No images? Click here Dear EOA Subscriber, We are delighted to welcome Anna Booth and Clive Thompson of CoSolve for our next EOA Experts Panel webinar to discuss Tackling the worker engagement deficit - how can ‘cooperative workplaces’ become more prevalent in Australian industry. This webinar will be held on Monday, 17th April 2023 at 10 am (AEST). After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join the webinar.’ Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_E5aCv0ZoRe6k8UQZL42h3Q More infoEmployee ownerships, cooperatives, and mutuals are member-owned ‘social businesses’ because they put people at the centre of the enterprise. That being the case, one would think that member-owned businesses in Australia would be doing something distinctive and special in their relationships with their own employees. But generally, they don’t. For the most part, their workplace relations in Australia fit the national pattern: testy interactions with unions, average workplace practices, and patchy employee engagement. What accounts for this apparently anomalous state of affairs? Is it time for member-owned enterprises to walk the complete talk? From their recent work with a range of mutual enterprises, Anna Booth and Clive Thompson from EOA member, CoSolve, will be discussing the promises, the challenges, and the obstacles surrounding the quest for cooperative workplaces in Australian industry. With the evidence available showing that ‘shared ownership’ encourages productive relations in the workplace, it is clear that deeper insights into workplace dynamics, the careful shaping of workplace culture, and gainsharing are key drivers for success. Where employers and employees collaborate to improve the performance of their business, there are better prospects of joint success, including better job security, higher wages, and higher profits. The lesson for the broader employee ownership sector appears to be that ‘ownership’ without ‘participation’ produces very little by way of mutual gain. Topic areas to be tackled will include: 1. Gains left on the table 2. Why the employee engagement gap? → the absence of legal and institutional support → the managerial mindset → employee passivity 3. Co-authoring and sustaining a new workplace culture 4. Taking workplace to codesign seriously 5. Taking consultation and codetermination seriously 6. Distributed influence and decision-making 7. Leveraging employee ownership 8. Where are the unions? Related to these matters is Employee Ownership Australia’s submission to the ‘Jobs and Skills Summit’ last year. Watch the recording: Employee ownership trusts in law firms: can it happen in Australia?There are now over 1,000 companies owned by employee ownership trusts in the UK, including many professional services firms in fields like architecture. As far as law firms go, there is only a handful that has converted to EOTs in the UK, and none in Australia - yet. Share your story with EOA!EOA is looking to publish more stories about employee share ownership schemes in 2023. If you manage or are involved in an employee ownership project we'd love to hear from you! Questions for the publication will include why the specific scheme was launched, whether the main objectives were achieved, whether the scheme has been successful and what the average employee participation rate is. If you would like to be involved, please email EOA Communications Officer at info@employeeownership.com.au |