Employee Relations Concepts - Essay Example

Employee Relations Employees differ as individuals, in their needs, expectations and behaviour. When their needs are not satisfied or their objectives are not achieved, the result is employees' dissatisfaction. It is not an easy task for the management to keep all the employees satisfied and motivated, all the time. There can be different reasons for an employee being dissatisfied. For example, failing to get a promotion or a pay hike, which the employee has been expecting, can lead to unhappiness and dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction takes the shape of a grievance when it is formally brought to the notice of the management. The grievance redressal procedure of an organization enables employees to air their dissatisfaction. It is important that organization has an effective grievance redressal system. This helps the organization to solve problems at the level of an individual rather than have them result in industrial unrest. Keeping track of employee grievances also helps an organization check its policies and procedures to avoid similar problems in the future and at the same time maintain good and relations with its employees. Grievance Handling - Management perspective Grievances can arise out of the day-to-day working relations in an undertaking. Relations with supervisors and other colleagues also determine employee's job satisfaction. According to the National Commission on Labour, "the complaints affecting one or more individual workers in respect of their wage payments, overtime, leave, transfer, promotion, seniority, work assignment and discharge would constitute grievances." Such grievances, if not dealt with immediately and in accordance with a procedure that secures the respect of all parties, can result in climate of industrial conflict. The different factors that can result in employee grievance are: Dissatisfaction of the employee with his compensation or different components of compensation like incentives or benefits; Employee disappointment resulting from denial of a promotion or a transfer; Unpleasant relationships with supervisor's and other colleagues; Unhealthy or harmful working conditions; Job assignments that do not match employee aptitude or skill; Lack of adequate resources to achieve objectives of the job; Denial of leave, overtime or other benefits. Grievance Redressal Procedure - The Need There are a number of advantages that accrue to an organization because of its grievance redressal procedure. In the absence of a grievance redressal system, an employee could either keep his dissatisfaction to himself or share it with his colleagues. If an employee has not means of expressing his dissatisfaction, he will get frustrated and this would affect his performance. If he chooses to share his grievances with his colleagues, it could lead to unpleasantness and an unhealthy work environment. It might even lead to industrial unrest. If the settlement of the grievance at the first level does not satisfy the employee, he can approach the next level. The employee is given more than one opportunity in an effective redressal procedure. Grievance procedures keep a check on arbitrary actions. As a result, supervisors usually do not indulge in biased decisions. They are apprehensive of the employees approaching higher levels of management in order to redress their grievances. Grievance procedures help in upward communication. Employees are free to express their discontentment, problems or frustrations to the top management. By this, the top management becomes increasingly aware of the problems of the employees. Previous knowledge and experience, captured in the grievance redressal system, helps the management when formulating major plans like plant expansion or installation of latest technology. The management can take into consideration the problems that may be encountered by the employees. A good grievance redressal system helps to maintain harmonious industrial relations as employee grievances are settled before they turn into industrial conflicts. Trade Unions Trade unions play an important role in industrial relations. They are groups of worker representatives who fight for the betterment of the workers. The trade union movement actually dates back to 1850. With the emergence of the working class, trade unions were formed to fight for better terms of employment. Many changes have taken place in the trade union movement after independence. Today, trade unions all over the world face many challenges such as continuous changes in the business environment, rapid technological development and globalization. According to the Webbs, a trade union is "a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of protecting and advancing the conditions of their working lives (Webb, 1920)." According to Dale Yoder, a trade union is "a continuing long-term association of employees, formed and maintained for the specific purpose of advancing and protecting the interest of the members in their working relationship (Yoder, 1982). Characteristics of Trade Unions - The general characteristics of trade unions can be outlined from the various definitions of trade unions. The core features of trade unions have remained the same over the centuries despite sweeping changes in the some of their peripheral features. For example, the purpose of existence of a trade union has remained the same though its functions have changed over time. Some of these basic features are discussed below. i. A trade union is an association between workmen and workmen or between workmen and employers or between employers and employers. The associations of employers and professional bodies cannot be regarded as trade unions as their objectives are principally different from that of the workers' organizations. Though the fundamental objectives of workers' unions and employers' unions are different, there were incidents where employers invited their workers to join their trade unions and vice versa. ii. The nature of labour unions is relatively permanent: As mentioned earlier, the definitions given by Webbs and Dale Yoder emphasize the continuous association of workers in the form of a trade union. The nature of a trade union is generally not temporary or casual (The ICFAI Center for Management Research (ICMR), 2004). Moreover, unions reach their objectives and add new objectives over a period of time and not at a point of time. Trade unions frequently use the technique of collective bargaining to achieve their objectives, which are in the interest of all members of the group. iii. A trade union's primary objective is to secure economic benefits for its members: A trade union aims at acquiring control over the supply of labour in a single market or more number of markets and also maintains this control to fix the price of labour. However, the objective of trade unions is not restricted to the economic interests of its members but also includes their social, political and cultural interests. Concept of Collective Bargaining The term 'collective bargaining' was coined by Sydney Webb and Beatrice Webb, who believed that collective bargaining was the collective equivalent to individual bargaining, whose primary aim was achieving economic advantage (Webb S. W., 1920). This viewpoint of Sydney Webb and Beatrice Webb was popularly known as the 'critical viewpoint.' Later, many definitions were given by experts in the field of employee and industrial relations. Some of the important definitions of collective bargaining are: According to J.H. Richardson "collective bargaining takes place when a number of work people enter into a negotiation as a bargaining unit with an employer or group of employers with the object of reaching an agreement on the conditions of the employment of the work people (Richardson, 1961)." Sealing Perlman stated that "collective bargaining is not just a means of raising wages and improving conditions of employment. Nor is it merely democratic government in industry. It is, above all, a technique whereby an inferior social class or group exerts a never slackening pressure for a bigger share in social sovereignty as well as for more welfare, greater security and liberty for its members (Perlman, 1928)." The following conditions favour collective bargaining: There should be a single union, or in case of multiple unions, a common agreement among them. Clash of interests among the various unions leads to chaos and uncertainty which would result in a loss to the employees. Management should be open to the requests of the trade unions and should identify the union representatives. The culture of the organization should foster the right spirit for collective bargaining to be successful. The role of a third party should be minimized and agreements should be based on bipartite bargaining. All the parties involved should aim at a win-win situation and not a win-lose situation. The common interests of the organization and its employees should be taken into consideration while reaching any agreement. Collective bargaining has benefits not only for the present, but also for the future. The objectives of collective bargaining are: To provide an opportunity to the workers, to voice their problems on issues related to employment. To facilitate reaching a solution that is acceptable to all the parties involved. To resolve all conflicts and disputes in a mutually agreeable manner. To prevent any conflicts or disputes in the future through mutually signed contracts. To develop a conducive atmosphere to foster good industrial relations. To enhance the productivity of the organization by preventing strikes, lock-outs etc. Professor Butler in his book 'Labour Economics and Institutions', viewed the functions of collective bargaining under three heads namely, a process of social-change, a peace treaty and a system of 'industrial jurisprudence (Butler, 1928).' II. Significance of issues of employee relations for managers of the past, present and of the future The business world today is changing at the speed of light and so is competition. If organizations are to survive and grow amidst this fierce competition, they have to adapt fast to the changing environment. This brings us back to Darwin's theory of 'survival of the fittest.' Organizations face a lot of pressure in this dynamic environment with global competition, increase in competition for a talented workforce, constantly improving methods of production, introduction of new technology and employees who are incline to achieve a work-life balance. There are a large number of trade unions across the world. However, these trade unions seem to have seen their peak and have not made any significant progress in recent times. The memberships of the trade unions are either dwindling or have reached stagnation. Some of the problems being faced by the trade unions are due to the environmental changes like the change in the management attitude whereas some of them are self-created. Some such issues are discussed below (The ICFAI Center for Management Research (ICMR), 2004). Uneven growth of Unionism - Uneven growth has been a major problem for trade unions. Most trade union activities take place in large-scale industrial sectors involving manual labour and in the industrial centres of big states. They are restricted to the organized and non-agricultural sectors. Small size of Unions - In general, any seven workers can form a registered union. This has paved way for the formation of a large number of small unions. The trade unions have ignored the increasing number of women in the workforce and restricted their participation in the union and its activities. The basis for the formation of a trade union organization is the factory or the employment unit. Therefore, a number of small unions are formed whenever workers or employees in a particular unit or factory are organized. Financial Weakness, Multiplicity of Unions, Inter-union rivalry and leadership issues in the unions are some similar other issues. Right from the period of the industrial era to the present day, major employee issues have been more or less the same. Some of which are Industrial action, rights enforcement, privacy issues, issues of minimum wage, employee training, strikes of individuals in the workplace etc. Though the years have passed and much technological advancement has taken place with the advent of globalization, the employee issues are even now a major threat that is not so easy to be handled. Bibliography 1. balantlar, y. v. (2007, July 07). Measuuring HRM. Retrieved May 08, 2008, from Human Capital Strategy: http://humancapitalstrategy.blogspot.com/2007/10/measuring-hrm-3.html 2. Brezillon, A. G. (2005). A Context-Based representation of Organizational Structures. American Association of Artificial Intelligence. 3. Butler, P. (1928). Labour Economics and Institutions. Himalaya Publishing House: Mumbai. 4. HR Magazine. (2003). Another Hat for HR: Negotiatior- in-Chief. HR Magazine , Vol: 48, Issue:6, p.118. 5. Perlman, S. (1928). A Theory of Labour-Management. Mc Millan. 6. Richardson, J. (1961). An Introduction to the Study of Industrial Relations. George Allen & Urwin. 7. The ICFAI Center for Management Research (ICMR). (2004). Intorduction to Human Resource Management. Hyderabad: The ICFAI Center for Management Research (ICMR). 8. Webb, S. W. (1920). Industrial democracy. Longman's Green & Co. 9. Webb, W. S. (1920). History of Trade Unionism. London. 10. Yoder, D. (1982). Handbook of Personnel Management and Labour Relations. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India. Read More