Due to the complex nature of social negotiations, Sphere-Work has developed a targeted approach aimed at realising, as far as possible, the common interests of both the company and the social partners. In doing so, we follow a number of steps:

Fully understanding which own interests we want to achieve

That sounds logical, but often things go wrong there. Management teams often devote all their energy to developing and calculating their concrete negotiation position and building a financial 'case' to convince the other party. Negotiations then involve explaining our proposal (of course with a bit of theatre where we initially propose something stronger) and defending it. We expect the other party to be convinced by our arguments and sign willingly.

Don't be naive #1: The more you limit your options by sticking to one option, one solution you want to achieve, the more you drive up the price you will pay.

We can better spend our energy on thoroughly analysing our real problem or interest, distinguishing what is truly crucial and what is less so. Here, we make a clear distinction between our actual goal (the problem we want to solve or the opportunity we want to seize) and our concrete negotiation position. There are often various ways to achieve that goal. It is important to precisely identify the elements crucial to achieving our goal, while remaining flexible about how we approach it.

Fully understand which interests the social partners want to achieve

That sounds logical too, but it usually doesn't happen, or only in a superficial way, purely based on our assumptions. As a result, we either censor certain proposals in advance because we think "they will never accept it," or we develop negotiation tactics based on untested assumptions that reveal more about us than about the opposing party.

Social partners have their own interests: these can be frustrations of the staff, issues related to their operations, pressure from the staff, or pressure from other unions, and so on. The better we understand these interests, the better we can take them into account. Therefore, we need to test our hypotheses through informal contacts and use every interaction with unions to better understand these interests. This process continues during negotiations: every step, every crisis in the process is a crucial moment to enhance our understanding of these interests.

• Continuously and structurally mapping out (a) the critical elements without which you cannot achieve your goal, (b) the nice-to-haves, and (c) the 'tradeables'

You will 'hard' negotiate on the critical elements and 'soft' on the 'tradeables'. The tradeables are items that you know are important to the social partners but are less important to you or even beneficial. These tradeables are based on your understanding of what they value: misjudging this can pose a problem. The sharper your understanding of what is truly crucial for you and the more tradeables you have, the smoother the negotiation will go. Be creative in solutions for the tradeables: a positive surprise effect helps.

Don't be naive #2: If there is no win for the other party (from their perspective), it often leads to a stalemate.

• Building a storyline and momentum

Don't be naive #3: Nobody likes to change just because HR or the boss says so. Without momentum, the situation often remains unchanged. Clarify the 'why' of the change, not just in terms of shareholder value, because 'nobody cares' around the table. Make the storyline and the momentum visual, ensure that everyone in the organization can easily understand it and that it sticks.

• Setting the opening position

Many negotiators view negotiations as a form of theatre, where they propose something different from what they actually want to achieve. Negotiations are not theatre. But they are a bit.

Negotiations are not theatre: it is rather a process where you strive to better understand the interests of others and adjust your proposals accordingly, without losing sight of your critical elements.

Negotiations involve a little bit of theatre: social partners will not immediately embrace and sign your opening proposal. Therefore, you must carefully consider what you present, leaving room for adjustments during the process.

A good opening proposal is (a) very well aligned with your storyline, (b) sufficiently interesting for unions to stay at the table, (c) not too offensive so they don't immediately walk away, and (d) above all 'designed' to elicit reactions and have a conversation about what they think is important, what they would be up against if they were to negotiate about it, etc. Because that is the purpose of an opening proposal: to gather information.

• Defining a clear mandate

Why would social partners want to talk to you if you have no decision-making power? Get a mandate that focuses on the goal you want to achieve. Too often, mandates focus on negotiating positions and thus the ways to achieve that goal. Avoid this: make sure the mandate focuses on the heart of the matter.

• The negotiation team

Negotiation is about understanding each other's interests better and better. Active listening and observation are therefore essential. If there is someone to talk and explain proposals, there must also be someone to observe carefully and ensure that sufficient listening is taking place.

Also provide escalation opportunities: by bringing the CEO to the table, you close off the other levels of escalation that may sometimes be necessary.

• Double loop learning

Every negotiation round, every contact, every small or large crisis in the negotiation process is a learning moment. It is crucial to also consider the situation from the perspective of the social partners each time, to prevent crises from unnecessarily escalating or exacerbating irritations consciously or unconsciously. Utilizing these learning moments opens up new possibilities.

• Constantly update your options, be as creative as possible

As you are constantly learning more about their interests, you have to constantly rework the puzzle to arrive at a win-win situation. This requires quite a bit of mental flexibility and creativity, but it is absolutely worth it.

• Communication is key

Both to the social partners and to the entire workforce: it is crucial that everyone understands why this is so important, what the progress is, how different interests are taken into account, what they gain from it, and so on. There are few things more frustrating for people than knowing that your working conditions are being talked about but you are not allowed to know about them. You don't negotiate on a stage, but you should be aware that often a vote will be needed to sign the agreement. So, you'd better be aware of that.

When you engage Sphere-Work, you bring in a party with loads of experience in this field: much more than the legal, it is about the art of negotiation, about the discipline to continuously engage in 'double loop learning', to constantly refine the options, to constantly keep distinguishing between the essential goal and the negotiating positions, and so on.