Strife at Southern Railways – it's a failure of management

The strife between managers and unions at Southern Railways shows no sign of ending. In the last few days drivers have voted to join conductors in strikes and overtime bans. Disruption will take place almost every day over the festive period. Long delays, cancellations, stranded passengers and overcrowded trains are now the norm.

Many passengers are spending more in fares to get to work and losing precious time with families. Others face problems at work as their bosses run out of sympathy with repeated late arrivals and early departures. For some it means giving up their jobs.

As the festive period approaches there is no sign of goodwill between the two sides. If anything it is getting worse.  Both sides have entered into a win at all costs fight with no apparent willingness to compromise. The stakes have become high for passengers, the company and staff.

Everyone's a loser

The dispute is impacting Southern revenue and reputation severely. Striking staff are losing vital wages. The economy will also suffer. It's impossible to see any winners whatever the final outcome.

For managers it is a nightmare scenario. They see a strong union unwilling to adopt modern practices and motivated by an idealogical commitment to bring them down. Unions will see it differently. They see intransigent managers, backed by government, forcing through unwanted change whilst extracting profits from a public service. Neither side is wholly right or wrong.

Managers are responsible

Nevertheless, and whatever your views on who is to blame, one thing is for sure. Managers are responsible for the performance of their organisation. They must deal effectively with any challenge that arises, however difficult. That includes dealing with the fall out from disputes with staff. 

Being a willing participant in a fight to the death with unions is not how to deal with this challenge effectively. Managers should be able to find mutually acceptable outcomes in high conflict situations like these.  Even where these outcomes mean making difficult compromises.

Passengers are collateral

Southern run a profit making, monopoly public service, For some this is acceptable capitalism. For others it is anathema. Whatever your political viewpoint, Southern have an ethical and contractual duty to run the service. 

It is not acceptable for either side to use passengers as collateral in this dispute, but that is what is happening. In this situation Southern have the primary duty to passengers and the responsibility to find a solution to end the dispute.

Compromise is the only option

The only option for Southern now to salvage what’s left of their reputation is to seek a quick and workable solution. That will almost certainly mean making difficult compromises. 

Passengers may forgive them if a deal is struck. The Southern brand and bottom line will be seriously, maybe irreparably, damaged if they don’t. 

In the end, that is the responsibility of managers.