In the late 1990s, a large number of HR Policy Association member companies began expressing concerns over the quality and availability of training for members of their labor relations staffs in the field of collective bargaining. In particular, they were concerned that a considerable amount of in-house expertise was being lost as seasoned LR professionals entered retirement. At the same time, companies indicated that in the face of cost pressures, they no longer had sufficient time or resources to develop new skill sets internally.
There was additional concern expressed by member companies. They had a strong interest in courses that had been developed by management for management and that would be taught by veteran management practitioners. While a number of academic institutions do provide collective bargaining instruction, our members felt that these courses failed to develop practical bargaining skills from a management perspective.
The result was the development of a series of courses that distills the knowledge, skills, and experience of veteran collective bargaining practitioners. The courses were assembled with the input of more than 25 different HR Policy Association member companies who generously donated their time, counsel, expertise, and resources to develop our collection of best practice programs. We are pleased that over 3,000 HR professionals have taken advantage of these courses.