fair; someone who has the ability to see ALL sides of issues YET someone who works on the units. The person who accepts this role must be emotionally strong as well. Management must allow this person the time to perform the very important tasks needed. This might mean a shift a week of being assigned to NON NURSING duties.
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Thanks Patti for these. I\’ll share them at work.
February 23rd, 2007 at 7:12 pm
I don’t think the managers at my work are ready for anything like this. The DNS is pretty tight with her charge nurses. None of them are good at managing much. And even if they were willing to look into this, the first question would be:
HOW MUCH??
Everythings about money!
I think if my work were under a threat to go union this stuff would catch the managers attention. More than anything they don’t want unions.
February 24th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
“…the lack of sound and basic management experience we see in so many who lead is evident…the administrators try hard to be fair, to be honest, to do the right things…but MANY of them have no real MANAGEMENT experience. Sure, they are college educated with business degrees. Yes, they are licensed to do their job. But to actually manage staff— I don’t think so.”
Not sure what you base this assessment on…Otherwise, good tips(everything is NOT about money).
Thanks.
February 24th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Hey Matt– don’t YOU take this personally. YOU are an enlightened manager- I can tell by your posts at your site.
Not all administrators are as awesome as you….
lol!!
February 24th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
I appreciate the comment, Patti. I just know that if there is one thing that brings our entire industry down, it is generalizations. There are a lot of poorly run faciities; a lot of misguided nursing employees; a lot of families with difficult expectations.
But for every negative there are just as many positives.
February 25th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
The nursing home I worked at was different. Not only were staff not involved with management stuff, we didn’t even KNOW who the administrator was…she was always holed up in her office with the door closed. We knew WHAT she looked like and HER NAME, but not much else. She kept herself locked up and that was fine with us. The DON had the same policy- closed door.
Where I work now the DON is never around. She’s a member of every committee and group but she doesn’t know the names of her aides half the time. My employer isn’t big enough where she should NOT know us. The administrator is not a shut in but we only see him when the state’s around.
February 25th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
I don’t think every aide and nurse and housekeeper always WANTS to be overly involved with management stuff. Some people just want to go to work, put in their 8 hours and go home. I respect them for the attitude too. I haven’t found people like this to be negative.
On the other hand, there are always a handful of staff who will find gripe with every little policy, every effort a boss makes, every word is under scrutiny. The nit pickers and nay sayors.
Managers DO need to LEAD though, it’s what they get paid the bigger bucks for. If they set a good example, make themselves known and available, and seek input from all staff the home will be a better place. The overly negative employees need to be challenged to do better than bitch all the time without threat. They need to channel their energy into something helpful rather than destructive. THAT is the job of management as well.
February 25th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Matt- I’ve been to your site too and I would LOVE to work for you. Whether you know it or not, you’re very different -at least from what I gather by reading your posts.
The Administrator has to wear lots of hats. I don’t think most aides understand what your job really is. There is an image out there that the Administrator is the guardian of money and budgets and nothing else. Rarely will a person in this role actually lead a meeting common staff. Dept heads do this, and often here is where the breakdown in communication happens. Having direct access is one way to go. But then you’d have aides and kitchen workers in your office all day.
As for this list, I like it. But it takes a strong and ego free group of leaders to do it. They have to drop the power trips and be willing to share some of the credit and ideas.
Culture change with employment practices has a way to go in LTC…it’s very common in other industries…but not nursing, and esp nursing homes.
February 26th, 2007 at 5:29 am
It all seems so complicated. All this training and education- when it really comes down to common sense and respect to others. I *do* see a different culture in nursing homes. A dog eats dog world where only the biggest and meanest dogs survive…aides who bully others about and nurses who love them. DNS\’s who don\’t have an idea about what really happens on the units, especailly nights and on weekends. Adminstrators who don\’t have time or the care to hear from anyone other than their trusted department leaders. They\’re all around M-F 8::30 to 4:30 and after hours, forget it.
February 26th, 2007 at 7:36 am
I’ll know today whether these ideas sparked any interest at work. We sure could use some help in some of these areas. Kim your right too- not everyone wants to be involved with all this. Even though we come here to moan and groan about worklife, many of us just don’t care THAT much about it all. I want to go to work, be treated as an adult who has ideas and who deserves respect. I want to be asked for my opinions. I want to be part of a good group whose main focus is caring for the residents. I want to be treated fairly and without bias because of some mistake I made 3 years ago. Yannow???
February 26th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Judi, it does seem to be rather simple, this management stuff.
But it’s not. Human nature tends to go against the principles of good management. LOL…human beings can be nasty. They hold grudges and biases on others. They tend to allow feelings interfere with facts. It’s tough.
Nurses don’t mean to be poor managers; it’s not like they set out to be this way. Same with Admins and DON’s…they all have so much to do in their everyday work -much of which IS MANAGING issues and problems with vendors, regulatory agency, budgets, ect ect…who has time to actually manage the staff?
It’s not all doom and gloom. I believe it can only get better.
That’s one reason we are here, to talk about it all.
February 26th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I think what first needs to said is we as aides need to stop being apologists for management. It makes us appear as sell outs and no one will listens any ideas that can be had from us.
The CNAs are the first to feel the effects of sloppy management. Just the other night, I had to work the whole building with only one aide a month out of CNA class. IT WAS HARD! IT WAS WAY TOO MUCH WORK! And for this, I have the day shift darlings come in and gripe. And for this I still got my meager pay while the higher ups get triple that and the credit for a night with no catastrophes. While I was working so very hard just to keep my pts clean and dry, they were at home with their families, in a soft bed to sleep. No aching back.
When I punch out to go home, I am so tired that I have to pull my hair to stay awake as I drive home. They are driving the road that leads to their desk, where they cook up stupid and overburdening rules and regs based on out of touch and out dated ideologies.
I am sorry if I cannot find it within myself to respect the suits. I simply do not think that just because one sat on their butt for a few years of college because mommy and daddy had the money, makes them better than me.
February 26th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Kevin, I don’t see management apologists here. I see people trying to offer them some tips and advice, from US, aides who deal with the very things you mention. We do work hard, our backs hurt and we are paid little. Your antagonistic attitude shines through and you place blame on people who have little control over these things. If you wanted to YOU could be the person wearing that suit. Bet you have every excuse in the book as to why you don’t though, huh????
Having no respect for those who are charged with managing the work we do doesn’t surprise me, from you. You don’t even try to wear someone else’s shoes. You don’t want to see the other side. You just want to whine, complain, blame others and create a negative space around yourself.
If someone in a suit approached you and asked for your input, what would you do? Would you bash them for their education, would you unleash some stupid, irrelevant, feel-sorry-for-me, cry baby diatribe about their parents being rich…would you walk away and not offer any input???
You’re a very negative person and I thank Lord I don’t have to work with you. While I believe your heart is in the right place, your ability to effect change is limited because you refuse to see how your own actions, words and attitude so poorly reflect upon on you.
February 26th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Wow, ladies and gents, witness an example of the spin that the sucker-ups to the status quo can put on the true facts. Just when one thinks that this extravagant liar is finally gonna stick up for her own, she hops on her high horse to defend tyranny and run roughshod over us.
February 26th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Ahh yes Kevin’s old stand by…everyone who isn’t like him is a suck up.
Spin eh?? Show that to me Kevin.
In this post I listed many reasons why nursing home management is not good. Instead of just bitching though, I also found some useful information for those who DO manage —from a nursing home related journal. If you call that sucking up, then I hate to think of what you would call it when aides say “Hi” to the bosses…or when an aide is asked for ideas and input…or if an aide is asked to participate in a work group designed to make things better. God forbid!
I’ve worked with people like you Kevin. You’re a coward.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy- a never ending saga…that people like you live for Kevin. You don’t want to be content and you don’t want anyone else to be content. You want everyone to be a rebel rouser. You expect those you work with to be cowards, to drag others down your path. The biggest threat to you is a happy co worker. And God forbid if those who are happy seem to be in the goods with the bosses. After all, you’re miserable so everyone HAS to be as well. It’s all bitch and moan; endless complaint and insult; never any ideas or possible solutions. It’s all nay sayin and rhetoric that you use to elevate yourself into some self described hero.
Start offering some solutions. As of now, to date, I have NEVER seen even ONE tidbit of that from you.
You’re nothing more than a coward. I’m not going to allow you to come to my site here and bring it down with your negative attitudes and insults. You can do that at the forum and your own site.
Here, we’re working to find solutions and share ideas. Obviously this is something you’re not capable of understanding.
February 27th, 2007 at 12:14 am
Listen to her rant. Her calling me a coward is the same as me calling her a crackhead. It is still name calling. Who is the bigger coward, the caller or the accused, when the former hides behind anonymity and her own misplaced and stinking self righteousness.
I am here so that the CNAs that do have the misfortune to land here know your true colours.
February 27th, 2007 at 12:47 am
Kevin has been banned from this site. And the forum now.
Enough is enough.
February 27th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Kevin said:
The CNAs are the first to feel the effects of sloppy management. Just the other night, I had to work the whole building with only one aide a month out of CNA class. IT WAS HARD! IT WAS WAY TOO MUCH WORK! And for this, I have the day shift darlings come in and gripe. And for this I still got my meager pay while the higher ups get triple that and the credit for a night with no catastrophes. While I was working so very hard just to keep my pts clean and dry, they were at home with their families, in a soft bed to sleep. No aching back.
You could be in a suit if you wanted Kevin. Get real. Not everyone HAS to be the CNA nor should they be. I am sorry you had such a bad night but I guarantee you it wasn’t nearly as bad a working a day shift short. You don’t even know what work is until you’ve done that. I am sorry the day shift darlings gave you a hard time (I am assuming this even though you don’t give detail)..when I go to work and hear 3rd shift worked short I don’t gripe. I know very few aides who would do that.
Kevin on your days off and time away from work what do you do? Spend time resting in your soft warm bed, I bet. With your family? (if you have one which I kindof doubt)…thats what I do.
Gee whiz you are a blow hard with no strength behind your arguments. Bitter, bitter man you are. You’re gonna die young too cause the bitterness will takr its toll on you. Get some help. See a coucelor or someone. Also I advise you to get a different job not in nursing. YOu can’t handle this work. ever hear of anger management classes? Consider those too.
February 27th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Good advice for Kevin, Holly.
At the very least I would question someone who appears to be as angry as Kevin is safe working with frail residents, who tend to be demanding either in care needs or mannerisms. I would not trust him with anyone in a nursing home, based on what I read of his own words. His anger shines through, sarcasm and demeaning nature. If he gets mad a boss types who wear suits, who knows what he does with a resident who has a college degree and who once wore a suit. Or a resident who bucks him…gets testy…refuses care…tells him to get lost.
Then again he is all talk and no action as we have seen. He’s a coward for sure.
February 27th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
On my days off I catch up on sleep and the things to get done…shopping laundry errands…you know, the same things those who wear suits have to do as well.
February 28th, 2007 at 7:43 am
Thanks Patti! (for banning Kevin) I’ve also worked with people like him. They don’t last long in any one place. But maybe he is working for a very BAD Manager because a good manager would see what a trouble maker he is and fired him! If he acts the same way at work as he does on this website how could he ever keep a job. I know sometime for management it is a matter of having a warm body to work but at some point with someone like him you have to cost your losses and get rid of them.
February 28th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
mary I have thought of that as the basis of the problem. It would really really SUCK to have a group of bosses who so ignore every issue, who trample upon your concerns, it would SO wear me down. When anyone is in this situation, they should LEAVE and get another job. For their own well being. Sometimes bad attitudes have worked at a place for SO long, the bosses chose to disregard the BA…for a reason…
February 28th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Your welcome Mary.
Kevin is welcome here when he can show he’s capable of being respectful even in disagreement. I thought, by mistake that he and I had come to those terms over at the forum. Agree to disagree type of thing, with respect for the others ideas. Guess I was wrong. I know he can do better. And so does he.
February 28th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
On my days off I sleep, eat, drink beer, go snowmobiling, and of course do all the errands. I work weekends, 2 back to back 16 hour shifts. It’s tough- those are long days for sure.
Mondays are my dead day…I wake up around 3pm and slowly come back to life. The rest of the week I’m pretty busy- with my hobbies and classes I’m taking. Also, my kids keep me running even though they are all in college.
March 6th, 2007 at 1:45 am
I’m a recent graduate of a CNA program. Reading these comments is kinda making me think that this may be too rough for me.
I did read it fast because its late.
I will reread this more carefully when i get time. It has been enlightening though.
March 6th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Awe relax Robert. You won’t be effecting by too much of this. New aides usually aren’t. Just do your work as you’re trained and be aware of the aides who are negative. You’ll figure out who they are soon enough. Steer clear of them.