Vulnerability Assessments

Identifying the issues


Every company is unique, and every workforce has certain “hot button” issues. We use “organizational health reviews” (vulnerability assessments) to quickly and reliably find the issues at the root of employee discontent. Experienced former corporate labor relations leaders use pattern interviews and other assessment tools with a segment of your workforce, across all shifts and pay levels to find your issues and recommend actions to resolve them. Our Vulnerability Assessments are designed to leverage the experience of our leadership team to highlight your company’s strengths while uncovering your employee issues, making your workforce less susceptible to union pushers.


Vulnerability Assessment – Pattern Interviews

PML consultants conduct “pattern” interviews across a site or business unit with a pre-selection set of questions that are asked of small employee groups, generally lasting 60-90 minutes. The same questions are asked of each group (employees, supervisors and managers) allowing for patterns to emerge, reflecting a statistically significant sample (95-99 percent Confidence Interval) of a workforce and function.

Learning Objectives

  • Identify recommendations for issues resolution and creation of a positive employee culture..
  • Assess employee perception of the current work environment to determine the most significant issues/concerns.
  • Identify communication gaps between management and employees.
  • Gather information from employees in advance of any potential card-signing activity.

Scope of Work

Immediately after the completion of the focus groups, a high level summary of any patterns is reviewed with the client management team. Within two weeks of completion, an analysis, summary of common threads, and complete set of interview notes with specific recommendations for next steps are provided. A PML consultant returns to the site for a workforce meeting with management to communicate what we heard (shares credibility with the company) and answer questions. Management then communicates their action plan, dates for execution, follow-up and commitments for status communications.


Vulnerability Assessment – Criteria Analysis

One PML consultant works on-site with a management team to identify a set of criteria against which management can make decisions about which plants or sites may be vulnerable. This approach is less accurate and much more subjective than the pattern interviews, but may be used to make fast, less costly decisions about vulnerability. This approach increases opportunity for gaps in information; little or no direct employee feedback about issues; no communications opportunity. Leaders may not be as candid within their own peer group when discussing operations for which they may have responsibility.

Learning Objectives

  • Assess employee perception of the current work environment to determine the most significant issues/concerns.
  • Identify communication gaps between management and employees.
  • Gather information from employees in advance of any potential card-signing activity.
  • Identify recommendations for issues resolution and creation of a positive employee culture.
  • Optional site “soft” probe of how and from which sources organizers would gather information for organizing.
  • Optional initiative monitoring to ensure continuous progress in achieving organizational outcomes.

Learn More

To speak with one of our dedicated staff to learn more about how we can facilitate one our Vulnerability Assessments™ at any of your locations, contact us today.



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