'Best Practices’ Promoting Union-Management Cooperation

At the Yale Center for British Art, when an exhibition draws to a close, those who have been involved in its creation — from those on the curatorial staff to those who handled the myriad administrative tasks associated with the show, those who planned and executed its physical set-up and those on the security team — gather to discuss what went right, what went wrong and how to do better next time.

This group critique, which has helped the museum to streamline its workplace processes, is a direct result of a program at Yale known as “Best Practices,” which is designed to promote union-management cooperation at the University.

The Best Practices concept — which has been widely adopted in a variety of industries — is that bringing together management and union members “allows them to learn more about each others’ interests, develop new habits of problem-solving, experience success in this new and different way of working together, and as a result, build more constructive relationships that expand to other areas,” says Jane Savage, director of Yale’s Best Practices initiative.

Yale’s Best Practices program was forged during the 2002 labor negotiations, and took full root in 2004 when John Pepper, former vice president for finance and administration, and the presidents of Yale’s two largest unions, Laura Smith and Robert Proto, established two key joint leadership groups: the Officer-level Policy Board, which provides directions and helps resolve issues that escalate above the department level, and the Initiative Steering Committee, which guides and fosters joint initiatives across campus.

Today, five Yale departments have long-standing Joint Departmental Committees. One early success story, notes Savage, was the Yale Golf Course, where new procedures jointly established by management and union members have improved the maintenance of the facility, restoring its reputation as one of the country’s premier courses. Another recent success story, says Savage, has been unfolding in Yale Dining Services, where a team of managers and union members have addressed a series of long-standing staffing issues and are designing more flexible jobs.

In addition, a campus-wide team has developed a one-day labor relations workshop that will be included in the Managing at Yale, three-day Great Manager Program. Teams have also developed pilot conflict resolution programs at Yale University Health Services and the Yale Library.

The new labor agreement (see related story) outlines many new project commitments, including implementing skill-development and support for internal advancement opportunities for staff, and piloting a new team model in Custodial Services with a staff “team leader” and a focus on customer service.