Bridging the Gap Between Labour Unions and the Management Through Leadership Development Programs?

Abstract In this paper we explore if leadership development programs can be applied to bridge the gap between labour unions and the management. By describing and discussing three different programs we can see that joint leadership development programs can promote collaboration between labour unions and the management. The paper argues that such programs need to be built on a premise that more actors than just formal managers can exercise leadership and contribute to organizational development. The paper also discusses why such programs are more easily achievable in a Norwegian setting. However, to make lasting improvements leadership development programs also need to include large organizational development elements, like the co-generative learning model (Elden and Levin (1991) Participatory Action Research. Sage, Newbury Park, pp 127–142). Sufficient time, resources and focus, including assessments of employees’ needs and internal politics, is needed to not only bridging the gap between labour unions and the management, but also to bring in “ordinary” employees.