In the Early 1980's Harvey Caras became the manager
of Employee Relations for the GE manufacturing plant in Columbia,
Maryland. The plant had a long history of labor unrest and low
morale, and Harvey was determined to change the atmosphere. By
talking to employees Harvey learned that the major issues were not
necessarily pay and benefits, but instead revolved around the day to
day activities of the plant. The major concern of employees was the
inconsistency with which company rules and policies were applied.
Another main concern of employees was that there was no effective
means to air their grievances to management. The company's Open Door
Policy was perceived to be nothing more than slow, ineffective,
"rubber stamp" system, therefore it was rarely used. In an effort to
change improve consistency and resolve employee disputes in a fair
and timely manner Harvey developed the Peer Review dispute
resolution system.
Peer Review was so successful at the GE Plant in Columbia that Harvey
was soon asked to help other GE facilities to implement his system.
Continued successes with Peer Review led other companies to ask for
Harvey's help. In 1985 he left GE to start his consulting firm.
Today, Caras & Associates, Inc. has over
1,000 clients for whom they have
implemented successful Peer Review systems Caras & Associates, Inc. is
widely regarded as the world's leading experts on the Peer Review ADR
system.
