Being an employee representative can be a lonely job.
But not in the Finance Sector Union of Norway.
“What is actually expected of me as an employee representative?”
This is perhaps the most commonly asked question by newly elected representatives. The vast majority of larger trade unions have various training programs for their employees. This is also the case for the Finance Sector Union. The employee representative’s first encounter with competency journey is commonly known as “Week 7”. Every year – in week 7, of course – the training cycle begins for those in need of assistance to carry out their mission.
During the Autumn of 2019, the Finance Sector Union decided to change its two-day course to make it more interactive. It was especially important to revitalise the role comprehension.
Together with Specifique, various educational methods were considered. An important ambition was to create a common reflection and experience exchange as the basis for increased role security and confidence. Furthermore, there was a need to bring about an interactive and meaningful exchange between groups, and ensure that the facilitation did not require a specialised process leader. The Finance Sector Union finally landed on a dialogue mat that suited their ambitions.
The feedback from participants was overall positive, especially the experience of quickly becoming confident in dialogue with peers.
Like all businesses, the Finance Sector Union had to rethink their business model in 2020, and transfer all training to Teams and other digital platforms. The dialogue mat was converted to a Miro format – and still creates good discussions and exchanges between participants.
For more information, contact Vidar Hofmo Bjølgerud.
