Works councils in Europe: an opportunity for IC

You’ve worked on an initiative for weeks. Near the launch date, you’re on a planning call with your international support team, and someone in Europe asks, “Have you cleared this with works councils?”

You wonder, what’s a works council?

If you don’t know the answer, I’ve got some bad news. Unless you’ve already done the review, your launch in Europe may be delayed for weeks – or even longer.

I once saw a Yammer launch in Germany delayed for more than a year because it was stalled in a works council. For those of us in the comms team, it felt like a lifetime of workarounds.

Because of delays like these, works councils get a bad rap with employee comms departments and leadership. But European works councils have potential to be among our biggest allies, and it’s in everyone’s best interest for internal comms to cultivate a long-term relationship.

What is a works council?

In certain European countries, larger multinational companies are required to establish works councils internally. Works councils are bodies of employee representatives that serve as a mechanism for communication and consultation between employees and management. Any change in work conditions or employee experience – which includes the launch of a communications platform – must normally be introduced first to the councils.

When people first hear the term ‘works council,’ they often imagine labor unions. If the company has a “union-avoidance strategy” (i.e., don’t engage!), it’s tempting to try to sneak things past them. This avoidance mindset is more typical of US-based businesses, but I’ve seen it even among leaders in Germany, where the works council tradition is long and strong.

How works councils help us

Many see consultation with works councils as an unwanted regulation, and they turn to the councils only when they have to. That is, when they need to share bad news such as reductions in force, location changes, outsourcing, etc.

Because it’s so often a forum for bad news, the relationship can be anything from mutual tolerance to active hostility. Communication functions can – and should – help move that relationship to something more collaborative.

What comms needs to know about works councils

The first thing to understand is that works council representatives are employees. They are typically voted into the council, so in their local workplace, they are leaders.

You should also understand that the power of works councils varies by country. Some are more powerful than others, but they rarely have absolute veto power. Instead, it should be thought of as a consultative forum, and therefore, something to jump into rather than to avoid.

Works councils are not an external body

They are employees elected to the position, representing themselves and their colleagues.They’ve likely been with the company awhile, and since they were voted in, they are influencers. They want the company and its employees to succeed, and this is something we should work with.

Councils can be transnational

For some larger companies, an additional pan-European council is required, made up of employees from European Union countries. This European Works Council (EWC) operates similarly to single-country bodies, and the idea is to enable cross-border exchange of information relevant to employee experience.

The relationship is often managed by HR

Even if you’re hearing about works councils for the first time, someone manages the company’s interaction with its works councils. That manager is normally in-country HR. They may be protective of the relationship they’ve forged and hesitant to let others come in sporadically.

Timelines are longer than we would like

Some councils meet irregularly or only a couple of times a year. If the agenda is determined long in advance, as is often the case, it may be a long time before you get face time. Their meeting frequency can make quick changes more difficult, but if you schedule time with them regularly, you’ll build a good relationship over time. There’s always something worthwhile to talk about with them.

How to work with works councils

As internal communicators, we should aspire to get time with them as often as we can. Works councils are like a focus group, except that this one meets periodically, is informed on company strategy, is motivated, and wants information. How can we resist that opportunity?

Long before we have campaign launch plans, we should be talking over our long-term goals, and we should especially use the opportunity to find out what they want. Since we are often mistakenly assigned “engagement,” the additional input can’t hurt.

Council meetings are a direct and forceful way to get feedback. Even if you’ve requested some time on their agenda, only to find you’re not ready to talk about the initiative you’d intended to, there are plenty of other things to talk about.

• Give them some background on why you’re planning what you’re planning (even if it’s only at the brainstorming stage)
• Tell them what you’re hearing and ask if they think it’s representative
• Talk about what you know, and what you don’t know but wish you did
• Discuss long-term, multi-track initiatives like digital or cultural transformation
• Review aspects of the company’s strategy, performance, and processes for decision making
• Talk over the rationale behind company policies and whether and how they might be changed

Everything you talk about should be from the perspective of our Communications function. You do not have direct influence over many aspects of workplace conditions, so you must avoid promising things you can’t deliver. That is, even if we know that a certain policy is under review, it wouldn’t be our place to talk about it if we’re not directly involved. Remember that the relationship is tightly managed, and dropping a truth bomb, or pandering in hopes of being likeable, could create a big mess.

As long as you’re sincere and flexible, you’ll find that they’re not such a tough crowd after all.

If you’d like to brainstorm how works councils could be engaged for your initiatives, contact me here or on LinkedIn.