Why Employee Relations Are Important for an Organisation to Be Successful - Essay Example

? Employee Relations Report Introduction Employee relations refer to the way the organisation, or any employerrelates with the employees. Since the rise of the industrial age, this has had a number of evolutions. In particular, the rise of the trade union as the power of employees has had an impact on the way employers relate with their employees. Numerous laws have been developed to help in creating standards of relations between the employee and the employers. Trade unions With regard to managing employee relations, there are a number of things that managers need to understand. Labour unions are a significant factor to consider for Human resource managers. A labour union is an organisation that is composed of mainly people of a similar trade and has the main intent of offering collective bargaining power for its members. While labour unions were created as a way to help employees be able to bargain for better terms of employment, they offer a number of services to their members. Human resource managers, on the other hand, have a shifting role where their roles have been seen to change from managing industrial relations to managing employee relations (Singh, 2000). Employees who are members of a labour union are able to get legal advice from the unions. This is especially so where such employees are at loggerheads with their employers. Unions help such employees who cannot afford expensive lawyers get a channel to escape the power of the employers who are too powerful. The result of using industrial relations usually through the use of trade unions as the middle person is the agreement between either the employee or the employer of the employee and the trade union (Gennard and Hayward, 2005). In this regard, the organisation should be able to know what kind of agreements to sign with the trade unions. However in some places such as the UK, the economic crises seems to be changing things and the structure of industrial relations seems to be changing, with the government becoming a central contributor (Grimshaw, 2012). Balanced of power More than anything else, trade unions are always a good way to help their members to have equal power to meet the power of the employers. Without trade unions, an employee or a group of employees can only be overpowered by their employers. Trade unions put their big weight behind employees who may be having a problem with their employers as a way to help such employees to deal with the problems they are having. This is done with respect to salary bargaining, salary increment bargaining and also in bargaining terms of employment. In this regard, trade unions are one of the main channels in which employees get their voice in industrial relations with their employers (Dundon, 2004). Organising strikes Trade unions help employees to organise and participate in strikes and industrial action as a way to compel their employers to give them a hearing and grant them what they need. In this case, unions act not only as a source of balance of power, but also as a motivation for employees. They act as the central unifying factor among employees especially where the employees come from different employers. There are various factors that may make a strike organised by a trade unions to be successful. To begin with, the unity of the trade unions makes it easier for the many employees to be collectively united and, therefore, increasing the chance of a successful strike or industrial action (Singh, 2000). Secondly, employees are highly likely to be in agreement to be involved in a strike when it is organised by a trade union because they will not be afraid that they may lose their jobs. More importantly, the trade unions may offer a strike fund that will help the employees to survive even if their salaries are held by their employers. Providing strike fund Strike funds are probably one of the most useful ways that a trade union helps employees with. In most cases, when employees go to a strike, they are most likely to be denied their salaries by their employers until the issue is resolved. A trade union can give the striking employees a strike fund that will be used to continue paying them a surrogate salary in the time these employees are not getting the salaries from the employers. This makes the striking employees even more formidable because they will not be intimidated by the employers. Although trade unions have been presented in a bad light and shown as only being harsh to the employers, they are also highly powerful in instilling discipline to employees (Saundry Jones and Antcliff, 2011). Harsh relations with employers One of the main issues with trade unions is that they are seen to be overly harsh in some instances. In some cases, trade unions are seen to be too harsh to employers. They are seen to abuse their power and might to force employers to do that are buying their means. In this regard, their role in making employment easier is questioned by those who feel that these trade unions can be destructive with regard to creating employment. There are several issues which are eminent with regard to the role of trade unions in managing employee relations; one of this is that fact that managers should educate themselves and update themselves with regard to the way they use employment (Stamford, 1999). Secondly, there is always a need for managers to create good relationships with the trade unions where their employees are members in order to avoid unnecessary fights with employees. Therefore, it is a necessity for managers and organisations generally to be to comprehend the force of trade unions and to be able to develop an atmosphere that creates mutual understanding between the employer and the trade unions. The importance of trade unions cannot be fully disputed. However, there have been many criticisms against trade unions especially where they are seen to use their power in a negative way and intimidate employers. In some cases, trade unions can prove to be too powerful and make it harder for employers to be able to have good relationships. This is especially so with smaller employers who may not have the power (financial power) to hire expensive lawyers to protect themselves against these trade unions. The issue of salting Salting refers to the act of trade unions infiltrating organisations with the aim of recruiting the employees of the organisation to become a member of the union (Finkel, 1997). Usually, a trade union that wants to use salting can send an individual to an organisation who will apply for a job and then “incite” the employees of such an organisation into joining the trade union. Trade unions use this method when they want employees of a certain firm who are not unionised to become members. There are no clear lines of ethics in this instance, and it is not possible to determine when salting has been done. Managing people issues According to Edwards (nd), managing the human resource is extremely different from managing the other resources that the firm has, mainly because HR is the only because they cannot be separated from people, thus needing the organisation to also address people issues. Managers in such instances are always in a position to help the employer to have good relationships with employees. Similarly, they increasingly have a potential to be able to create tense relationships with these trade unions which would be destructive to the firm. Having a good relation with the trade unions is crucial for any firm as a way to promote generally good relations and goodwill between the employer and the trade unions as well as between the employer and he employees. Employee relations and employee obligations In as much as employees have rights, they also have duties. It is essential for an organisation to ensure that the employees understand their duties and obligations in the workplace. This will prevent unnecessary misunderstandings in the workplace and will also help in preventing the organisation from losing a lot of money in legal battles (Singh, 2000). There are a number of significant employee obligations that the employees should be educated on. These should be included in the employee orientation manual to ensure the employee does not only understand them but that he cannot claim that he is not aware of his obligations. Duty to take orders Workers and employees have the obligation to follow reasonable orders from their employer, either directly or indirectly. This creates order and efficiency in the organisation. Employees are supposed to be willing to take orders from their employers either directly or through the mangers who have been mandated to manage them. On the other hand, the issue with this is about how to create the parameters of orders that are reasonable for employees to take. Therefore, it becomes highly important for the organisation to create a job description documents that will be used in ensuring the worker will be able to stick with the rules of the organisation (Fowler, 2000). Creating a strong awareness of these facts is truly valuable for any organisation and will avoid misunderstandings of any kind. Managers should therefore, be direct in the way they advance this information to the employees as a way to help the employees to achieve their goals and to understand what his expected of them. This is because managing people can be particularly difficult, and it is therefore, becomes highly necessary for these employees to have an atmosphere that causes the least confusion to them as they carry out their mandate. Protecting organisational information Organisational information is also highly useful, and it is essential to inform the employees their obligation to protect the organisation information whether they are still working or they have left the organization. Harassment, discriminations and unlawful termination In the modern world, any organisation has to be careful in the way it deals with employees. Employee treatment is important in order to not only avoid lawsuits, but also as a way to increase motivation and increase productivity in the workplace. Each and every worker and employee deserves to be given respect, as well as dignity. It is the duty of responsible managers to create an environment where the employees will feel comfortable to work and will not feel intimidated. There are a number of advantages in creating such an environment; Mitigating the risk of lawsuits With regard to harassment laws, employees cannot claim they were harassed if the organisation has a well laid process to help employees complain when they feel that they have been harassed (Troester and Mester, 2007). For instance, if an employee claims that he was continually harassed by a manager during his or her time in an organization, the court of law deciding the issue will need to understand if the organisation has a well laid platform to help employees deal with this kind of harassment. If the court finds that the organisation does not have a platform on which employees can forward their concerns about harassment, the court is more likely to make the judgement to favour the employee. The importance of having this platform is not to make sure that harassed employees cannot go to court, but rather to protect the organisation from malicious and disgruntled employees who may want to use harassment laws as a way to punish the organisation. If for instance an employee was terminated due to their incompetence or their lack of cooperation the firm will need to be ready to solve this kind of an issue. Increased morale and productivity A work environment that is free of harassment and discrimination is highly useful in increasing employee morale and thereby increasing their productivity. By eliminating harassment in the organisation, the organisation will get more advantages from its workforce. Employees who are free and happy are not only productive but are also highly creative in the way they deliver their mandate. Harassment in the workplace, more than destroying employee morale minimizes creativity and the employees are not motivated to create a solution for problems (Edwards, nd). This can be a huge detriment for the organisation, and it is of note for organisations to understand that, and therefore, help the employees to be free of harassment. Maintaining a positive public image The other advantage of having a healthy environment that is free of employee harassment is that the organisation will have a positive public image. An organisation that is always in court with cases about employee harassment is going to have a damaged public image which may deny the organisation the chance to have worthy investors (Kumar, 2005). This is especially more dangerous for publicly traded companies because they may lose their stock if the investors feel that the firm is not worth investing in and start disposing their shares. To avoid this kind of a scenario, it becomes highly significant that an organisation be able to create good relationships with the employees and also create a good environment for the employees. With regard to employee treatment, there are three basic areas that are highly significant and that need to be taken care of if the organisation will be successful in creating a healthy environment; Harassment issues are fragile Harassment occurs when an organisation treats the employee in a way that is considered to be unsavoury or not human. In most cases, harassment happens when a higher manager is dealing with a lower manager or an employee. Maintaining good relation across the hierarchy of the organisation is very important, and managers should always check to know that they are not harassing the employees. Harassment can occur in various ways, most of which are mild and the managers may find themselves in a situation where the employees may feel they are being harassed. In this case, the manager should learn how to communicate with the employee as a way to help the employee express their selves when they think they have been harassed or treated in an improper way (Dundon, 2004). Discrimination Discrimination is also another issue that is crucial to take care of. In a modern world, there are many reasons that can be a foundation for discrimination. The reason that discrimination is such a sensitive issue in all organisations is that it may not have clear boundaries and in some cases managers may find themselves discriminating employees without even knowing. The main intension of an organisation is to acquire good and positive benefits from its workforce and ensure that employees are giving their best to the organisation. As a result, there are various factors that any human resource manager may want to understand with regard to discrimination. Discrimination and the outsiders Unlike harassment which is only limited to a current employees or workers of an organisation, discrimination encompasses even those who are not yet employed by the organisation. For instance, applicants to an organisation can go to court and bring a case of being discriminated against by the organisation (Gennard, 2005). If a candidate for a certain position feels that the only reason he or she did not get a certain post in an organisation is because they were discriminated against, they are at liberty to bring the issue before a court. Although this is usually rare, there is an even more serious issue with regard to this kind of scenario. Labour unions are likely to attack the organisation if they feel that an organization is discriminating against a certain minority (or even majority) group, especially with regard to its hiring process and policy. The issue of Age and gender Age is an issue that can arise from the workplace. It is the work of the managers to ensure that every employee feels that they are carefully considered for any career development and that they are not being negatively targeted due to their age. Older people may claim to be targeted by the organisation if they feel that the organisation wants to dismiss them unfairly. Younger people on the other hand, may claim that they have been discriminated against based on their age and therefore could not get some opportunities such as promotions. If age is an essential factor, gender is an even more powerful one. Gender has been a sensitive issue in managing employees. This is because as already discussed there are no clear lines as to when it may be seen as discrimination to act in certain away. When for instance may a manager fairly exempt people of a certain gender from certain tasks, without risking being discrimination? While the modern business world is an equality world, there are those things that may be better handled by one gender and not the other. The manger has however, to be vigilant not to be affected by the traditional prototypes of the gender roles. Just like gender, race and ethnicity is another important factor that makes the topic and issue of discriminations. This is especially so in avoiding the famous glass ceiling that is said to prevent certain people from getting to higher management positions (Fagerhaugh, 1996). As such, it is crucial to know that the with regard to this issue, the organisation must understand that the glass ceiling effect may come by design or by default. As a result, it is the role of human resource management to ensure that this does not occur and that there are no issues between the organisation and its stakeholders. Sexuality This is something that was once not an issue. In today’s world, however, sexuality has become an issue to be taken care of especially with people who have other sexuality apart from the mainstream being bolder about their sexuality. Religion and political affiliation Religion is also an essential factor and must be taken care of. Any organisation should allow their employee to practice their religious faith peacefully and without intimidation. The same case applies to political affiliation. Conclusion Employee relations are highly important for an organisation to be successful. As a result, there are a number of factors which will need to be looked at so as an organisation to have good employee and industrial relations. Trade unions for instance have an impact on the way organisations deal with the employees. As a result, it is of note for organisations to create mutual understanding with these trade unions. However, charity begins at home, and it is crucial for firms to have a good relationship with the employees. Human resource managers are therefore, extremely crucial in ensuring that an organisation has good relations with its employees. As a result, these managers would need to fully understand the dynamics of employee relations. Most importantly however, it is of note for organisation to always seek ways in which to give the best to their employees, not only as a way to avoid problems with trade unions, but as a way to have a vibrant and motivated workforce. Bibliography Dundon, et al., 2004. The meanings and purpose of employee voice. International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol 15 (6), 1149–1170. Edwards, P. n.d.. The Emplyee relartioship and the filed of industrial relariosn. The Employment Relationship, 1-36. Fagerhaugh, V.,1996. 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Stamford: Cengage Learning EMEA. Troester, L. and Mester, A., 2007. Civility in business and professional communication. Bern: Peter Lang. Read More