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.
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