WORKING LIFE:  From school principal to teaching the principles of social partnership, Lucy Fallon-Byrne talks to Padraig Yeates about herrole at the National Centre for Partnership-Performance'We want to reposition partnership and develop a more holistic definition of what it means. We want, in time, to make partnership the way we do business in Ireland'

Ms Lucy Fallon-Byrne has already made a significant impact on the lives of thousands of Irish people, although most of them are too young to realise it yet. Between 1995 and 1998 she played a central role, as assistant chief executive of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), in developing the new curriculum for primary schools.

There were two committees for every subject, representing teachers, parents, boards of management and other interests - 160 representatives in all - "trusting you to take on board what they had to say", and she had to produce a plan that met all those concerns and would work. Her performance in the NCCA also played a key role in her selection as director of the National Centre for Partnership-Performance (NCPP).

The NCPP's predecessor, the National Centre for Partnership, was a very effective facilitator for unions and employers already willing to buy into the process, but it failed to spread the gospel into the wider workplace or policy agendas.

When Mr Peter Cassells resigned as general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) to become executive chairman of the new body, he wanted to ensure this did not happen again. The change of name from Partnership to Partnership-Performance is more than cosmetic.

By linking partnership to the goal of improving our performance - both as an economy and a society - Mr Cassells was fashioning a crowbar to break out of the old industrial relations ghetto, and Ms Fallon-Byrne was selected for the task.

Instead of an old IBEC or ICTU "pro" with a reputation as an industrial relations fixer, the NCPP opted for someone with a track record as an innovator, and strong interpersonal skills, who would help the NCPP evolve into something more than another state support for our creaking industrial relations system.

"When the NCPP was set up, many people thought we were there to maintain national social partnership or support national agreements," Ms Fallon-Byrne concedes. But she sees its role as very different. "We want to reposition partnership and develop a more holistic definition of what it means. We want, in time, to make partnership the way we do business in Ireland."

She sees it as "a very powerful ideology to implement organisational change", and does not accept the cynical view of some workers that it is a synonym for cutbacks - or of some employers that it is an ideological vehicle for unions to pursue their agendas. If partnership is to have a future, she believes it must demonstrate it has advantages for both sides, not just in industry, but for the public service and other organisations.

Partnership must generate "a deep sense of ownership, whatever type of organisation is involved".

She also believes the case for partnership must be evidence-based and argues that there is "a huge body of evidence out there to support the benefits of partnership".

One of the first tasks of the NCPP is to gather that evidence from Britain, the US, Sweden and elsewhere.

A study undertaken for the NCPP by Prof Bill Roche of UCD shows a growing constituency of support for partnership in the workplace. Between 1981 and 2000, the percentage of Irish adults putting a priority on having an interesting job that allows them to use their initiative, or stretches their capacity, has increased by 50 per cent or more.

Ranked in order of importance, people want a greater say in decisions concerning their job, more involvement in decisions affecting the overall future of the organisation they work for, a greater opportunity to perform a variety of tasks, more flexible work practices and greater workplace autonomy generally.

In contrast, relatively few put a priority on the type of individualised employment contracts and control models beloved by some companies, especially for middle or senior managers - the employees required to show the greatest workplace commitment and initiative.

With the revised European Works Council directive, which gives greater consultation to employees and is about to become EU law, Ms Fallon-Byrne believes the time is ripe to promote partnership. At a deeper level, she believes Irish enterprises need it if they are to fulfill the Government's strategy of bringing our industries further up the international added-value chain. Besides organisational change, it will look at incentives such as improved gain-sharing arrangements.

The NCPP has already begun to build networks with key decision makers, especially in the area of industrial policy. "We've consulted with over 40 policy groups," Ms Fallon-Byrne says.

Besides ICTU and IBEC, the NCPP is building links with Forfás and its constituents, other statutory agencies, major multinational and indigenous firms, semi-states and government departments.

Prof Roche, who compiled the study on the external environment for partnership in record time, is also a member of the high powered NCPP council. It includes people such as Mr Brendan McGinty, IBEC's director of industrial relations; Mr Jack O'Connor, vice-president of SIPTU; Ms Marie Moynihan of Dell, and Mr Philip Kelly, assistant secretary at the Department of the Taoiseach.

The council is considering an operational plan based on the belief that partnership can help enterprises achieve new levels of flexibility and responsiveness. The NCPP is already involved in LANPAG, the new partnership project for local authorities, and in drawing up a development plan for the health services.

It will also assist companies or sectors in crisis, but Ms Fallon-Byrne says it will not become a dispute resolution agency, or seek to duplicate the work of existing bodies such as the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court. Nor will it seek to build elaborate structures.

It hopes to avoid the institutional sclerosis that overtakes many state-sponsored agencies, by remaining small and focused - and by outsourcing specific projects.

One innovation the NCPP plans is a register of approved partnership advisers and facilitators. Ms Fallon-Byrne says a core of experienced people already exists, many of whom worked with the former National Centre for Partnership.

She hopes to see this expand, partly as a result of research and training programmes supported by the NCPP.

Like all good educationalists, she wants the new curriculum for employers and unions to be based on sound research and a learning curve that starts from what the pupils already know and are familiar with.

Admitting the NCPP is at an early phase of the learning process, she feels it has already identified some of the key needs and skills social partners will need, such as the ability "to anticipate the effects of change, and learning that, as part of the partnership process, there are times when things will be worse than before the process began".

Ultimately, developing interpersonal skills to complement business and organisational ones will be central to the success of the NCPP.

Paraphrasing Bryan McMahon in The Master, Ms Fallon-Byrne believes "a good teacher is a good person teaching, and that can be extended to other areas of life".