Our readers have seen consistent mention of the potential risks to workers and employers alike posed by currently contemplated Employee Free Choice (EFCA), or so-called “card check” legislation. We continue to believe that any statute that negates a worker’s right to have the serious matter of union representation resolved by secret ballot vote is a step backward. That said, organizations that are committed to remaining union-free must do more, far more than simply joining lobbying efforts to defeat proposed legislation. Sadly, too many companies are losing sight of this axiom, or are mistakenly using a temporary “employer’s market” as an excuse for failing to do the necessary things to retaining a focused, fired up, union-free workforce. It’s akin to saying that you needn’t brush your teeth because your town puts fluoride in the water.

Businesses that choose to tap into the discretionary effort (we call it Oomph!) of an engaged workforce unencumbered by an uninvited third party need to routinely (as in consistently) take measures which make it unnecessary for people to look outside the organization for representation. Like what? Like…

Listening – Really listening, both personally and institutionally. One of the absolute requirements for selecting managers ought to be communications skills – including the propensity for listening. People who can’t or won’t routinely evidence understanding of the fact that they were issued two ears and exactly one mouth have no business leading others. One way to augment listening on an institutional level is to diligently use employee surveys, with the results tracked across time at both the unit and leader level, and used as a significant piece of the organization’s performance metrics.

Making Sure that No One Is Abused or Humiliated – In a speech at the Armed Forces Staff College (Delos C. Emmons Lecture Series), Major General Melvin Zais suggested that leaders who push people around because they can are “a little man with a little job and a big head.” I’ll take it a step further and suggest that they are not leaders at all, and need to be on someone else’s payroll, preferably a competitor’s.

Treating People Fairly & Providing an Avenue for Problem Resolution – One of the chief things that drives employees into the arms of a labor union is the lack of an internal mechanism for resolving workplace problems. As a matter of course, each of us wants to know where we can go to get a fair hearing and resolution if/when we think we’re being treated unfairly. Smart organizations realize that it is far better to provide that avenue internally rather than leaving it to the courts and other outsiders.

Showing Up When People are Having a Tough Time – When everything is said and done, leadership is personal. We either gain or lose our folks one heart at a time. One important way to earn the benefit of the doubt in a world that has become entirely too crusty, cynical and self-absorbed is to be there, in person, whenever someone on your team is having a tough time. Don’t send them a Tweet or an email, show up.

If you’re unwilling to do these things day in and day out, regardless of the economic weather, then you don’t deserve (and likely won’t get) the benefit of the doubt of your workforce when it comes to deploying their discretionary effort, or for that matter, voting “No” in a representation election.

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A thought leader in the arena of leadership and employee engagement, Bill Catlette is a seminar leader, keynote speaker, and executive coach. He helps individuals and organizations improve business outcomes by having a focused, engaged, capably led workforce. For more information about Bill, his partner Richard Hadden, and their work, please visit their website at www.contentedcows.com, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ContentedCows

Recent conversations with executives from a variety of industries give rise to concern that the so called “Employee Free Choice Act” now dormant in the 110th Congress is being largely and unwisely ignored by American business.

I say, “unwisely” because the legislation is materially dangerous to the interests of businesses and employees alike, and because its resuscitation and passage by a 111th Congress more beholden to organized labor seems likely.

To the uninitiated, the EFCA is a piece of labor legislation intended to make it easier, a lot easier, for unions to organize workers and extract a collective bargaining agreement. Unlike current law which provides for a secret ballot election overseen by federal agents , EFCA would certify a union as the collective bargaining agent after a majority of employees have signed “authorization cards”… no privacy, no anonymous vote, no federal representative – just a union organizer who is free to exert unseemly influence in whatever fashion he chooses.

EFCA impact extends beyond the organizing process by providing a 120 day window for the business to agree to a contract after authorization of the union. If those efforts fail, the union is free to invite federal arbitrators into the process to stipulate contract terms.

Given the prospect of a new congress wanting to flex its muscle and repay a campaign debt to organized labor at no direct cost to the federal budget, it seems nearly certain that this legislation will soon be resurrected. Managements and employees interested in remaining union-free would do well to proactively:

• Institute improved employee relations practices, to include employee opinion surveys and management training
• Contact their elected representatives to make their thoughts known
• Have a strategy discussion with their labor counsel and industry association