Overland Resource Group Launches New Interest-Based Leadership Training for Management & Union Leaders to Aid in Collaboration

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Aug. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kansas City-based Overland Resource Group has introduced a new training approach that teaches union and management leaders how to work collaboratively.  After a successful launch in the federal sector, Interest-Based Leadership Training is now available to the private sector.  

"Labor and management will always have different perspectives," said Cathy Wright, VP of Overland Resource Group, which drives improvement in operational performance and quality of work life through labor-management collaboration.  "But both have more to gain from working together. Collaboration is the best way for management to meet the expectations of its stakeholders, and for organized labor to represent the interests of its members."

Overland's proprietary, innovative approach utilizes scenarios that labor and management leaders typically encounter and teaches them how to shift from taking pre-determined positions to jointly exploring mutually beneficial outcomes.

Two key attributes that differentiate Overland's approach: 1) behavioral technologies that help participants move beyond conflict avoidance so they can effectively address "un-discussables;" and 2) an escalation effect that enables participants to learn increasingly complex concepts and practice applying them.

Overland has also developed a certification process to Train the Trainer, enabling organizations to embed these skills. Following "beta test" sessions that produced highly favorable responses from leaders in the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Organization and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), Overland-trained FAA employees are now teaching Interest-based Leadership skills to managers and union leaders nationwide.

Said Trish Gilbert, NATCA executive vice president, "One of the many challenges of collaboration is ensuring that field facilities are educated on the principles of a more collaborative process, through all levels and at all facilities."

About Overland Resources Group
For more than 30 years, the principals at Overland Resource Group have been helping joint labor and management clients transform adversarial relationships into collaborative ones, enabling them to drive and sustain operational and work life improvements.  Based in Overland Park, KS, the firm's clients have included The Boeing Company and the United Auto Workers; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the United Steel Workers; the Federal Aviation Administration, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists Union; and many others.

SOURCE Overland Resource Group