This course is designed for leaders and managers working in unionized environments who want a confident, practical approach to managing performance. It begins with an exploration of the psychology of motivation and introduces a proven bifurcated framework that clearly distinguishes between managing poor performance and addressing serious misconduct, such as policy breaches. This best practice approach is easy to apply and helps managers reduce tension, remove emotion from the process, and manage all types of performance issues more effectively.
Learning Objectives
• Understanding and exercising management rights in unionized environments
• Differentiating between misconduct and poor performance, including culpable versus nonculpable behaviour
• Understanding how and why this distinction matters
• Measuring performance using both lagging and leading indicators
• Establishing clear and enforceable workplace rules using the KVP principles
• Understanding what motivates employees
• Applying effective coaching techniques to support performance improvement
• Using progressive discipline appropriately and consistently
• Managing poor performance in a unionized environment
• Managing blatant misconduct in a unionized environment
• Overcoming common barriers in unionized workplaces
• Ensuring actions are defensible through effective documentation
• Understanding why terminations using this approach have been upheld by arbitrators
Who should attend this program?
HR and Labour Relations management at all levels (Coordinators, Generalists, Specialists, Managers, Directors, VPs)
Registration Difficulties/Questions: Please reach out to the Professional Development team at Professionaldevelopment@hrpa.ca
Speaker(s)
Sue Mackintosh
Sue Mackintosh is the Managing Director and Chief Strategist at Oakbridges Labour Relations Strategists Inc., a firm she co-founded in 2012. With more than 35 years of experience in human resources and labour relations, Sue has supported organizations operating in complex, unionized environments across Canada. She has led labour relations strategies for major capital projects valued between $1B and $12B, as well as for mergers, integrations, construction projects, and collective bargaining initiatives across manufacturing, mining, power, airline, and distribution sectors.
Prior to Oakbridges, Sue held senior HR and labour relations leadership roles at Bruce Power and Loblaw Companies Limited. She holds a Master of Industrial Relations and an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and is a member of HRPA. Sue is also a published author and respected thought leader in labour relations strategy.