Business Management Employee Relations - Research Paper Example

Human resource management refers to management of organizational workforce. Therefore, it is responsible for selection, assessment and training of employees besides overseeing organizational leadership. Employee relations refer to management activities relating to developing and improving the employee relationship by way of communication and processing their grievances. Against the current backdrop of extreme economic turbulence, there has been a rapid growth with regard to employee relations in the United Kingdom. This paper seeks to explore human resource management and employee relations in the United Kingdom and dig deeper into the opinion that human resource management and employee relations are vital for the survival and sustainability of business (CIPD 2012). In doing this, the paper shall consider a wide collection of literature. The theory of high performance suggests that the emotional and intellectual connection employees have towards their work is placed at the heart of their performance. This is profound among knowledge workers. The level and extent of engagement varies with regard to human resource management (BBC 2012). Employee relations lead to a strong feeling of commitment and passion causing employees to endure the most difficult assignments, taking initiative and exceeding expectations (MSG 2012). Human resource management in the United Kingdom involved strategizing to achieve high quality employee relations and engagement (BBC 2012). Effective human resource management leads to employees being pleasurably immersed in their tasks that they release their discretionary commitment (Price 2011). The employees become: effective, productive, and service-oriented and own the goals of the organization. In the United Kingdom, it has been observed that successful employee relations makes employee’s feel more inclined to come up with ideas and suggestions to achieve the organizational targets (Holbeche 2012). This is different from employees who are disengaged. According to Csikszentmihalyi the concept can be referred to as the flow. He argues that when employees are psychologically satisfied, they are focused and immersed into their works. Human resource management must be an interactive process for employee relations to be effective (Rowley 2009). It matters the quality of leadership model becomes employed to execute the human resource management practice. In the United Kingdom, organizations provide the context whereby the state of employee engagement is created and its ability to reflect the quality of engagement between individual employees and their employers (CIPD 2012). Positive psychological contract between employers and employees is thought to exist if both employees and employers match each other’s expectations (BIS 2012). This contributes to a positive engagement by employees with regard to organizational tasks. To achieve this, there must be a human resource strategy that creates an atmosphere for productive employee relations. From 1997, the government of United Kingdom introduced a program whereby legislation was established with a comprehensive statement of the minimum standards for employment. This was the first time to the government to take such a move. It was perceived to be a departure from the previous policies in United Kingdom. In considering human resource management and employee relations in the United Kingdom, it becomes essential to assess the impact of the legislation on employee relations (Holbeche 2012). The government of United Kingdom is intentional about the practice and the quality of the practice of human resource management and employee relations (CIPD 2012). The legislation addressed the working hours of employees and creation of a tribunal that addresses the concern of employees. An initial research of the working time regulations showed employers only complied with the minimum standard unless face by pressure. However, the impact of the legislation has gradually developed over the years. A DTI study showed that as employers became familiar with the law, compliance grew significantly. The national minimum wage (NMW) was introduced to lessen the wage gap in the United Kingdom, under the same legislation. The significance of the legislation grew rapidly because the levels of compliance were high. Parental leave and employee time offs were addressed legislatively. Human resource management standards have been profoundly influenced through legislation in the United Kingdom (CIPD 2012). It is not possible to manage employee relations without using human resource management strategies (Holbeche 2012). Employee relations are considered to subject to human resource management in the United Kingdom (Rowley 2009). A study by corporate leadership council discovered that high quality employee relations grow twice as fast in companies with interactive management compared to other companies. Various studies link employee relations and engagement to positive business indicators which include innovation and higher earnings per share (Searle & Dietz 2012). The potential organizational benefits from employee relations and principled human resource management are infinite. A study was conducted for three years on 40 multinational corporations by T. Watson. The findings indicated the organization with high level employee relations has 3 per cent improvement in both the operation and profit margin. The corporations with low level employee relations recorded declines of between 1-2 per cent. According to studies, a quality employee relation leads to highly engaged employees. Highly engaged employees are more likely to accept and support organizational change incentives and tend to show more resilience when confronted with change (Holbeche 2012). With regard to human resource management and employee relations, academic and labor market researches show that the United Kingdom has not achieved to optimum benefits from organizations because of employee relations deficit compared to other countries. Consultancy driven researches show that the employee engagement in the United Kingdom is extremely low at the moment. Only, three out of 10 corporation employees become engaged in the work they do according to CIPD research in the year 2010. The levels of employee engagement have fallen in 47 per cent of companied surveyed by Aon Hewitt in June 2010. This is a 15 year new low record. Most employers in the United Kingdom rarely take time to incorporate the employee’s views (Price 2011). The government of United Kingdom has facilitated researches that reveal the real impact of this employee engagement deficit according to the department for business and skills (BIS) in a report called engaging for success. Employee relations are currently being enhanced as researches continue to be published. In the United Kingdom, the contribution of highly skilled workforce is substantially inadequate in cases where jobs are prearranged and conducted in a manner that the most efficient workforce is denied a chance in designing better ways of performing their roles. HRM skills as well as practices influence managerial routine (Price 2011). This is implemented through the organizational structures that create room for employee participation and new ways of improving the roles they play in the organization. Job rotation, quality circles and cross functional teams are examples of organizational structures. The behavior of employees in an organization is essential in the performance of the organization (Holbeche 2012). Human resource management skills and practices have the potential to affect the performance of individual employees. Many companies in the United Kingdom are downsizing or performing cost reduction measures to overcome modern day economic turbulence. Therefore, it is vital to understand and enhance employee relations for the effective running of organizations at reduced cost. Managers and leadership that engage employees have become pivotal with regard to creating a favourable atmosphere (Rowley 2009). Top leadership, in the United Kingdom, is perceived to be ignorant of this pressing issue. Most leaders are unaware of the benefits of employee engagement and its importance (Searle & Dietz 2012). In the United Kingdom, the human resource management fails to offer quality employee relations because they are ill equipped to conduct and implement the same. This is most profound if the power base of such organizational leaders in under threat. This has resulted in organizational leadership, which is based on command and control, as opposed to relationship inclined leadership. Such leaderships are unwilling to talk with employees and relinquish or delegate their command (MSG 2012). The decline in the levels of employee relations in the United Kingdom has implications to individuals (employers and employees) and in the economy at large. It is a reflection of weakening of trust between which is a vital prerequisite in employee relations. Employees are unwilling to give discretionary effort in a tense atmosphere (Holbeche 2012). It has been confirmed that the longer the economic downturn lasts the tougher the organizational measures will be to maintain the organizational viability (Emmett 2012). This, in turn, shall potentially strain the employee relations causing them only to do the minimum necessary for them to get by in the workplace. This means employees fail offer hearty service. The paradox is that organizations need employees to go the extra mile most during the tough times. In the public sector, the employees are not motivated due to unilateral changes like job cuts, amount of work, pensions and changes in the psychological contracts. This has sparked a growing protest among the public sector employees (MSG 2012). Human resource management must take into account the economic realities and changes in the market trends. Modern human resource management demands that employee relations become a priority for the success of public and private sectors in the United Kingdom (BIS 2012). Effective human resource management must be dedicated to increasing the employees’ discretionary effort. This affects the turnover and organizational productivity immediately in the area where employees have direct control (BIS 2012). Human resource management has the potential to influence the skills of employees through developing the organizational, human capital. According to Wright and McMahan, human resources are supposed to develop organization-specific advantages to give the company competitive advantage. An organization seeks skills that are rare and helpful to the organizational strategy and goals. The best way to enhance the contribution of the best skilled employees from an organization is by encouraging them to participate in decision making process when it comes to organizational policy and design (MSG 2012). According to Bailey, human resources in an organization end up being underutilized because they perform below their full potential. Therefore, any organizational effort to ignite discretionary efforts from employees must address employee relations and employee engagement. For this to be successful, the organization must address the employee skills, training and motivation (Emmett 2012). This must take into consideration the sentiment of the employees through open and honest participation. Employers have a prominent role to play when it comes to developing employee relations and employee engagement in the United Kingdom. This must be viewed as a way of stimulating growth to the organization directly. For employers and organizational leadership to win the commitment of their employees, they must take time to understand the motives of their employees (Stevens & Hemingway 2011). This shall factor in the changes, in the employee dynamics and demographics. Different employee motivators and a highly educated workforce in a straining economy indicate there is no universally accepted solution capable of addressing all these needs simultaneously. Most studies on employee needs indicate that employees prioritize job security, and the fulfillment of their purpose (Rowley 2009). These motivate the employees directly and affect their discretionary commitment to the organization. Employees want to be valued for their organizational contribution (Price 2011). Modern corporations have embraced talent and reward management practices in their human resource management as a way of motivating their employees. Employees are keen to matters that affect their working lives and need to participate in such matters and in determining the direction of the company. To employees, high quality service must be coupled by a degree of autonomy and task discretion (MSG 2012). Human resource management cannot be effective without excellent employee relations. Employee relations should entail determining organizational targets, goals and direction. Employee must give their best to a course they fully understand (Stevens & Hemingway 2011). This gives them confidence and insight while carrying out their organizational duties. Strong workplace relationships must be supported by sustainable structures. Employers may not give their employees all that they ask for, but they are duty bound to keep them informed and listen to their concerns. Human resource management skills must evolve in the modern context in order to respond to the employee relations challenge. The old fashioned incentives are not likely to work in the United Kingdom (Searle & Dietz 2012). Human resource management must be conducted in a way it gives employees a clear sense of purpose and personal authenticity. Jobs should be designed with employee satisfaction in mind because this leads to increased performance from the employees (MSG, 2012). Human resource management strategies should aim at developing employee relations, which are based on fair and peer to peer relationships, as opposed to a parent child relationship. In order to meet modern day challenges, organizations’ employers and employees must engage with an aim of mutual benefits based on sustainable and honest organizational environment (Holbeche 2012). Summary Human resource management in the United Kingdom needs a rebrand. This is because the economic turbulence has created significant tension between employers and employees. The employee relations have been affected tremendously due to layoffs and tension which have affected trust between employers and employees. This has caused employees to be only doing the only what they must to get by. The workforce in both the public and private sector is demoralized. The employers in the United Kingdom rarely involve employees in the decision making processes. For human resource management to attract discretionary effort from employees in the United Kingdom, the need for a leadership structure that factors in employees sentiments cannot be overlooked. Key findings 1. The human resource management strategies in the United Kingdom need to be more inclusive. Employees need to feel they are part of the decision making process in their respective organizations. That is not the case at the moment. 2. Economic turbulence in the United Kingdom has immensely contributed to demoralization of the United Kingdom workforce. This has caused the employees to result to formality at workplace. According to research, most employees work because they are duty bound and not because they want to improve organizations. 3. There is a large employee engagement deficit in United Kingdom human resource management. This is a result of employers in the united kingdom not actively inviting the employees to participate in the decision making process. At the moment, this deficit has hit a 15 year low. 4. Motivated workers offer discretionary effort to their organizations leading to increased organizational turnover. Recommendations. Human resource management should be redesigned to address the opinions and concerns of the workers. Employees must own vision of the organization by participation in the decision making process. The government should enforce and strengthen the legislation that facilitates the welfare of employees in United Kingdom. This should entail ensuring maximum compliance and empowering the employee complains tribunal in its capacity to address the concerns of the workers. The earlier the economic recession is addressed the better for workers in the United Kingdom. The government should work hard to lessen the impact of recession to create an optimistic environment for both the workers and employees in the United Kingdom. This shall automatically lead to improved employee relations in UK. The government should publish more researches on the positive impact of employee relations as a way of encouraging the same in UK. Conclusion Working on human resource management skills and optimizing their effectiveness is the best way to enhance employee relations. The government of United Kingdom has attempted to introduce legislation that protects workers from being subjected to extremely harsh conditions. However, such a move is not sufficient to motivate workers in both private and public sectors. Organizations must come up this human resource management strategies that factor in the needs of employees and besides keeping them motivated. Employee relations shall call for less bureaucracy and more team work in organizational running of the business. Human resource management and employee relations must not be viewed to be different. Rather, they must be perceived to be complementary to each other. In this case, the United Kingdom human resource management needs to become inclusive and motivational to the employees. This shall cause the employees in United Kingdom to own their organizations and give suggestions and ideas at their own discretion. References BBC 2012, Business Management Employee relations. BBC. Retrieved October 28, 2012, BIS 2012 Workplace Employment Relations Study WERS, business innovation and skills. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from /http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/employment-matters/ CIPD 2012, July 12, Employee relations. http://www.cipd.co.uk. Retrieved October 28, 2012, Emmott, M. 2012 employee perceptions. Employment Relations Comment acas journal, 11, 1-4. Holbeche, L. 2012, employee relations. The HR and Training Journal, 112, 8-11. MSG 2012 management study guide. Retrieved October 28, 2012, from http://http://www.managementstudyguide.com Price, A. 2011 Human Resource Management 4th ed. Cengage Learning. Rowley, C. 2009. Human Resources Management; The Key Concepts 1st ed. Taylor & Francis. Searle, R., & Dietz, G. 2012 Organisational effectiveness: How trust helps. People management newspaper, p. 1. Stevens, P., & Hemingway, A. 2011, June Humanisation concept to boost employee wellbeing. Personnel today, pp. 1-6. Read More