Why It's Time to Quit Doing Labor Relations In-house
Candid Talk from the Field: Here's Why Internal Labor Relations Teams Don't Work You've been watching the consultants. It seems easy, right? They come in, ask excellent questions, spot problems quickly, and leave with a hefty invoice. It seems easy enough to copy. Why not save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by building your own in-house labor relations team? It sounds sensible. Why outsource it when you could build institutional knowledge internally, keep continuity, and align everything with your company culture? You could save hundreds of thousands a year. So you do it. You hire a smart team, and they're a great fit. They're people who know labor law, negotiations, and workplace dynamics. Yet, two years later, you’re not in a better position than when you started. What happened? The Problem Isn’t the People In practice, in-house labor relations teams rarely work. It’s a conclusion that shows up again and again in academic research, government reports...
