Negotiating Employees Welfares in a Workplace - Research Paper Example

Negotiations in Workplace One component of shared ground beneficial to a negotiator is a common culture. Those fitting to a culture (nation, family, team race, military organization, religion) have shared morals, philosophies and objectives. We perceive them as "same sheet of music." Associates of interest parties such as this have a common prospect that minimizes engagement and ease combined determination. These ethnic "norms" develop from the attack and norming phases in the life of an interest party. Consequently, the method employed to reach at these norms is a bargaining process- negotiation. This project topic is focused on Negotiating on behalf of employees of an organization with its Executive Management on the employees’ welfares and conditions of services in the organization. This negotiation is based on a win/win situation where both the management and employees are pursuing a mutual interest of moving the organization to a greater height. Other interest groups in this negotiation are Company Board of Directors, Labor Union, Company employees, Customers and Vendors to the Company. Keyword: Negotiation, Bargaining Introduction Negotiation is the basic art of bargaining pursuing a mutual beneficial interest among interest groups such as Company Board of Directors, Labor Union, Company employees, Customers and Vendors to the Company. On daily basis everyone negotiates one thing or another. On a private level, individuals bargain with friends, car sellers, landlords, family and managers, among others interest groups. Negotiation formulates a vital segment of the competitive nature of the contemporary life of our social and economic dynamic. Negotiation makes a dynamic process among codependent and self-interested groups with different upbringings, which targets to influence a decision that contents preferences and limitations of the available groups (Defense, 2015). This paper discusses on the real-world, holistic overview of the skills strategies that can be employed and applied to successful negotiations on behalf of employees of an organization, with its Executive Management on the employees’ welfares and conditions of services in the organization. Negotiations on behalf of employees of a particular organization are core attributes to organization success. There are no organizations that can survive without profitable conventions. Within an organization, negotiation skills can steer to career promotion among the officials involved. There are many stages and strategies of negotiation such as planning, negotiating, creating a contract and performing the contract. Each phase of negotiations evaluates the core inquiries that the board of committee should be ready to respond to in forthcoming negotiations (Nyhart, 1989). Questions put into consideration before going into a negotiating table: What are the key elements in a negotiation analysis? What guidelines should the organization employ when confronted with ethical questions? What is your source of influence in negotiations and how can you increase the influence power? What psychological tools can you employ during negotiations and what psychological traps should you evade? There are two noticeable reasons for interest being revived of interest in the art of negotiating according to Stamato (2004). For beginners, it is obvious that unproductive negotiation steers to an engagement which is unproductive and expensive. Secondly, there is a probability that numerous negotiations may lack to succeed to exhaust the potential advantages in the results they yield. Negotiations on Win-Win Situation There are numerous styles of negotiation, liable in the situations available. This negotiation is based on a win/win situation where both the management and employees are pursuing a mutual interest of moving the organization to a greater height. Other interest groups in this negotiation are Company Board of Directors, Labor Union, Company employees, Customers and Vendors to the Company. A productive negotiation aids the relevant groups involved to dispute circumstances where what one interest group wants conflicts with what the other interest group wants. The objective of win-win negotiation is to bargain a possible solution that divides agreeable to both, and leaves both groups satisfied, in some manner, after the negotiations (Nyhart, 1989). It is important to know when to apply “playing hardball” when seeking to win a negotiation and the other party loses in instances where there is a great deal at hand in a negotiation, then it may be suitable to organize in detail and legitimate to gain merit. Neither of these methodologies is typically good for negotiating disagreements with interest groups with which one has a continuing affiliation. If one party plays hardball, then this handicap the other party and this may result to revenge later. Likewise, manipulation and employing trickeries during a negotiation can weaken trust and damage joint efforts for negotiations. While a calculating individual may get away with manipulation if negotiation is, occasionally, however, this is not the scenario when people coordinate regularly. In such a case, openness and honesty are practically always the best strategies. Conditional on the level of the indifference, some preparation may be appropriate for conducting a successful negotiation. For small discrepancies, a lot of preparation can be put into place as a counter-productive measure because it consumes a substantial amount of time which is better used somewhere else. It can also be perceived as calculating move in the sense that, as it fortifies one party’s position, it can decline the other party’s position. Attitude-based Strategic Negotiation model Attitude-based Strategic Negotiation model is a state-of-the-art negotiation outline for disputing complex construction engagements and confrontation has been employed in this proposal. The exceptional feature of the projected negotiation outline is that takes into consideration the methodologies of the decision makers, which is a significant human factor in building negotiation in both the premeditated and strategic levels of the decision making process (Libraries, 2015). At the strategic level, the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR) technique has been analytically used as a mode of defining the most valuable strategic contract which is potential, given the challenging benefits and attitudes of the decision makers. At the tactical level, a formerly agreed-upon premeditated verdict has been examined in depth using utility functions. This is in order to define the compromises or concessions required for the decision makers to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of the negotiation matters. A practical scenario demonstrates how the projected approach can be functional and to show the importance and welfares of integrating the attitudes of the decision makers into the negotiation procedure to better recognize the most suitable solutions (Libraries, 2015). .Strategic Negotiations Decision-making and the strategic management of decision making groups is a procedure which directs a group or an individual to shared objectives. Nevertheless, people are not identical in their ethics and opinions; there are vast variances among people within a single organization, and even bigger variances between people in diverse parties. Strategic management must discern how to work across such margins that mark dissimilarities in prospects and viewpoints and rival ethics and objectives. It is one thing to influence an interest party principally in the bargain; however, it is rather a different thing to influence an interest party with objectives in engagement with those you want to follow (Defense, 2015). Positional Negotiation Positional negotiation is basically a confrontational type of negotiation. The bargainers perceive the progression as "win-lose, “situation, in which any advantages by the rival are demerits by the home-based party. A model instance of this category of bargaining is agreement bargaining in the automobile organization. A union approach in recent years has been to recognize one of the "big three" industries, one mainly defenseless to the impacts of an attack. This organization is then under fire for hard bargains around some core concern. When neither party harvests on the concern, a strike succeeds and continues until some bargain is reached or one interested party falls under the price of the strike. There are fixed front-runners and failures in this type of bargaining. Important Factors for Good Negotiations Negotiations are nothing less of a tug of war between employees and the management. On one party desires what the other party does not want or would not give while the other party attempts to cut down expenses to pay off for a feeble budget, deteriorating admission, or perhaps chaotic financial practices. By following a variation of best practices stretching from training creativity to examining dynamic and nonproductive time, management can avoid losing their grasp and being hauled through the mud. Numerous factors make up the labor-management environment, nevertheless; agreement negotiations frequently are the most argumentative aspect of the affiliation between management and organized labor. In the course of collective bargaining, also referred to as the contract negotiation process, the labor union and the management prolong counteroffers and bargains, and propose concessions to arrive at a labor union agreement, or a collective bargaining agreement. Accomplishing an equally pleasant agreement can take more than a few weeks to numerous months, liable on the skillfulness and persistence of both the management and labor union. Negotiation Process Step 1: Review of Earlier Negotiations Begin the process by revising union outlines from prior consultations. The process of reviewing the proceedings or notes of earlier consultations will permit the HR specialist to examine the opinions outlined by both parties and analyze the retorts given in regard to the indifferences. This is particularly beneficial if the HR officer was not available at the previous agreement concession. It is very supportive at this juncture to start creating an indexed agreement examination and a negotiating strategy booklet. Studying the positive and negative of previous negotiations, containing the strategies, scheduling, concessions and achievements frequently offer the finest knowledge, understanding and forecaster of the future conduct of the union. Any reimbursement contracts or any "side contracts" should also be revised along with any spoken or printed promises made during the previous dialogues and since the final agreement. One of the main concerns for the HR officials should be to proceed over all of the contracts and pledges to govern whether or not they were implemented by management and what working effect they had on the company. Frequently side contracts or settlements can be incorporating the next dishonorable contract rather than becoming discussing disputes. An assessment of the core concerns in the final concession is crucial. Incorporated into the strategic expansion should be an examination of those disputes and whether or not they will appear again. It is far easier to create approaches to deal with each of these concerns proceeding to the consultations than it is to handle them at the dialogue location. An evaluation of the characters that were involved in the previous negotiations is vital. Who were the leading characters and will the personalities be encompassed in the succeeding dialogues? An analysis of those characters with the negotiating group and the improvement of approaches to deal with their absence or presence can make a big variance in dealing with their impact at the negotiations. It can frequently steer to an approach that opens opportunity that was once shut. Step two: Examination of Operating Experience during the Life of the Last Agreement The method in which the agreement affected the productivity and usefulness of the organization is a gauge that is serious to the negotiating team. This is the stage where the HR Experts relationship with procedures, management and line supervision can really compensate. Inquiring suitable interrogations that steer to the agreements influence on operations, eminence and efficiency delivers critical facts to the formation of situations and results that will improve the worth of the agreement to the organization. An error often made by labor relations consultants is asking general participation from functioning management and permitting absence of participation as proof that the agreement may not require change. A concrete strategy to creating valuable statistics is a segment-by-segment dialogue enabled by the HR Expert and showed up by the operating management staff. A good cross check for the HR sector and a subsequent stage is an examination of the complaint and mediation practice during the lifespan of the agreement for each section or article in the agreement. This record matched to managerial involvement will generate an outline of the functioning challenges in the agreement (Rubin 2013). Step 3: Consideration of the Unit for Negotiating A core factor reflection for an organization is the creation of the bargaining unit. It is frequently a choice that an organization can make with regard to the welfares they may develop from joining other managers associations for negotiating functions. This is an exceptional thought for each manager and should be grounded in the bargaining track record, structure of the union, cohesiveness of the manager negotiating unit, and the possible control of any management group being reflected. If the management has more than one agreement with the similar union, contemplation is an assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of a single management and multi-facility negotiating group. Frequently this takes a valuation of the unions importance in negotiating this agreement within a multi-management or multi-facility structure (Rubin 2013).. Step 4: Generating Data Accuracy in figures in regard to welfares and remunerations is crucial in creating positive results. At the lowest, creation of the subsequent evaluations will deliver the bargaining group with important baseline contrasts essential during the economic negotiations: A wage schedule displaying base, regular and main wage proportions over the past 10-15 years. A profit account of the most noteworthy advantage variations in the past 10-15 years. Chronological summary of important financial elements of the organization’s management, such as yield rates, costs, production levels, revenue or sales capacities, and returns. Account of key labor expenses such as vacation pay costs, pensions and health insurance. Recap of labor unit expenditures comprising of labor charge per hour for the past 10 to 15 years. Summary of labor expenses on a gross and hourly foundation under the existing labor agreement. Show the price of each component of labor. Summary of the hours of work for each process / facility: Typical weekly hours Whole negotiating unit Every work unit Every department Every profession categorization Unworked paid hours on the work Remunerated lunch periods Remunerated break periods Remunerated wash-up time Remunerated time off for union business Overtime hours operated for the equivalent elements Premium hours operated for the similar elements The contrast of this record with the approximations made during the concession of the previous agreement will offer the bargaining group with an assessment of its estimate methods. Procedures should be revised if big differences are produced. The creation and examination of these accounts should conclude with a recap of the financial supplies of the current agreement for fast reference during bargains. It should also offer the bargaining group with: A wage group reference chart with records of teams at each wage percentage increase. A matrix displaying the figure of staffs in the negotiating unit classified in terms of service and age. A thorough cost analysis of main labor charges objects. A reference point to approximate the cost of new financial reflections at the next concession. A starting point to produce management established financial strategies. Step 5: Looking at the Industry The bargaining party should also examine exterior factors such as other management’s reimbursement bundles for identical work, major welfares offered by similar management. Fresh agreement settlement positions for similar managements in the same geographic area and organization. Occasionally searching for similar management in other geographic locations can offer the party with advantageous financial evaluations. It is frequently very accommodating for the HR Expert to gather data by cross-examining other HR Administrators. This can frequently offer treasured data in regard to the atmosphere of the consultations, attitudes, concessions, unpublished practices, and other key considerations in the bargaining of a productive agreement. Occasionally other managements have applied state-of-the-art dealings that can be employed by the bargaining party to ease the advancement of the agreement. Step 6: Development of the Employers Strategies The final stage in the pre-negotiating procedure is the creation of goals for the bargaining. By the time the interest party has proceeded through the interior valuation, data gathering and exterior valuation, it is usually complete to begin varieties for financial settlements, variations in non-economic expressions and agreement linguistic, and any exceptional requirements (Rubin 2013).. Drafts should be produced which address all of the financial and non-monetary provisions of the agreement. Whether these are presented as opening offers or as counteroffers is a fragment of the approach of the principal representative for management. At the least, variations in agreement wording should be negotiated with operational management to ensure they seize the essence of the needed variations. The organization should arrange the contextual evidence, records and any opinions to provision all of its proposals. The management should also formulate a temporary bargaining schedule to ease the conclusion of the agreement. This should comprise of start date, existing day of the week to have a discussion, perfect rate of conferences, and the timing of the proposals centered on previous negotiations (Walton, 1991) Conclusion In Conclusion, this paper explains the negotiations on behalf of employees of an organization with its Executive Management on the employees’ welfares and conditions of services in the organization. This paper was able to demonstrate some determinant factors in a negotiation process; negotiating issues, parties involved in the negotiation, parties position and interests, any available possible and feasible options, objectives of the Negotiation, Negotiation Strategy and documentation. References Defense, N. (2015). Strategic Negotiations. Au.af.mil. Retrieved 12 April 2015, from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ndu/strat-ldr-dm/pt3ch13.html Libraries, T. (2015). HKUL: Electronic Resources. Sunzi.lib.hku.hk. Retrieved 12 April 2015, from http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/ER/detail/hkul/4983208http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/ER/detail/hkul/4983208 Nyhart, J., & Samarasan, D. (1989). The Elements of Negotiation Management. Negotiation Journal, 5(1), 43-62. doi:10.1111/j.1571-9979.1989.tb00494.xhttp://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01000811 Rubin, J., & Brown, B. (2013). The Social Psychology of Bargaining and Negotiation. Burlington: Elsevier Science. Stamato, L. (2004). THE NEW AGE OF NEGOTIATION. Ivy Business Journal. Retrieved March 22, 2015, from http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/the-new-age-of-negotiation/. Walton, R., & McKersie, R. (1991). A behavioral theory of labor negotiations. New York: McGrawHill.http://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wWhaBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&ots=_qqI0cF10y&sig=GHhC8B_4LuRmSD3fzAAUfaMyzmc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Read More