MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

‘Legitimate’ managerial actions - stakeholders
In fact, every other manager seems entirely agnostic on the subject,
offering no indication at all that the Rule Book is a matter exercising
them in their managerial roles within this political environment.
In that environment, as has been seen, there are actual and potential
conflicts. Trade unionists, one could hypothesise, would be familiar with
conflict and be in a position to exercise core skills. Already cited is an
observation that one manager, unwillingly, has adopted a negotiating
approach in order to succeed:-
You try and work with the groupings and rub up with them and
offer them something in return for them giving you something to
deliver a vote (Interviewee H)
In fact, within PCS, the evidence does not exist to be able to arrive at
the conclusion that these skills are apparent, however intuitively one
might feel that they must be. One manager expresses the role of
instinct:-
It’s kind of instinctive….. I think it’s just an experience thing. I’ve
grown up with it. I have been part of it. I have watched it mature.
So you have a feel for it. It’s at this end of the fingertips, what
you can do and what you can’t do and not to push it too far. You
can’t push that sort of thing too far or else it really does backfire.
There is no formula here. I do think a lot of it depends on not
going too often, not over-egging the pudding, making sure that
people trust your instincts and their instincts are they feel that
you are part of them. (Interviewee K)
Another manager identifies some pure committee management skills
as the way she approaches the issue:-
My experience of union structures, you work with committees,
committees always play "catch the full time officers out"…. You
have to be so well prepared and so many jumps ahead. It is to
do with the dynamics of committees, I think, as well, apart from
the union thing. That's what the game seems to be….. I would
not say that there are conflicting demands, there are just
pressures from different sources. I suppose part of my role is to
stop my committees running away with themselves. This is what
union officials do generally, isn't it, we have to give the bad
news: no we're not doing this, no we haven't got the time or the
resource to take on these ideas. (Interviewee N)
So boundaries in PCS are contested, vigorously in many cases.
Managers often find the interface with the democratic structure difficult
and understanding and having strategies for how to manage within the
political system seems to be a key skill. But the Rule Book is generally
not at the centre of their boundary definition and core trade union skills,
of negotiation and bargaining, are not central to how PCS managers
perceive their approach to managing in this environment.
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