Conflict in Employment Relationships - Essay Example

Conflict is a fundamental feature of the employment relationship. An employment relationship can be defined as a relationship between an employee i.e. a worker and an employer i.e. a person for whom an employee performs work in lieu of a certain amount or remuneration. This relationship is not one sided but because of entering into this relationship some rights and obligations are created between the employee and the employer. This relationship also holds legal value and is regulated by labor laws, union laws, factories' act etc. In this relationship conflicts may arise because of the differing interests of both the parties. Employment conflicts can result in many forms, including strike, sabotage, working to rule, withholding effort, shirking and much more. Conflict with your boss doesn't have to lead to derailment if the effort is made to effectively manage the situation. By appropriately manage conflict, positive consequences can result. Managing conflict can lead to a more productive working relationship between the employer and you're the employee: Increases effort. In many ways, we need our differences to help us clarify our own positions and better understand others. The chaos and confusion that naturally surrounds a search for clarity can actually energize the efforts of all. Airs feelings. Instead of allowing resentment to build, feelings are dealt with openly. Leads to better decision making. More information leads to better decisions, even if during a conflict situation each side hears information it doesn't want to hear. Exposes key issues. Future conflict is avoided by raising important issues while there is time to address them. Stimulates critical thinking. Consistently raising (and resolving) disagreements contributes to a thinking organization. Creates open environments. Understanding and managing conflict robs the situation of its destructive power and builds an environment where ideas are vigorously exchanged. Stimulates creativity and innovation. Creating an open forum for diverse ideas and perspectives creates space for new ideas and new ways of thinking. To deal with the conflicts many organizations' human resources or the employment relationship departments have developed grievance procedures. These procedures facilitate in managing the conflict otherwise organizations may face huge losses in terms of employee turnover and employees themselves may find themselves loosing or changing a job too often. A grievance is normally a complain by an employee that to notify that management or the employer in some way or the other has violated any of the terms of their employer-employee contractual arrangement. Formally the grievance procedure is for the processing of allegations from the lower tiers of management to the upper tiers. This allows employees to lodge complains if they have any regarding the work environment, work situation and any of the working relationships also without any fear of reprisal if the process is really fair. A fair and a just grievance procedure may also lead to development of credibility as a good employer for the organization. One of the benefits of well developed grievance system is that it helps firms resolve any conflicts or differences in interest internally and not leading to any court involvement or furthermore any of the public announcements or disclosures that can be more costly. I do not agree with the statement that there is no need of grievance procedures in the organization. The arguments in favor are presented in the following text. The reason of my agreement which are elucidated as under includes: Saves costs for organization Gives employees a voice Provides a mechanism for employees to communicate upwards Represents justice Enhances organizations' capability Allows managers to learn of the grievances at lower tier But, since it is believed that the conflict between the employee and the employer is inevitable therefore, the systems may thought to be flawed or useless because there is always a bias involved in the relationship even when the parties are trying to reach a consensus or a feasible solution. It might also be ignored by the management since developing and implementing and later following all the requirements may be costly for the organization or rather minor things and issues are more often ignored unless there is a major issue or a crisis coming up. But, on the other hand the employment grievance procedures or systems cannot be ignored since these procedures give employee the voice; union employees still have their bargaining powers but the grievance system also lets the individual employees. The grievance procedure provides employee a mechanism to communicate upwards. But the success or the failure of such a system depends on its perceived justice. According to Diaz et al (1987, p. 13), there are three advantages of a grievance procedure; 1) each side has complete say in airing the grievance, 2) there is a strong connotation of justice, since a professional neutral third party renders the decision and 3) there are benefits for both parties based on the opinion of a "cool-headed" professional. A model of grievance procedure has following components and requirements basically, communication in the grievance procedure, eligibility for grievances, reason of grievance, fairness of the grievance placed or the complaint, and lastly participation in the grievance procedure. Communication is important in the process as without it there is no use. Communication depends on the type of the grievance procedure used; there can be an open door system which is an informal process in which employee has access to the upper management for any of the appeals that the employee wants to make. But, normally it isn't considered as reliable because managers always tend to have an upper hand and believe they are always right. Then we have the ombudsman, this process requires a person i.e. an ombudsman who is responsible to listen to the employee complaints and after all the hearing decides on the relevant or the required way to resolve the problem. Another method is the hearing officer; he or she is an arbitrator who is hired by the company to manage any of the conflicting situations between the employee and the management. The hearing officer should be good and an expert at the job, and just and fair in the process. Then there is a step procedure that may involve mediation or arbitration. Arbitration has many advantages; firstly, arbitrator is beholden to both management and the employees, it is a third party, professional in work and unbiased. They are consistent in their policies and procedure, hence are objective in decision making. The procedures so mentioned should be selected on the basis of what fits best in the organization. Employee hand book or personnel policies should clearly state the grievance procedures. Every time the reasons for grievances should be clearly stated. Most common reasons are that of discipline, discharge and contract violations. What makes the employee and management critical of the usage of grievance procedure is that it is perceived unfair by many people. This lack of fairness gives and totally negates the process. But the point here is that societies have different ways of judging and evaluating people, hence on this basis no procedure can be disregarded or refused to be used. Instead, grievance procedure should be used as a means to reduce that impartiality that exists in the organization since it provides employees as a means to critically present their views and complaints that they otherwise wouldn't have done. On grounds that employees believe that any third party involvement like mediator and arbitrator is also biased in favor of management because management hires and also pays remuneration then it can equally be favored in the case of employees; hence, this is totally an invalid argument and justification to give. Grievance procedures lead to a better solution and outcomes because it gives voice to all employees equally and every employee has a right to present his or her complain. This it results in fairness for all, as against the case if there was no system then there would have been much more biasness and no opportunity for all and not open for all too. Thus it results in fairness of outcomes. The grievance procedure also results in fairness because it follows the same procedure for all and sundry. Moreover, the credibility of the employee programs and the organization itself can be enhanced and improved. Grievance procedures in organizations can lead to a democratic environment in the organization rather than a pure bureaucratic or an autocratic. The process to result in a fair outcome may be lengthy and rigid but still it may not employ very bureaucratic but an organized effort. Another beneficial aspect is that it results in management itself gaining knowledge about the employees or an inquiry without much effort. This provides management an opportunity to communicate with employees and get information. The presence of formal grievance procedures can make management more cautious against any biasness that they may show in dealing with employees. A presence of a fair and a just system may end up in avoiding any unfair practices favoring some employees and discriminating other. In future, establishing of formal procedures is necessary for dispute resolution, grievances and disciplinary issues. This helps everyone understand that they are a part of the total system. It lets employers listen to employees' voice, as consultation is the key to involving employee in the decision making. It helps reward fairly, and allow people to work safely. More important working relationships can be developed as grievance procedures can help employees know they are valued and treated fairly; lastly they can work together. Other conflict management strategies should also be used such as promote the development of sound and stable labor-management relations, prevent or minimize work stoppages by assisting in parties settling their disputes through an empowering process, advocate intervention, mediation and voluntary arbitration as the preferred process for setting issues, develop the art, science and practice of conflict resolution, and foster the establishment and maintenance of constructive joint processes to create organizational effectiveness, offer a practical way to resolve disputes and preserve relationships. References Herriot, P, The employment relations Lewin, D, Unionism and employment conflict resolution Francois, V, (2004) Assessment of Grievance Procedures McCartan, P, Employment Relations in North Ireland - Cooperation or confrontation Bemmels, B, (1996) Grievance procedure research: a review and theoretical recommendations The Employment Relationship [accessed at http://www-ilo-mirror.cornell.edu/public/english/dialogue/ifpdial/ll/er_about.htm] Centre for Creative Leadership (2002) Read More