Managerial competencies for trade union officials in India: The key to union effectiveness

Abstract

Professionalisation of the roles that union officials play necessitates certain competencies in them to increase union effectiveness. This paper attempts to understand managerial competencies for union officials in the Indian context. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, we developed a “mixed model” by matching competencies of student activists with those of union officials. Behavioural event interviews conducted with thirty-six union officials led to a competency dictionary with four competencies: result orientation, aligning critical constituencies, networking skills, and effective feedback sharing. Resting on the classical competency theories which have not seen application in industrial relations (IR) scholarship, this paper provides an actionable path to enhance union effectiveness.

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