Unitary, Pluralist and Radical Approaches to Employment Relations - Coursework Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tutor :xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Title : Institution : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date :xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx @ 2012 Unitary, Pluralist and Radical approaches to employment relations Introduction ‘Employee relations’ is the term used to refer to the relations existing between the employers and the employees (Lewis, Thornhill, Saunders 2003, 89). The relationship between the management and the employees has a direct relationship with unions. For more than 30 years now, changes have been occurring in the management of employee relations. People have adopted more strategic frameworks that bring focus and integration in employee relations. These frameworks are founded on the commitment of employees and common interests at the place of work as opposed to the old system of control by management and conflicts where workers rise against their employers (Lewis et al, 2003, 97). Employee relations have three major perspectives namely; radical, unitary and pluralist. All these three perspectives are relevant in one way or the other to employee relations. These three approaches will be discussed in this essay and their relevance to the study of employee relations analysed individually. Unitarist approach Under the unitary approach the organization is viewed as a family and system that exists with harmony and integration as its pillars. It is assumed in this approach that the managers and the employees and the rest of the organization have common objectives and goals and their focus is to achieve the goals. Employees are required to be loyal and therefore there is no need for trade unions. Conflict is viewed as something that brings in disruption (Armstrong 2006, 231).  Employees from their viewpoint see the unitary approach as one that should have flexible working practices. Workers should be willing to improve the business process, have many skills and have the capacity to perform the various responsibilities assigned to them. Union recognition to employees would mean that the union should foster more communication among the staff and between the employer and employees. Employees have their focus fixed on good relationships and reasonable conditions of working and terms of contract (Aswathappa 2008, 221). Employees would also want to have more space in decision making at the workplace. Through this they are empowered, encouraged to value teamwork, be innovative, creative and discrete in solving problems. Employees must have the feeling that their efforts are supported by the skills of the management (Herriot 2002, 45). The employer would see the unitary approach as one that makes staffing policies to bring unity in effort, give motivation and inspiration to employees. The staff should properly discuss and communicate the general objectives of the organization. The unitary perspective should be one that promotes commitment and loyalty. Line managers are obliged to own the role of their teams. Conflicts between management and staff are believed to arise because there is no information and insufficient knowledge about the policies of the management prevails. The objectives of employee of the organization should be integrated with the needs of the organization (Farnham 2000, 87). This helps to create harmony and unity of purpose in the operations of an organization. The unitarist perspective brings together the interests of the employer and employees. This fosters commitment and loyalty in employees to the management. This is important in stakeholder management since employees are among the organization’s critical stakeholders. The welfare of the employees is important to the health of the organization. The unitarist approach makes managers to work towards achieving a win-win situation for the employee and the organization so that the interest of each of them can fit into each other. Managers need to rise above their way of management and employ their leadership skills as well. If leaders are strong enough then trade unions need not come in (Leat 2012, 54). Under the unitarist approach every stakeholder is a rational member that has to think of common interests. Through this common goals are achieved so that the employee relations can be stabilized. The unitary approach is also individualistic in the way it addresses employee relations. The unitarist approach is necessary for the industrial systems that have moved from the collective to individualist paradigms (Bennett, Financial Times Limited 1997, 77). The unitarist approach however displays certain weaknesses in its management of employee relations. This perspective fails to realize that power inequalities exist between employers and their employees that have the potential to cause various types of conflicts. Managers exercise a lot of power on their employees in setting the conditions of work since employees are only expected to follow the decisions made by management and stay under its power. In this approach conflict receives a lot of negative treatment and it is not viewed as something that can points at inequalities and that it can be useful in restoring harmony at work. Conflicts exist in various kinds some types of conflict are believed to be beneficial to an organization (Dicker 2003, 186).  Relevance of unitarist approach to study of employment relations The unitarist approach applies to the study of employment relations. Studying employee relations through this approach helps one to understand why certain organizations would prefer a certain management style to another. This approach makes it possible for employment relations to be studied and viewed in a different way from the other approaches. The approach helps people to understand how the employer and the employee views industrial relations. It brings out the expectations of the employer from the employees as well as what the employees expect from their relationship with the employer. The unitary approach also makes clear the role and the place of the trade unions (Dicker 2003, 156). It paints a picture of an organization where authority lies on the side of the employer and the employees are supposed to be loyal to that authority. Through this perspective an organization is able to pursue unity and togetherness since the issue of conflicts is ruled out completely. The unions are not allowed to intervene in the relationship between the employer and employer (Farnham 2000, 89). In employee relations, the unitarist approach helps to suppress disputes. It therefore ensures that there is peaceful coexistence between the employer and the employee. Smooth relations exist within the organization because of the way the employer and employee exist is a family relationship. The approach ensures cooperation and focus that directs all the efforts of the organization into the achievement of shared goals. This creates the possibility of organizational success because of the togetherness and teamwork that is embraced in the workplace. The unitarist approach acts as the basis for the analysis of the success and failure of organizations where loyalty to management is emphasized and people are not allowed to challenge the goals and objectives of an organization (Michigan Dept. of Civil Service 1985, 90). Pluralist approach The pluralist approach holds that the place or work is made up of different beliefs, behaviors, attitudes and values (Aswathappa 2008, 98). Organizations have leadership sides that are in opposition to one another. Since rival interests are prevalent it is hard to avoid conflicts in this approach. Conflicts may be beneficial if discovered and maintained under organizational responses. The management is tasked with the responsibility of mediating among rival interests. Employees are allowed representation through trade unions and these unions are accepted because they support employees to strengthen their power of decision making (Lewis et al, 2003, 51). The stability of employment relations is secured through negotiations between employees and management via a process of collective bargaining. Based on the pluralist approach, proper interventions through industrial relation can bring solutions to conflicts. In response to conflicts the management can employ the consultative approach. The approach also gives consideration to other methods of decision making. There is no overlooking of conflict but instead it is managed by involving all stakeholders. Conflict opens the way for people to comprehend any hidden tension that need to be known and tackled. The pluralist approach employs the strategies of managing conflicts to bring together rival groups before resolutions are negotiated and executed (Dicker 2003). The approach agrees with so many policies pertaining to employee relations. Certain companies may adopt the policies restricting unions when employee organizations still exist while others may opt to encourage trade union involvement. Policies for employee relations may bring out the benefit in pluralist approaches to the culture in an organization or the nation. When harmonizing the interests of the organization and those of employees trade unions may prove to be useful. In a collective industrial relations system, the pluralist approach is important because it recognizes the role played by trade unions in the control of conflicts between the employer and staff (Herriot 2002, 26).  The pluralist approach has certain weaknesses though. It emphasizes on procedures and rules and in the process it overlooks the processes that add to conflict resolution. For example via industrial relations legislation could be enacted that make it mandatory for certain ways of conflict resolution to be followed. These laws may however not be adaptable to the various upcoming conditions in the workplace. The pluralist approach is also unable to realize that the apart from the state representing public interests it also represents commercial interests. The approach also has a weakness of directing much focus on the interest of workers and this may make the processes of collective bargaining to be inefficient (Leat 2012, 12). The interests of the employer in this perspective seem not to receive proper recognition. This could have the effect of curtailing the good relations that the pluralist approach seems to cultivate. Relevance of pluralist approach to the study of employment relations The pluralist approach presents another perspective through which employee relations can be studied. It allows one to see the strengths and weaknesses of the employee-employer relationships in which this approach is applied. The perspective is a way through which people can understand the structure and functioning of organizations where trade unions are allowed to intervene in employee relations (Leat 2012, 15). It appears as an approach that affords a fair bargain to employers and employees as well. Under the pluralist perspective it is possible to paint a picture of a typical organization in this century. Such an organization has conflicts as the norm because of issues such as pay and working conditions. The pluralist approach helps one to study and understand the kind of relationships in which conflict would be anticipated and the right mechanisms used to solve it (Dicker 2003, 117). It brings to realization the fact that an organization has many structures comprising of groupings, authority, loyalty and leadership. It presents the organization as an institution in which the distribution of authority is wide. In such an approach employees and employers have a good chance of relating well given the openness on matters of conflict resolution and collective bargaining. The pluralist perspective shows how organizations can benefit from a system where the management listens to the employees, trade unions are allowed to defend the employees and the employees are given room to bargain collectively. Radical approach According to Farnham (2000, 101).the radical perspective is concerned with how the capitalist society is designed in that it has a major division between labour and capital. Employee relations are viewed on this background of divided labour and capital. Based on the radical approach the imbalances in economic wealth and power are rooted in the state of the economic system of the capitalist society. Conflicts cannot be avoided and therefore trade unions come in as a solution to the problems of employees who are exploited by the capitalist system. Institutions working under joint regulation would promote and not hinder the position of management in their bid to perpetuate capitalism instead of stopping it (Bennett, Financial Times Limited 1997, 66). The radical approach does not focus on the relations within an organization as it happens in the pluralist and unitarist perspectives (Michigan Dept. of Civil Service 1985, 112). Instead it addresses societal politics. The approach launches criticism on the capitalist systems of production and distribution. The approach touches on economical, political and social aspects of the society. This gives is a wider range than the other two perspectives. In this approach it is believed that conflict between social classes fosters the development of the society. This means that stagnation may be witnessed if there was no conflict between classes. Inequality is seen to exist between the owners of capital and the suppliers of labour. Economic inequality is the basis of the laws used in society and in economy (Armstrong 2006, 250). Capitalism requires perpetual growth in the economy because it is the source of accumulation and profits. Profitability requires the presence of advanced technology for it to be achieved. Technology brings about efficiency and high productivity. The unequal sharing between labour owners and capital owners within an organization is a cause of conflict. The radical approach holds that conflict should be expected all the time within the relationship between employee and employers. Conflicts can only be solved when capitalism is done away with. Trade unions would only provide protection to proletariat classes and they would achieve basic changes within the social and economic systems (Armstrong 2006, 272). Relevance of radical approach to the study of employee relations Lewis et al, (2003, 39) observe that through the radical approach the relationship of the employee and the employer is viewed as having implications not only to the organization but to the entire society as well. The radical approach shows that the capitalist society is the cause of conflicts in organizations. Through this approach it is possible to understand the nature of employee relations in societies where capitalism is the dominant social and economic system. An understanding of the inequalities in power and economic wealth is created as well (Leat 2012, 66). The radical approach provides an understanding of employee relations with and without capitalism. It lays bare the reason why conflicts would exist in employee relations in capitalist societies and not in other societies and economic systems. The radical approach provides solutions to the employee-employer conflicts totally different from the other perspectives. The radical perspective does not recognize the fact that conflicts could result from other problems other than those caused by capitalism. This is all important in the analysis of employee relations in capitalist social and economic systems (Adams 1991, 36). Conclusion A discussion of the three perspectives to the study of employee relations has been presented in this essay. The relevance of these approaches to the study of employee relations has also been discussed. The three approaches are the unitarist, pluralistic and radical perspectives. In the unitarist approach the employees are expected to be loyal to the management and all the people in an organization share objectives and aim at achieving common goals. Conflict is not accepted and therefore is avoided. This approach allows people to understand the type of employee relations where loyalty is demanded from employees all the time. The pluralist approach acknowledges the existence of conflict in an organization and therefore trade unions are allowed in to bring solutions to these conflicts. Conflicts are viewed as being beneficial if solved in the right way. Trade unions are allowed because they support the employee in making decisions. In this approach the management is open to negotiation with the employees and collective bargaining is encouraged. This approach is relevant to employee relation studies since it show why employee relations would be better or worse than in other approaches. It displays the nature of the relationship where conflict resolution is given priority. Finally, there is the radical approach which explains employee relations through capitalism. Capitalism is seen to be the source of the conflict between those selling their labour and those buying it. Without capitalism, employee relations would be smooth and lacking in conflicts. Bibliography Adams, R. (1991). Comparative Industrial Relations: Contemporary Research and Theory. Routledge. Armstrong, M. (2006). A handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Pelgrave Aswathappa, K. (2008) Human Resource and Personnel Management. Routledge. Bennett, R., Financial Times Limited (1997) Employee Relations. Cengage Learning. Dicker, L. (2003). Employee Relations: How to Build Strong Relations. Oxford University Press. Farnham, D. (2000) Employee Relations in Context. Cengage Learning. Herriot, P. (2002). The Employment Relationship: A psychological Perspective. Routledge. Lewis, P., Thornhill, A., Saunders, M. (2003) Employee Relations: Understanding The Employment Relationship. Routledge. Michigan. Dept. of Civil Service (1985). Employee Relations: Policy and Procedures. John Wiley & Sons. Leat, M. (2012). Exploring Employee Relations. Longhorn Publishers. Read More