Improving Employer - Employee Relations

4 Key excerpts on "Improving Employer - Employee Relations"

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  eBook - PDF

  Wiley Pathways Human Resource Management

  • Max Messmer, Anne M. Bogardus, Connie Isbell(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  10 DEVELOPING EMPLOYEE RELATIONS Promoting High Performance and Job Satisfaction Starting Point Go to www.wiley.com/college/messmer to assess your knowledge of the basics of employee relations. Determine where you need to concentrate your effort. What You’ll Learn in This Chapter ▲ Ways in which employee relations factor into an organizational strategic plan ▲ Characteristics of employee-friendly workplaces ▲ Types of alternative work arrangements ▲ The role of human resources in encouraging employee performance ▲ The importance of employee feedback After Studying This Chapter, You Will Be Able To ▲ Distinguish between methods of top-down and bottom-up communication ▲ Analyze a company’s commitment to employee satisfaction ▲ Evaluate the effectiveness of alternative work arrangements for given situations ▲ Propose ways in which employee recognition programs would benefit an organization ▲ Choose the most effective technique for eliciting employee feedback 230 DEVELOPING EMPLOYEE RELATIONS INTRODUCTION When people think about human resources, what usually comes to mind are activi- ties related to employee relations: the work environment and employee involvement, among others. In today’s workplace, in order to have success, employee relations must be a part of an organization’s strategic plan. It is more important than ever that this strategy is focused on creating a people-oriented workplace, with such features as alternative work arrangements. This chapter explores the role played by HRM in creating an environment that encourages a high level of performance and increases job satisfaction—a winning situation for both employee and employer. 10.1 Building Employee Relations into a Strategic Plan Employee relations can be defined as the policies and practices concerned with the management and regulation of relationships between an organization, indi- vidual staff members, and groups of staff within a working environment.

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  Global Human Resources Management

  • Faith Ntabeni Bhebe(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Society Publishing

    (Publisher)

  Employee relations is a product of the increasing decline in Trade Unions on the back of globalization that has made it possible for jobs to be exported to more cost effective areas. Its focus is on employees as individuals and their relationship with the employer as captured in the contract of employment and subsequent agreements. The two are compared in Table 7.1. Table 7.1: Comparison of Industrial Relations and Employee Relations Industrial Relations Employee Relations Resolution of conflict between em -ployers and employees Incorporates all the issues in the employer– employee relationship in the workplace, including but not limited to including re-cruitment, equal opportunity, training, and development, and organizational Association with collective bargain-ing and collective action Focuses more on individual, performance ap-praisals and performance related pay Employee Relations 199 Focus on industrial manufacturing environments Recognizes the dominance of the services sector Focus on the job relationship Extends to work-life balance; family The nature of employee relations impacts on organizational productivity with poor relations resulting in poor performance as a result of loss of focus, lack of team work, increase in dysfunctional behavior and time spent managing relational problems ranging from simple disagreement to outright collective action. For HR professionals, day to day work relating to employee relations focuses on managing the contract of employment in terms of ensuring that legal obligations on pay rates, general conditions of employment, health, and safety, discipline, and ensuring that separations such as redundancies and dismissals are handled in a fair and transparent manner. Further it involves putting in place mechanisms and engaging in practices that build employee commitment and engagement and reduce undesired turnover.

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  eBook - ePub

  Human Resource Management

  People and Organisations

  • Stephen Taylor, Carol Woodhams, Stephen Taylor, Carol Woodhams(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • CIPD - Kogan Page

    (Publisher)

  Looking ahead, it is reasonable to suggest that the business of creating and sustaining employee relationships will continue to be relevant and extremely important over the next five years. The decline in trade union membership shows no signs of abating, which suggests that the role of trade unions in the management of employee relationships will continue to diminish. In line with this decline, the growth of employee involvement rather than employee participation forms of employee voice may be expected to continue. There is, however, an opportunity for the trade union movement to engage with the mediation agenda in the area of dispute resolution and to demonstrate different ways of thinking and acting through its involvement in the public sector reforms. Because the public sector is likely to shrink in size and bear a closer resemblance to the private sector with an emphasis on competition, resistance and conflict are likely to continue to pervade this context. This presents a longer-term challenge for managers and HR practitioners in balancing the need for co-operation with the expectation of conflict, amid the continuing reality of uncertainty. As the UK economy emerges from a recessionary context, organisations should have more scope to invest more resources into creating and sustaining effective employment relationships. It remains to be seen whether organisations will seize these investment opportunities.

   FURTHER READING

  ACAS (2011) The future of workplace relations – an Acas view [Online]. Available at: www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/n/8/The_Future_of_Workplace_Relations_-_An_Acas_view.pdf . This report provides some predictions about the future directions for employee relations over the next ten years.

  CIPD (2005) What is employee relations? [Online]. Available at: www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/research/employee-relations.aspx . This report outlined the contemporary focus on employee relations, and prompted debate among academics and practitioners about the changing nature and relevance of employee relations.

  CIPD (2011) Employee relations at capgemini UK. [Online]. Available at: www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/research/employee-relations-capgemini-uk.aspx . This is an interesting case study, which explores contemporary employee relations practices within the context of a global IT services organisation.

  CIPD (2012) Employee relations information page. [Online]. Available at: www.cipd.co.uk/hrtopics/employee-relations.aspx . This website provides factsheets, podcasts and survey reports on the subject of employee relations.

  GENNARD, J. and JUDGE, G. (2010) Managing employment relations. 5th edition. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. This CIPD text discusses the contexts of employee relations, explores key theoretical perspectives and discusses employee relations practices in depth.

  LEWIS, P., THORNHILL, A. and SAUNDERS, M. (2003) Employee relations: understanding the employment relationship

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  Human Resource Management

  • Michael L. Nieto(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Red Globe Press

    (Publisher)

  163 INTRODUCTION People are an organization’s most valuable asset. This is what most organizational mission statements usually state or imply. But how true is this assertion in practice? In this chapter you will explore the interrelationships between organizations and people, and the expectations people may form about work. Employee relations therefore comprise more than a list of policy documents and legislative requirements. Indeed, employee relations are intertwined with personal and organizational expec-tations, often unwritten forms of custom and practice. Positive employee relations help organizations to achieve their aims and objec-tives. In this chapter your will evaluate practical interventions which can encourage better dialogue between colleagues and thereby nurture more constructive employee relations and organizational performance. 8 Employee Relations and the Changing Workforce Key Point: Organizations are a group of people and succeed or fail on how well motivated and engaged people are to work together. LEARNING OBJECTIVES The key learning outcomes for the chapter are below: • Managing employee relations with a diversified workforce. • The Socio-Technical Model: tasks, people, technology, structure. MANAGING EMPLOYEE RELATIONS WITH A DIVERSIFIED WORKFORCE Changing the way people do their jobs can have a major impact on employee relations. Remember the word change is value-neutral. Changes in organizational structures can be either positive or negative. Historically, many of the employment disputes where large numbers of people went on strike were often as much to do with changes in working patterns as they were to do with pay and conditions. The contemporary HR specialist should recognize that changes to working patterns need to be introduced with care and consultation. According to Friday and Friday (2003), manag-ing diversity begins by valuing diversity and then incorporating policies into the organization in a strategically planned process.

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