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Workplace Contacts Session 2 - FIRST DRAFT 

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UNISON Webpage on roles of of Contacts, Reps etc

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UNISON Webpage on roles of of Contacts, Reps etc

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Our volunteer workplace reps play a vital day-to-day role in helping UNISON members.

They are organisers who talk to, recruit and organise members around workplace issues, hold meetings, undertake surveys and help run ballots.

They give members information about union issues by publicising UNISON campaigns, distributing leaflets and keeping members informed about and involved in local negotiations.

They are advisers and sounding boards, talking to members about workplace problems and - if they feel confident - giving advice on how to deal with these.

Alternatively, they may arrange for the member to get advice or assistance from elsewhere in the union, or work with them to get the information they need.

They are representatives and spokespersons for members in their workplace.

Reps also act as a link between members, other union representatives and the national organisation.

Where the union has a recognition agreement, stewards, health and safety reps and learning reps have a legal right to 'reasonable' time off for union duties. Good recognition agreements may also allow some time off for union activities - rather than duties - but with will depend on the particular agreement and employer.

Support is available for UNISON reps from your branch and region, as well as more experienced colleagues, and every region runs training courses for reps throughout the year.

Workplace contact

The role of a workplace contact is to let your branch know what's happening in your workplace, and to help the union get messages to its members. It's a good learning opportunity and starting point to get involved in the union. They:

Share information with colleagues and other UNISON members

Keep notice boards up to date with UNISON information

Have regular conversations with members in the workplace

Support people looking to join UNISON

Workplace contacts can and do play an important role in helping groups of members to organise effectively.

Elected workplace stewards

Workplace stewards are the heart of our trade union. UNISON's stewards are the reason we win campaigns that result in better lives for our members and all working people. Stewards help to organise your colleagues into an effective, strong and welcoming membership. They:

Are the first point of contact for members in a workplace

Talk to members about the union

Talk to staff about their issues

Offer advice on issues at work

Represent members in cases (including at disciplinary and grievance hearings).

Campaign for better working conditions

Recruit and organise new members

Encourage more members to get active in UNISON

Raise your members' issues with the branch.

Stewards in workplaces where UNISON is recognised by the employer have rights to time off for training and to carry out their work.

Stewards have a right to be involved in how their branch is run and are the most important link between the members and the union.

UNISON aims to have at least one steward in each workplace and department, more in larger departments and where members work shifts.

Stewards are elected each year by the group of members that they represent and the post is open to job share.

Health and safety reps

Health and safety representatives care about workers' safety and campaign for better working conditions. They play a vital role in keeping our members healthy and safe at work. They:

investigate potential hazards

consult members on working conditions

lobby your employer to improve safety

support members with complaints about safety

recruit new members

identify members who could become more involved in health and safety issues.

Safety representatives have a specific role and functions and responsibilities and also have important legal rights. A health and safety representative has the right to training and to raise issues which affect the health and safety of members.

UNISON aims to have at least one health and safety representative in every workplace where we have members.

Union learning reps

Union learning representatives, often known as ULRs, are passionate about getting people back into learning - whether it is professional qualifications or basic numeracy and literacy skills. They:

find out how lifelong learning could help to resolve issues at work

promote learning in a workplace

support members to take up learning opportunities

encourage adult learners to be active branch members

organise workers around learning

support people who want to join UNISON

recruit new learning reps

Learning reps are likely to be members who have recently completed a learning programme and are enthusiasts and advocates for learning in their own workplaces.

They have some rights to time off for training and carrying out their duties.

Equality reps

Equality reps aim to make sure people are treated fairly at work and do not suffer from discrimination on the basis of sex, race, sexual orientation, disability, age, religious beliefs or because they work part time. They:

Work with their branch to improve a workplace and employer equality policies

campaign for equality in the workplace and the union

Promote national campaigns such as International Women's Day, LGBT History Month and Black History Month

Work with other reps to ensure your branch is inclusive and accessible

Support people who want to join UNISON

Raise awareness of, and talk to members about UNISON's self-organised groups and forums

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Workplace reps | Our activists | UNISON National

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Our volunteer workplace reps play a vital day-to-day role in helping UNISON members. They are organisers who talk to, recruit and organise members around workplace issues, hold meetings, undertake surveys and help run ballots. They give members information about union issues by publicising UNISON campaigns, distributing leaflets and keeping members informed about and involved in local negotiations.

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Our courses are friendly and informal, and involve practical activities and working with groups of other UNISON members and activists.

Join UNISON's large network of people across the UK who tackle problems at work and improve conditions for themselves and their colleagues through their UNISON branch.

Equality is at the heart of UNISON. We challenge discrimination and win equality in the workplace and beyond.

You too can be part of the movement that gave the world weekends off, the national minimum wage, workplace pensions, the right not to be sacked for being pregnant or sick and many more legal rights. Oh, and ended child labour.

UNISON members change lives by campaigning on local and national issues. It's a great way to get involved, make a difference and introduce your friends and colleagues to UNISON.

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Our courses are friendly and informal, and involve practical activities and working with groups of other UNISON members and activists. Join UNISON's large network of people across the UK who tackle problems at work and improve conditions for themselves and their colleagues through their UNISON branch. Equality is at the heart of UNISON.

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How much does it cost to join?

Northern Ireland membership rates do not have contributions towards political funds and start from £1.22 a month.
We also offer membership for just £10 a year to students and apprentices.*

* You can join UNISON for just £10 a year if you are earning the minimum wage for apprentices, or are in the following categories:

intermediate (England)

modern apprenticeship (Scotland)

foundation apprenticeship (Cymru/Wales)

All other apprentices will pay the standard pay-related UNISON subscription rates.

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We're the UK's largest public service union, with over 1.4 million members. Join today and you'll receive our support - with membership costing less than you might think. Before you get to work, get essential cover.

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Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process.

Listening is key to all effective communication. Without the ability to listen effectively, messages are easily misunderstood. As a result, communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily become frustrated or irritated.

If there is one communication skill you should aim to master, then listening is it.

Listening is so important that many top employers provide listening skills training for their employees. This is not surprising when you consider that good listening skills can lead to better customer satisfaction, greater productivity with fewer mistakes, and increased sharing of information that in turn can lead to more creative and innovative work.

Many successful leaders and entrepreneurs credit their success to effective listening skills. Richard Branson frequently quotes listening as one of the main factors behind the success of Virgin.

Effective listening is a skill that underpins all positive human relationships.

Spend some time thinking about and developing your listening skills - they are the building blocks of success.

See our pages: Employability Skills and Customer Service Skills for more examples of the importance of listening in the workplace.
Good listening skills also have benefits in our personal lives, including:
A greater number of friends and social networks, improved self-esteem and confidence, higher grades at school and in academic work, and even better health and general well-being.

Studies have shown that, whereas speaking raises blood pressure, attentive listening can bring it down.

Listening is Not the Same as Hearing

Hearing refers to the sounds that enter your ears. It is a physical process that, provided you do not have any hearing problems, happens automatically.

Listening, however, requires more than that: it requires focus and concentrated effort, both mental and sometimes physical as well.

Listening means paying attention not only to the story, but how it is told, the use of language and voice, and how the other person uses his or her body. In other words, it means being aware of both verbal and non-verbal messages. Your ability to listen effectively depends on the degree to which you perceive and understand these messages.

Listening is not a passive process. In fact, the listener can, and should, be at least as engaged in the process as the speaker. The phrase 'active listening' is used to describe this process of being fully involved.

See our pages: Active Listening and Types of Listening for more information.
The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention.
Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen

We Spend a lot of Time Listening
Adults spend an average of 70% of their time engaged in some sort of communication.
Of this, research shows that an average of 45% is spent listening compared to 30% speaking, 16% reading and 9% writing. (Adler, R. et al. 2001). That is, by any standards, a lot of time listening. It is worthwhile, therefore, taking a bit of extra time to ensure that you listen effectively.
Based on the research of: Adler, R., Rosenfeld, L. and Proctor, R. (2001)
Interplay: the process of interpersonal communicating (8th edn), Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt.
The Purpose of Listening
There is no doubt that effective listening is an extremely important life skill. Why is listening so important? Listening serves a number of possible purposes, and the purpose of listening will depend on the situation and the nature of the communication.

1. To specifically focus on the messages being communicated, avoiding distractions and preconceptions.

2. To gain a full and accurate understanding into the speakers point of view and ideas.

3. To critically assess what is being said. (See our page on Critical Thinking for more).

4. To observe the non-verbal signals accompanying what is being said to enhance understanding.

5. To show interest, concern and concentration.

6. To encourage the speaker to communicate fully, openly and honestly.

7. To develop an selflessness approach, putting the speaker first.

8. To arrive at a shared and agreed understanding and acceptance of both sides views.

Often our main concern while listening is to formulate ways to respond. This is not a function of listening. We should try to focus fully on what is being said and how it's being said in order to more fully understand the speaker.
Effective listening requires concentration and the use of your other senses - not just hearing the words spoken.

Listening is not the same as hearing and in order to listen effectively you need to use more than just your ears.
See our page: The Ten Principles of Listening.

Further Reading from Skills You Need
Our Communication Skills eBooks
Learn more about the key communication skills you need to be a more effective communicator.

Our eBooks are ideal for anyone who wants to learn about or develop their interpersonal skills and are full of easy-to-follow, practical information.

Barriers to Effective Listening
To improve the process of effective listening, it can be helpful to turn the problem on its head and look at barriers to effective listening, or ineffective listening.
For example, one common problem is that instead of listening closely to what someone is saying, we often get distracted after a sentence or two and instead start to think about what we are going to say in reply or think about unrelated things. This means that we do not fully listen to the rest of the speaker's message.

This problem is attributed, in part, to the difference between average speech rate and average processing rate. Average speech rates are between 125 and 175 words a minute whereas we can process on average between 400 and 800 words a minute. It is a common habit for the listener to use the spare time while listening to daydream or think about other things, rather than focusing on what the speaker is saying.

Of course the clarity of what the speaker is saying can also affect how well we listen. Generally we find it easier to focus if the speaker is fluent in their speech, has a familiar accent, and speaks at an appropriate loudness for the situation. It is more difficult, for example, to focus on somebody who is speaking very fast and very quietly, especially if they are conveying complex information.

We may also get distracted by the speaker's personal appearance or by what someone else is saying, which sounds more interesting.
These issues not only affect you, but you are likely to show your lack of attention in your body language.
Generally, we find it much harder to control our body language, and you are likely to show your distraction and/or lack of interest by lack of eye contact, or posture. The speaker will detect the problem, and probably stop talking at best. At worse, they may be very offended or upset.

Our page on Barriers to Effective Listening explains more about common listening problems, and our page Listening Misconceptions details some of the common myths and misconceptions about listening.

Finally, it is important not to jump to conclusions about what you see and hear. You should always seek clarification to ensure that your understanding is correct.
See our pages: Clarification and Reflection for more information.

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Listening skills are vital for interpersonal communication. How well do you listen? Learn more about listening and the skills required for effective listening.