Calling all CHangemakers who want to channel Employee Voice for Social CHange!
Are you a Works Council member who is eager to make change from within? Do you feel like you never have enough time to work on what you care about? Struggling to find a training that goes beyond the basics of “The Works Council Act” that is strategic and relevant to the problems you’re facing today?
We get it.
In this three-part master class, you’ll learn how to take your Works Council from an energy-draining, bureaucratic entity to a healthy driver for social change - within your organization and beyond. You'll learn from expert practitioners and start problem-solving with peers who face similar challenges.
3 Masterclasses on the following topics:
setting proactive priorities
Masterclass 1 - Interactive Session (2 hours)
What kinds of resources do companies need to provide Works Councils with so they can achieve their priorities in a healthy manner? How can you gather input from your colleagues to understand what’s important to them without breaking “confidentiality” restrictions imposed by management? In this class, you’ll get confident about your rights to resources as a Works Council and learn how to use those to set clear priorities in large groups.
Reimagining Conflict
Masterclass 2: Interactive Session (2 hours)
Conflict is one of the most vital and consistent elements of being a Works Council member. Whether it comes from internal WoCo members, management, or employees, it can be really overwhelming. How can you resolve disagreements in big groups productively? When do you know how to say “no”? In this class, you’ll learn how to establish conscious decision-making structures that harness the power of conflict to help you make big wins as a Works Council.
Masterclass 3: Interactive Session (2 hours)
Dreaming Big
Once your Works Council has mastered priority-setting and conflict-resolution, it’s time to start dreaming big. What potential do Works Councils in The Netherlands have to facilitate larger social change within and across companies here? Which external partners could be surprisingly helpful to your Works Council in doing this? In this class, you’ll learn how to progressively interpret and use the legal powers of the Works Council, including its “Right of Initiative”, to collectively implement change on large social issues like climate justice, DE&I, and the future of work.
THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU IF YOU:
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You believe employee voices should be prioritized more seriously when your company is making big decisions
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You’re a current Works Council member in The Netherlands who is eager (but struggling) to make change from within
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You have some basic knowledge about Works Councils, but want to learn how yours could make more impactful change
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You’re interested in starting (or running) for a spot in a Works Council at your company, but aren’t quite sure what the benefits and power of having one are
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You care about the impact your company has on larger social issues
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You are comfortable with taking a course in English
THIS COURSE IS NOT FOR YOU IF YOU:
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You see yourself as an individual actor with lots of good ideas, who isn't interested in collective decision-making
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You want to eliminate conflict instead of harnessing it and making it useful
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You’re satisfied with a working environment where a small, homogenous group of people (i.e. management) makes all of the decisions for you
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You agree with the notion that having a strong Works Council is “just going to slow things down” for the company
Practicalities
The working language of these masterclasses is English. The masterclasses are two-hour interactive sessions to be held in the afternoons from 15:30-17:30 (dates to be confirmed). They will be held online, please make sure you join from a laptop or desktop and make sure you have a stable internet connection, and a quiet place where you can join the interactive break-out’s without being disturbed.
PRICING
The masterclasses can only be followed as a series.
We offer two different prices. We distinguish between
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Business budget: €600 excl. VAT (21%) per participant.
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Personal budget: €300 excl. VAT (21%) per participant.
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Register via the button on the webpage or send us an email at wocotraining@undercoveractivist.com and we'll get back to you as soon as possible with a tailored quote.
FAQ's
If you have questions about whether this training is for you, or how you can get your company to pay, please read through our FAQ's. You can also contact us at wocotraining@undercoveractivist.com
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Your facilitators
Tessa Wernink is a business activist, facilitator and podcast maker, with extensive experience in strategic communication and business campaigning. She has 10+ years experience in building and guiding campaigning enterprises and how to use business models to shift drive systemic change. She is co-founder of Fairphone and initiator of the podcast series What If We Get It Right? Her current work through the Undercover Activist continues to focus on making organizations the catalyzers of a just transition by emboldening people to speak up and take action around social and environmental issues in the workplace. She guides and coaches junior and senior employees to work towards internal cultures that nurture collective leadership and make sure every job can be a climate job.
Stephanie Felten has provided strategic and operational advice for Works Councils and their committees in multinational corporations in the Netherlands. Holding a Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) and leveraging political experience gained as an organizer and elected National Delegate for Bernie Sanders Presidential campaign in the United States, in 2016.
She has held seats on various boards and led several community based coalitions. She is dedicated to transforming workplaces into fair and democratic environments, championing the well-being of individuals and communities by navigating the intersections of labor and population health.
Inspired by influential women like Fannie Lou Hamer, Angela Davis, and Dolores Huerta, she believes returning power to people extends beyond equitable workplaces, and can catalyze societal transformations, creating collective possibilities for a more just society.
