The success of enterprise bargaining often hinges on thorough and thoughtful preparation. Use these tips to help you enter the process with confidence.

Successful enterprise bargaining starts well before HR sits down at the negotiating table.

Bargaining can be a complex, resource-intensive process, and if the groundwork isn’t laid properly, it’s easy for negotiations to spiral into unproductive disputes that cost the business time and money.

As a result, HR practitioners have a responsibility to ensure the business enters the process armed with the tools they need to ensure a smooth negotiation, says Ross Clarke, Director at Industrial Relations consultancy service Work Relations and facilitator of AHRI’s new short course ‘Enterprise Bargaining: A Step-by-Step Engagement Plan’.

“It’s important that any HR practitioner who is dealing with employee relations, as in what people are paid and their conditions, have knowledge of enterprise bargaining,” he says.

“A lot of people think they want to bargain, but before they go ahead, they need to understand what the process is and what’s involved in it…. Putting in the work upfront in the preparation [stage] maximises your ability to deal with conflict internally and when bargaining with the unions.”

Below, Clarke, who has over two decades of experience in the bargaining room, suggests five key steps HR should take before proceeding with enterprise bargaining.

1. Assess the viability of enterprise bargaining

Before the decision is made to proceed with enterprise bargaining, an important step is to consider whether there are alternatives to bargaining that would be less onerous for the business.

“Sometimes the answer is not what you think it’s going to be,” says Clarke. “I don’t think it’s good for anyone to go down the road of an enterprise agreement and then find out there was another way to achieve what they’re trying to achieve.”

To determine if entering the enterprise bargaining process will be worth the time and resource investment required, Clarke recommends considering two factors before initiating the process: firstly, what the process will involve, and secondly, what the business is trying to achieve. 

Comparing these two factors will help HR decide whether the process is viable, he says.

“This is a key element of risk management in the business,” says Clarke. “Because, if the process is too hard and too complex, why do it?”

“I’d rather companies spend the money upfront, preparing and understanding what’s going on, rather than ending up in a battle that they weren’t expecting.” – Ross Clarke, Director at Industrial Relations consultancy service Work Relations.

2. Engage the business early 

During the preparation stages, another important part of HR’s role is putting frameworks in place to ensure key stakeholders in the business are engaged and invested in the process.

“Sometimes, your biggest conflict can be internal,” says Clarke. “Because you’ve got finance not wanting to pay money, you’ve got operations [teams] who don’t like the regulations, and a lot of times you’ve got a general view in the business of, ‘Why are we doing this in the first place?’ If you don’t cover those three things before you start, you’re not setting yourself up for success.”

To help prevent resistance or conflict during internal negotiations, he suggests engaging with senior management, finance and other relevant teams early on to determine their priorities, and ensuring that stakeholders from across the business are actively involved in the day-to-day of the bargaining process. 

“These things are not HR processes. They’re business processes which HR is there to direct and advise on,” he says.

Cross-functional input ensures all perspectives are considered, reducing the risk of misalignment or last-minute pushback that can derail negotiations. Every important decision should be a collective one, says Clarke, with clear documentation to avoid future disputes.

3. Define roles and responsibilities

Where feasible, and depending on the size of the organisation, Clarke suggests putting together distinct cross-functional teams to manage different aspects of the bargaining process. 

The teams he recommends HR put in place are as follows:

1. An executive-level steering committee

“No matter the size of the organisation, there should always be an executive-level steering group set up that is across every key point, and that can make any final decisions,” he says.

This high-level guidance will help ensure the process remains on track with the business’s overall strategy.

2. A negotiating team

“[This team] would have a range of operational people involved, as well as HR, so they can inform the bargaining process and inform the steering committee about why key decisions are being made.”

It’s crucial that the negotiating team has input from operational teams to ensure negotiations don’t diverge from what they want and need to happen, he adds.

3. A technical committee

“With a bigger organisation, I’d also [recommend] a technical team that’s gathering payroll information and other key factual points to input,” says Clarke. 

A data-driven approach like this will give confidence to negotiators and ensure bargaining discussions remain objective.

While assembling these teams will require a significant resource investment, Clarke says this investment will pay dividends once negotiations commence.

“I’d rather companies spend the money upfront, preparing and understanding what’s going on, rather than ending up in a battle that they weren’t expecting and spending the money then,” he says. 

“Because it’s the same amount of money. You can either spend it in a positive, proactive way, or you can spend it in a negative way, having to react to things [that come up].”

4. Conduct a needs analysis

Establishing clear, ranked priorities for the business during the preparation stages is essential to enter negotiations confidently, says Clarke.

Alongside the negotiation team, HR should determine which issues are non-negotiable for the organisation, such as remaining within budget limits or upholding safety standards, and which ones may have room for flexibility, such as minor changes to leave entitlements. 

Knowing your ‘must-haves’ from your ‘nice-to-haves’ will help guide your strategy and focus on what really matters to the business in a high-pressure bargaining environment. Document these priorities and ensure everyone on the negotiation team is on the same page to prevent conflict arising at a later stage, says Clarke.

“Once you take that approach, you’re more likely to be able to say ‘yes’ [to some requests] in negotiations,” he says. “And the more you say ‘yes’ when you can, the easier it is to say ‘no’ when you really need to. And if we are saying ‘no’, we’re saying it with a good, developed reason – it’s not a reflex.”

5. Identify potential areas of conflict

Anticipating and preparing for objections is a key part of the planning process. Where possible, review past bargaining sessions to identify issues that have caused friction or delay.

For each potential objection, gather any supporting data – such as industry benchmarks, financial projections or legal requirements – that could back up your responses. Having this information at hand allows concerns to be addressed quickly and confidently.

“It’s about being comfortable to sit in the room and understand what you’re saying and why you’re saying it, with as many facts to hand as you possibly can,” says Clarke.

Even after diligent preparation, Clarke says HR should enter the bargaining process ready to deal with unexpected conflict.

“If you’re dealing with [difficult] personalities or behaviour, you can have the best preparation in the world, but you’re still going to have uncomfortable moments,” he says.

While it’s impossible to anticipate every curveball that might be thrown HR’s way during enterprise bargaining, taking every possible step to prepare will allow HR to approach negotiations with greater clarity and confidence, knowing that the business has built a solid foundation for a positive outcome.

Boost your bargaining skill set by signing up for AHRI’s Enterprise Bargaining: A Step-by-Step Engagement Plan short course. Join Ross Clarke to learn more about how to plan, prepare, and execute a successful bargaining process.