Why has the Employee relationships changed from 1900' to today and what does this mean to contemporary organisations - Essay Example

?Why Has The Employee Relationships Changed From 1900' To Today And What Does This Mean To Contemporary Organizations? Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Employee Relationship in 1900s 4 Changes in Employee Relationship in 21st Century as Compared to 1900s 6 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction To be precise, the concept of ‘employee relationship’ that was perceived as a synonymous term for ‘industrial relation’ in the 1900s, no more exists in the 21st century context. The concept today applies to a broader, extensively multidimensional and a major function of strategic managers in companies, rather than being confined to the Human Resource Department (HRD) functions. Industrial relationship, in its earlier days of the 1900s was concerned about the management of association existing amid the trade unions and the authoritative managerial bodies, which further offered organisations with a greater control on managing negotiations, industrial conflicts and consultations. Although the inherent meaning, basic tenets and rudimental values of this particular managerial doctrine remains the same over the past century, its dimensions have become much vibrant and multifaceted, embracing the external as well as internal elements of strategic management including social, political, economic and legal contexts of the national and international realms along with the working culture, organisational values, motivational needs of the workers, ranging upto financial and strategic goals of the company (Sing & Kumar, 2011). Based on this concern, this essay hereby intends to examine and obtain a critical understanding of the changes witnessed in the concept of employee relationship since the 1900s to the current century and its implications on contemporary organisations. Employee Relationship in 1900s In general terms, ‘employee relationship’ can be understood as a practice or a theory that is principally allied with the management and with the regulations of employee relationship. It operates more as an array of necessary abilities and attitudes of the employees rather than a specific management function. Employee relationship is concerned about preventing and controlling the conflicts within workplaces, either at individual levels or at the group levels that are often likely to arise due to the inefficiency of an organisation (Brown University, 2013). It is worth mentioning in this context that there are many factors, which have contributed to the changes in employee relationship since the past era to the recent times. Employee relationship during the 1900s was highly influenced by the then continuing industry trends, which rooted since the mid nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, the factory system became the dominant mode of production in most of the developed and Western countries (Sing & Kumar, 2011). In the plight of political turmoil and rapidly changing social constructs, employment relationship in the twentieth century was characterized by the emergence of labour unions. Since the colonial days labour unions had a well-earned reputation for being cruel, antisocial and some even criminal. Accordingly, with increased number of labours in the extremes of the spectrum and fewer in the middle, the labour market became much polarized by the mid 1900s (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2011). The labour market polarisation had a deep impact on the employment relationship in the twentieth century context, whereby the notion followed by governmental bodies (including trade unions) and employers was shifting from liberalism (that developed in the early 1900s) to neo-liberalism structures in the later-half of the twentieth century. Correspondingly, the twentieth century labour market was also facing significant turmoil in terms of protests against exploitation, which was further backed by political groups along with the then uprising social communities (Kalleberg, 2009; Clarke, 1995). With the increasing pace in the liberalism reforms of the early 1900s, various kinds of transformation were triggered in the context of employment relationship. The foremost among these changes were the rising conception of evaluating employers and employees on the grounds of equal footing not only by organisational stakeholders but also by legal administrative bodies (courts) (Muhl, 2001). Thus, increasing moral values in treating and leveraging benefits to employees became a trend in the 1900s resulting in the development of employment-at-will conception, along with various business ethics norms and legal rules those intended to protect the interests of employees from being exploited in the hands of their employers (Muhl, 2001; Fitzgerald, 1999). The rise of the anti-sweatshop movement in the late 1990s can be illustrated as a noteworthy example replicating the changes observed in the employment relationship. As a consequence, the fundamental rights and the human rights of the labour force were being seriously considered by the legal systems of various nations, especially in the US and the UK, abolishing the practice of ill-treatments and exploitation of the labour force observed in the early 1900s (Cakic, 2012; Hurd & et. al., 2003). The twentieth century had experienced much more social transformation than any other century where immigration trends from developing nations to developed nations, either in search for a better lifestyle or due to war damages, can be observed apparently (Lebergott, 1966). It was during the late decades of 1900s that the polarisation of the labour market became sluggish, segregating knowledge based economy from other economies. Notably, these economies were empowered by global treaties, which further ignited the demand for high-skilled employees, abolishing the domination of manufacturing industries on the global labour market, and in turn raising the value for services sectors as major economic growth drivers. As high-skilled labour force generation demanded better employer support and political stability, employers had to plan for requisite strategies that further added a dimension to the managerial approach in respect to employment relationship of the late 1900s (Organisation For Economic Co-Operation And Development, 1996). Changes in Employee Relationship in 21st Century as Compared to 1900s From a generalised point of view, based on the same rudimental values and managerial idealism, the nature of employee relationship did not change entirely or reversed from that observed in the1900s to the current 21st century. A generalised understanding to the context may however reveal that while the concept of employee relationship was undergoing rapid changes throughout the 1900s, it reached to a much stable phase in the 21st century. Nevertheless, an in-depth examination of the scenario, especially concerning approaches taken by employers currently in managing the performance and occupational health of the employees, both at the individual and group levels, may reveal that transformations have been in almost every sphere of the managerial dimension, resulting in greater chronicity and need for scientific frameworks. The world economy now is more balanced and relationship-oriented, where the labour market polarisation can be observed to flow in the reverse direction as compared to the 1900s. It has been increasingly found to incline towards maintaining the relationship between the employee and the employers in a more scientific manner, which although does not neglects governmental or regulatory interventions, but simultaneously enhances employer’s enthusiastic and wilful (rather than forced as was observed during the 1900s) participation in raising employee welfare (Finegold & Notabartolo, 2011; Zheng & et. al., 2010). To be noted in this context, multiple researches have been performed to prove the benefits of employment relationship, expanding the notion from a mere moral responsibility of legal obligation to the realm of strategic management in obtaining competitive advantages (Crook & et. al., 2011; Carroll & Shabana, 2010; Chuang & Liao, 2010; Edmans, 2009). From a critical perspective, it can be observed that unlike the 1900s when employees were treated as participants in the trade relations and employers were guided with the notion that employees are the benefactors to their organisational sustenance, the 21st century managers or employers believe employees to be asset to their businesses and the main source to assure sustainability. While linkage between employee satisfaction and customers satisfaction (Nadiri & Tanova, 2010) as well as in the investment markets prospects (Edmans, 2009), employers are striving towards not just merely keeping their employees satisfied, but also strategically developing and motivating them towards better productivity. Arguably, the theories of employee motivation, although were developed in the late 1900s, came into extensive use in the 21st century and currently being on continuous expansion (Foss & Lindenberg, 2012; Baker & et. al., 1988). Today, managers are more aggressive and objective-oriented in managing employees in the most productive way, considering them as ‘human resources’, which also makes the employees grouped under the classification of resources to be accounted, allocated and used in the most ethical as well as profitable manner. Correspondingly, Employee Involvement (EI) and their subsequent empowerment can be identified as a core concern of strategic managers in the 21st century, keeping in mind the implications of such managerial approaches on contemporary organizational functions where departmental interdependency, diversity and goal of continuous expansion beyond national periphery have become so apparent (SAGE Publications, 2013). Conclusion The rapid developments and transitions witnessed in the context of employee relationship had implied considerable effects on the operational procedure of contemporary organizations. Rooted in the theoretical, legal as well as moral developmental principles of the 1900s, the contemporary organizations are now more efficient, tactful, scientifically proficient and well-organized in dealing with the challenges of employee relationship as compared to the industrial organizations of the early century. Initially, in the developmental phase of 1900s, the workers were treated as labours, as have been addressed in the above discussion, and their fundamental rights were exploited and threatened to work more, which necessitated the intervention of social groups as well as legal bodies. Unlike the then situation, contemporary organisations are more systematic and understand employee motivational needs, while the enhancement of more literate and high-skilled labour force has also contributed to the betterment of employee-employer relationship. 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