Industrial Relationships in HRM - Essay Example

?At work, as in everyday life, people deal with others and the relationship created has been for a long time attributed to employee participation andemployee involvement especially at workplace. According to Kleynhans (2007), the field of employment relations involves all the dynamics found in the relationships in the work context. In this case, dynamics refers to the forces or processes that often cause change in a group or a system hence it has been advocated that employee participation and employee involvement are good recipes for the creation of mutual employee relationships. However, there is a different school of thought which suggests that old distinctions made between employee participation and employee involvement are now irrelevant because successful employee relations is all about “partnership.” As such, this essay seeks to critically evaluate this claim drawing evidence from different sources and practical examples in the workplace during the contemporary period. The paper starts by explaining the meaning of employee relations then goes on to outline and evaluate the rationale behind the claim that partnerships are more important in the creation of fruitful employee relations. A conclusion summarising the main points discussed in the essay will be given at the end. In order to gain a clear understanding of the concept of employee relations, it is imperative to begin by explaining its meaning. “Employee Relations involves the body of work concerned with maintaining employer-employee relationships that contribute to satisfactory productivity, motivation, and morale.” This definition can be viewed from the following website < http://ohcm.gsfc.nasa.gov/employee_relations/whatis.htm>. Basically, employee relations is mainly concerned with resolving problems or conflicts that may arise at workplace and the major aim is to improve the performance of the workers towards the attainment of the set organisational goals. The other aim of employee relations in the workplace is to correct any kind of misconduct where information is passed to the employees so that they will be better positioned to understand the goals of the management and the organisation as a whole. Employees are also advised about their rights and obligations and their participation as well as involvement in the decision making process is done through unions within different organisations. These unions would represent the grievances of the employees in a bid to create a conducive environment that will promote good employee relations. According to the to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) as cited by the Learning and Teaching Support Network Guide (ND), employee involvement is ‘a range of processes designed to engage the support, understanding and optimum contribution of all employees in an organisation and their commitment to its objectives.’ This information can be viewed at . The members of the organisation are encouraged to play a part in making valuable contributions in the decision making process of the organisation. This is believed to go a long way in fostering long term relationships between the employees and their employers for the betterment of the organisation as a whole. On the other hand, employee participation is defined as ‘a process of employee involvement designed to provide employees with the opportunity to influence and where appropriate, take part in decision making on matters which affect them.’ However, research has shown that the major difference in employee participation and involvement is that employee participation takes a pluralist approach while involvement is centred on individual concerns. In both cases, the management retains control and power of all the processes that may be involved in the decision making process. Whilst it is a noble idea to involve all the employees to participate in the decision making process of the organisation, true employee empowerment remains an ideal since the management will be in full control of all the decisions made. Against the shortcomings of employee involvement and employee participation discussed above, attention has been gradually shifting to other effective strategies that can foster the development of industrial relations by encouraging the employers and the employees to effectively work together. One such initiative is The Partnership at Work Fund in UK which was launched under the Government grant scheme and established by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in 1999. The main aim of this initiative was to encourage the creation of good industrial relations through encouraging the workers and their employees to effectively work together for the betterment of the organisation as a whole. As such, the DTI defines partnership at work as “the relationship between employers, employees and their representatives.” Details of partnerships at work can be viewed at the DTI National Archives website at . The main thrust of partnerships at work is to promote the development of better employment relationships based on mutual trust and understanding at all levels in the workplace where information can be freely shared among all the stakeholders involved. Partnership at work is also concerned with solving the problems that can be encountered in business in an amicable way. In the event that partnership is successfully implemented within the organisation, both the employees and employers would come to realise the importance of the relationship that may exist between them which can positively influence them to work towards the attainment of the organisational goals for mutual reward. Successful businesses today have recognised that it is imperative for the organisations to put measures in place that are meant to promote dialogue between the employers and the employees. This plays a pivotal role in creating mutual trust whereby the employees will be aware of their duties, tasks and responsibility. When the employees in the organisation are aware of the duties that are expected of them, there will be high chances that that they put optimum performance in their duties as they will be aware that they are also part of the organisation than being treated as mere workers. Engaging employees in dialogue will also help them realise that their contributions are valued and they will develop a positive sense of belonging to the organisation where they can strive to influence the policies for the benefit of the organisation as a whole. Through establishing partnerships in the workplace, employee relations can be improved as well as workplace productivity and job satisfaction. Johnstone (2011) concurs with this claim when he said that the key principles characterising the partnership approach are commitment to success of business, recognition of stakeholder interests, trust, consultation and flexibility. The dynamics or forces or processes that often cause change in a group or a system, consultation as well as decision making processes are believed to be central in the effective implementation of the partnership approach within the organisation. According to DTI official website mentioned above, the Partnership Fund is the brainchild of the Employment Relations Act of 1999 which is mainly concerned with fairness at work. The notion of fairness at workplace is of the view that if the employees are treated equally, the quality of the relationships with their employers will also significantly improve. Where there is a cordial relationship between the employers and the employees, there will be few cases of conflicts at work which are often seen as counterproductive. If the organisation is characterised by intermittent conflicts, its viability will be negatively impacted which also affects the overall productivity of the company as a whole. It may also be difficult to achieve the set organisational goals if the members of that particular organisation do not share the same vision for the company. The concept of partnership in the workplace is more than just involving the employees in the decision making process but goes beyond treating them as partners as well as valuable assets to the organisation who can meaningfully contribute to its viability if they are given the autonomy to be part of the decision making process. According to Johnstone (2011), “developing collaborative workplace relations can play a pivotal role in enhancing productivity, job quality and employee engagement.” It is therefore very important for the Human Resources Management (HRM) as well as the other responsible policy makers to take into consideration the partnership approach in forging lasting employee relations that can ensure that there is collaboration as well as coordination of all the activities of the organisation with the aim of achievement of the set organisational goals. The partnership approach to employee relations can also be achieved through different systems of employee representation which include the agreements made between the workers and the national trade unions, employer-specific staff association/unions, as well as non-union models (Johnstone, 2011). In the Financial Institutions in UK, the partnership approach has been recognised as effective in creating good employee relations through equal employee representation where their views are treated as valuable to the organisations concerned. Fostering good employee relations hinges on the company’s ability to create partnerships where all the stakeholders can share the same vision of the company. According to Johnstone (2011), in order for the partnerships to be successful, the managers especially from the financial services organisations indicated that there was need for a clear understanding by all stakeholders involved about what partnership meant and what it was meant to achieve so as to effectively implement the strategy with the aim of promoting mutual employee relations within the workplace. Thus, genuine and explicit commitment to the partnerships ought to be based on consultations as well as collective employee representation. If the employees are fully represented, they will positively contribute to the overall performance of the organisation since they will also have a sense of belonging to it. Common understanding of the goals and objectives of the organisation is a virtue in as far as employee relations are concerned which can go a long way in improving the productivity of the organisation. Before the advent of the partnership approach to creating employee relations, it can be noted that both the management and the unions had clearly divergent perspectives with regards to the way they approached the aspect of employee relations. For instance, the managers possessed great power in decision making process while the employees were not empowered enough to influence the decision making process (Wynne, 1993). However, with partnerships, it can be noted that both angles are given the same consideration and an amicable agreement is often reached after consultations though there may be some misunderstandings. Whilst there may be some disagreements that may be encountered towards the decision making process, these can be solved through consensus hence there will be likely chances that mutual employee relations will be created based on the same understanding of the principles and ideas of the partnerships approach to industrial relations. One interesting thing about partnership is that an agreement will be ultimately reached at the end of the day which will be based on mutual consent by both parties involved. Unlike in traditional approaches to employee involvement and participation where the management possessed the supreme power to effect or override decisions in the organisation, the partnership approach to management of employee relations is mainly concerned with flexibility as well as collaboration of individual opinions in the decision making process which is viewed as very effective in promoting good employee relations. Many western countries including the UK witnessed prolonged periods that were characterised by poor employee relations as a result of lack of understanding between the union members as well as the management of different organisations. According to Johnstone (2011), the rationale behind partnership in different organisations differs but there is a general feeling that this is an effective way of fostering and cementing employee relationships especially between union members and the management. Given that the approach which used to exist in the decision making process led to poor employment relationships in different organisations, the emerging perspective of partnership is seen as a viable and preferred way of managing and maintaining good employee relations in the modern business context. It can be noted that organisations that are concerned about their viability ought to put measures in place that treat the employees as valuable assets to the organisation. In order for the employees and the management to pull their efforts in the same direction towards the attainment of set organisational goals, there is need to create good employee relations among all the stakeholders so that there will be mutual understanding among all members of the company which is a healthy situation in the growth and development of the company. The partnership approach to decision making process with regards to employee relations is widely viewed as having many benefits to the organisation than the disadvantages. It is widely believed that the partnership approach is effective in the decision making process given that a consensus is reached among all the stakeholders involved in this process (Hyman &Mason, 1995). The other advantage of this approach is that it allows the managers to weigh the contributions given by the union representatives which are helpful in shaping the quality of the decisions made. If the employee representatives are consulted in the decision making process, they will become part of it and will ultimately develop a sense of belonging to the organisation which helps in fostering good employee relations within the workplace. Decisions made are usually balanced since they will reflect the input of both the employees as well as the management where consensus is reached by all parties. However, the major challenge that can be encountered in this approach is that developing a and sustaining the partnership relationships is not something which is straightforward given that it mainly involves the managers and the representatives in the ‘partnership system’ (Johnstone, 2011). This can also pose challenges given that the views of those outside this system may not be adequately represented as they will not have any voice to raise their concern. The other challenge that may be encountered is that different organisations have different structures and different employees have different levels of authority hence it may be difficult to implement the partnerships if the employees in other levels of the organisation are not fully aware of the decisions made. There will be need to make concerted efforts that correct information has been disseminated to all the employees in the organisation so as to ensure that there is mutual understanding among all the stakeholders involved. Over and above, it can be noted that people interact with others on a daily basis and the relationship created has been a result of employee participation and employee involvement especially at workplace. According to Kleynhans (2007), the area of employment relations in an organisation are quite complex given that the environment in which the organisations operate is dynamic and constantly changing. As such, employee participation and employee involvement have been for a long time touted as good mechanisms to influence the creation of mutual employee relationships in workplaces. However, there is a different ideas suggested which posit to the effect that old distinctions made between employee participation and employee involvement are now irrelevant because successful employee relations is all about “partnership.” The partnership approach to management of employee relations is mainly concerned with flexibility as well as collaboration of individual opinions in the decision making process which is viewed as very effective in promoting good employee relations. Businesses that are concerned about their success have recognised that it is very important for the organisations to put measures in place that are meant to promote dialogue between the employers and the employees since this plays a pivotal role in creating mutual trust among all the members of the organisation which goes a long way in creating long lasting employee relations. Employees who are satisfied with their jobs are likely to put optimum performance in their operations which will play a big role in ensuring that they share knowledge as well as the vision of the organisation. Dialogue is very important in motivating the workers to engage in a cordial relationship since the employees will realise that their contributions are valued by the management of the organisation. Bibliography Armstrong, M, 1999, Human Resources Management Practice, 7th Edition, Kogan Page Limited: NY. 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