Employee Relations - Research Paper Example

Employee Relations Overview Philips started its plant in Victoria 12 years ago wherein it was observed that the company was facing problems due to the reduction in the level of productivity. There was an increase in concerns relating to the inadequate quality of the products, poor relationship among employees and low morale of the entire workforce in the plant. Thus, in order to mitigate this problem, it was decided by the management that they would adopt and initiate a participative approach that was being used by parent company of Philips which was located in Holland. Therefore, the management decided to introduce the work-restructuring program in the organisation and implement it effectively. The paper intends to describe the issues that Philips in its new high-tech manufacturing plant in Manila need to consider to ascertain that sustainable business operations prevail and mistakes committed in its Victoria based operations are not repeated. It also covers various initiatives taken by the company to tackle these problems. Substantially, certain recommendations have been provided based on the work and job design determined from the Phillips’ case in order to ensure that factory workers are optimally productive. Evaluation of the Issues With regard to the case, it has been observed that when Philips started to operate in Victoria twelve years ago the company faced many problems as there was a significant decline in the level of productivity. Moreover, there was a rise in concern of the management wherein the quality of the products was becoming inferior and there was a poor relationship between the employees of the plant who were also bogged down with low morale. In addition, it was also viewed that the assembly line system resulted in high dissatisfaction within the employees as their work cycle was repetitive, the operation of the work did not require much skill and the entire work cycle persisted less than few seconds. The work cycle made the function of the employees very boring, easy and extremely monotonous for working. The pace of work in the company was quite slow as the work function was decided by the line supervisors. It was observed that roughness in work was often created within the workers as the mistake of one worker had to be corrected by the other worker who was next in line. There was an absence of social interaction between the employees as the layout of the plant was designed in a congested manner. It was determined that line system was designed in such a way wherein old assembly line production of a television took more than two days which provides an idea that the work pace in the company was very slow. The work environment of the factory was inappropriate and the company had a traditional pyramid structure which led to ineffective communication between the employees and the supervisors. Therefore, due to these issues there was a major setback in the productivity aspect of the company. Review of Literature Regarding the Concerned Issues From the observation, it can be ascertained that the employees in Philips functioning in Victoria were low on morale. Correspondingly, according to Lisa R. Schoolcraft, the main reason for low morale is poor communication amid employees. It is believed that low morale can result in lack of initiative and responsibility among employees and lead to poor performance of the entire work done (Schoolcraft, 2013). It has been perceived that the employee relations in the company were quite poor. Correspondingly, according to Van Buuren (n.d.), poor employee relations can result in low productivity, inflexible work environment, increase in conflicts amid employees and create obstacles towards bringing changes in the company. The author states that an organisation must have sound relationship amid the employees that would improve the work environment, make the employees more responsible towards their work and develop a good relationship between the managers and the workers (Van Buuren, n.d.). The plant layout of Philips in Victoria was very poor due to which there was a decline in the level of productivity. According to Van Bommel et al. (2002), it is considered that enhancement in lighting leads to improvement of the work performance which leads to increase in the level of productivity and development in the quality of production. Good lighting enhances the work environment which results in positive effect on the employees work performance. The lighting that is installed in the plant layout has a direct impact on the occurrence of accidents because if the lighting of the layout is good, there is relatively lesser possibility of accidents but if the lighting of the layout is poor, there might be an increase in the possibility of accidents (Van Bommel et al., 2002). It has been viewed that the organisational structure used by Philips was traditional pyramid due to which the company was facing certain problems. Due to this structure, there was a lack of effective communication within the employees of the plant as the structure was not suitable for the company. According to Meehan (2014), traditional pyramid organisational structure creates rivalry among employees of the department as the administrator of each department might take decisions that would provide value to their own interest instead of benefiting the company. Meehan (2014) further asserts that using this organisational structure resists or slows down the speed of a company to bring a positive change as the employees might have low morale. Furthermore, this structure requires more time for the company to respond to its clients. It also leads to increased cost of the company as the salary that has to be paid to the employees is in multiple layers (Meehan, 2014). Recommended Responses to the Issues From the analysis of the concerned case, it can be ascertained that Philips while operating at Victoria faced major problems such as decline in the productivity level. Therefore, it is highly recommended that a program for employee recognition should be initiated in the plant of Manila to avoid low productivity. It is recommended to consider the employees as valuable assets and make them spend time on telecommuting. A flexible work schedule can also be introduced in the company to increase the morale of the employees (Time Inc, 2013). It was also viewed that the products produced in the company were low in quality because of which it was facing severe problems. Thus, it is considered that the company should establish certain goals related to quality in order to measure the manufacturing process of the organisation and the outcomes of the manufactured product. It is also recommended to focus on the initiative of improving the outcomes of the manufactured product that would help Philips to obtain recognition in its new plant of Manila. Besides, administrators functioning at the new plant should ensure that they provide their expertise of guiding and consulting the workers in their respective departments to make certain that the workers achieve their targets and the quality and the overall performance of the workers are improved. In addition, it is very important to classify the potential opportunities for improving the quality of products by constantly monitoring the work performance and ensuring that the standard and quality of the goods produced meet the expectation of the customers along with providing them optimum satisfaction. It is also very essential for the administrators to design a system that is very efficient as per the work requirements so as to implement initiative for improvement which would directly result in instigating and enhancing performance of the workers. It would be worth mentioning that in order to improve that overall quality of product an evaluation of customer satisfaction is necessary to derive feedback from the customers and introduce milestones for performance based upon the customers’ expectations (ECRI Institute, 2009). It has been determined that Philips in its Victoria plant had poor employee relationship due to which there was dissatisfaction amongst the employees. Therefore, to ensure that the plant in Manila has a good employee relationship, it is very significant to encourage the employees to involve in decision making in order to generate the best out of each employees and initiate their responsibility towards the work. Encouraging employees to share the work load with each other is also an effective way of refining employee relations. Enhancement in employee relations can also be achieved through assigning tasks in a group which would ensure that the employees provide equal contribution to attain the desired targets within the given time frame. Communication among employees should be improved and initiative must be taken by the employees to develop transparency in the work place which would result in good employee relations. Frequent meeting must be arranged in the morning session of the work so that the employees can discuss their viewpoint and share issues. It is considered that meeting is an effective process for improving the employee relationship in an organisation. Christmas and New Year parties should also be organised in the work place that would enhance the bond among employees and ensure that there is a frequent improvement of relationship among the employees (Peralta Community College, 2007). References ECRI Institute. (2009). Risk management, quality improvement, and patient safety. Healthcare Risk Control, 2, 1-15. Meehan, C. L. (2014). Flat Vs. hierarchical organizational structure. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/flat-vs-hierarchical-organizational-structure-724.html Peralta Community College (2007). Manager’s profile. Employee Relations Manager’s Journal, 1(10), 1-5. Schoolcraft, L. R. (2013). 5 signs your employees have low morale. The Business Journals. Time Inc. (2013). Low-cost ways to improve productivity. Retrieved from http://business.time.com/2013/01/22/low-cost-ways-to-improve-productivity/ Van Bommel, Ir. W. J. M., van den Beld, G. J. & van Ooijen, M. H. F. (2012). Industrial lighting and productivity. Philips Lighting, The Netherlands, 1-13. Van Buuren, M. (n.d.). The new employee relations agenda. Retrieved from http://www.hrpulse.co.za/employee-management/management/228765-the-new-employee-relations-agenda Read More