Employee Relations Discipline - Essay Example

Employee relations discipline includes a variety of concepts, policies, practices as well as objectives arising from the relationship between the employer and their employees and among the employees themselves. If foundations are clearly laid, employee relations help to support and steer myriad decisions that managers make in the course of running their businesses (Rose 2008). Emphasis on employee relations continues to shift from collective institutions such as trade unions and collective bargaining to the way employees relate with the subordinates. Employees’ ideas have been accepted and should be reflected in their policies and aspirations. Skills and competence are very critical as they assist in achieving performance benefits through focusing on commitment, involvement and engagement. These relations are strategic in managing business risks and mostly emphasize on unionizing management and unions. Influence is also very important in developing interpersonal communications as it provides professional satisfaction with the ability to influence, negotiate and empower valuable information thus enhancing more ideas. In the above case study there are various aspects that need to be addressed. To begin with there are external influences that currently impact on this organisation and this will include the political aspects, economic aspects, social- cultural and technological aspects. The political aspects will relate to ways in which changes in government and government policy  influence this organisation as a whole. According to the Health trust provider, the government policy has other health providers in the vicinity, due to the recession the government fiscal policy and the budget deficit is more than the usual stringent thus the health trust expects to suffer real drop of 10% in the entire region this year. The health trust is therefore expected to increase the number of patients and to elevate service quality, efficiency and effectiveness for them to make the budget constrains meet targets (Daniels 2006, p. 157). There is also need to identify key structural changes in the world around them which affect demand and supply conditions for their products. This will involve the economic changes. The economy will be the number one change driver; this is because it brings the necessary conditions for change. The economy at the moment is in recession but it seems the organisation can still cope with this situation. This can be because it provides hospital services for the entire local covering some 80 square miles, but also a group of health centre (doctors) practices across the local area (Kersley et. al. 2006). Socially, Health trust service provider acquired trust status about 15 years ago and a thriving local business community which has coped fairly well during the current recession. This influences the organisation positively because most patients visit the hospital. The organisation also has trade unions that contribute socially to the entire organisation through sharing of ideas and resolving conflicts. Internal factors that influence the organisation can be categorised as strengths and weaknesses faced by the entire organisation. Among the strengths is that Health trust has for some years used competitive tendering. This has resulted to some outsourcing service functions, and also contracts being offered to internal departments where they have offered better value for money and service by retaining their workforce. Major influences to come in future will include improved technology in the health centre where by this will make operations faster and effective. The governments’ target of increasing the number of patients served per day will be reached. Technology will dramatically change the business landscape and create opportunity and issues that managers will need to address in many aspects. This will encourage free flow of information through networking. It also creates new opportunities for innovation in product and services (Farnham 2009). Socially, the manager and the peers of an organisation have a greater positive influence on the output. Thus the senior management should setup work teams and this process is bound to increase job satisfaction and also help to reduce occupational stress with reduction in organisational and personal problems. According to Salamon (2007) the political changes influence business by forcing a change in the budget in increased taxes. In future there may be major influence politically if the government’s fiscal policy changes if the economy remains on recession. The trust will suffer real losses. The trust should focus more on the contracts offered to internal departments instead of concentrating more on outsourcing service function. By doing this the service in the house will gain more experience in doing so and gain confidence in their abilities and this will denote that the money used in the outsourcing will be used for other functions of recuperating the hospitals functions. The multi structured differentiated bonus system should be abolished in future because change is always inevitable in all areas of the organisation and this will make job boundaries flexible. These intra group co operations should be abolished because in future they are deemed to bring about redundancy. Contemporary management views propose that the silo mentality mindset must be broken in order for employees to remain motivated and be happy to come to work. Efficient companies endorse the sharing of information in an effort to allow the combination of groups function as a team. Using the above analysis, the employees have recognised trade unions such as the GMB and TGWU with members presently at 60%.TGWU represents the various crafts and skills held by employees. The relationship with these unions is comparatively good with regular two months meetings held between management and unions in a multi-union forum. The Hospital Management team have gradually been developing the "communications" policies; this has resulted in improvements very recently in staff feedback via staff attitude surveys regarding confidence in the top Management, particularly from the medical staff. There are three theoretical models that tend to shape the thinking of those who devise the organization. These include unitarism, pluralist and the radical (Egan 2005, p. 15). Perceptions of workplace relationship are offered by each. Hollinshead (2003) describes radical perspective as the conflict model. It is mostly identified with Marxist theory. The Unitarianism is perceived as integrated and harmonious. This is where management and other members of the staff share a common purpose as they emphasize mutual cooperation. This demands loyalty of all employees as predominantly managerial in its application and emphasis .Trade unions are consequently deemed as redundant because the loyalty of employees and organisations is mutually exclusive. Conflict on the other hand is perceived as disruptive and a result of agitators, interpersonal friction and breakdown of communication (Rollinson & Dundon 2007). Pluralism of the organisation is where it is made up of powerful and divergent sub groups, each with legitimate loyalties and own set of objectives and leaders. Role of management lean less towards enforcing persuasion and coordination. Trade unions act as legitimate representatives of employees as conflict is dealt with by collective bargaining as it is not necessarily viewed as a bad thing and could channel towards evolution and positive change if managed properly. Radical perspective looks at the nature of a capitalist society. This is where there is a division of interest between capital and labour. It also brings about inequality of power and economic wealth as having the nature of capitalist economic system. Here conflict is seen as inevitable and that trade unions are responses of workers to their exploitation. In reference to the above case study, the organisation mostly uses the pluralism system where the key operational procedures are not being fully implemented and there is also evidence of insular, group centered culture that has gained prevalence over customers needs. The HR is currently controlled from a central HR department, with some areas such as selection, discipline, grievance and communication being delegated to line management within the group structure. The method used in this particular organisation seems to be averse since it is discovered that there are slack reporting structures, weak lines of communication as well as ill- defined limits of authority and accountability (Rollinson, 2007). This has resulted to role ambiguity, job insecurity, low morale and poor motivation in the operations department particularly at the direct operations level. There is ineffectiveness in the management control and this has developed highly demarcated and differentiated traditions which their union representatives are reluctant to change. This has resulted from the groups working independently from each other and often from the organisation level immediately above them. There is also evidence of over rigid job boundaries along with a multi structured differentiated bonus system introduced 30 years ago. This tends to reinforce inflexibility in working practice. There exists a culture where intra group cooperation has turned out to severe constrain with a silo mentality embedded in the teams. The proposed change by the MD is to retain the employees in the house and this will be achieved if the budget is to drive final decisions and cost effectiveness should be crucial so as to ease management. The staffs’ needs to be more flexible in the roles they are willing to undertake and redundancies in all sections of the Hospital should be considered. According to the above study, I assume that the influences in future would mostly be internal (Kaufman 2004). This is because the trade union seems to be more reluctant in changes of the organisation and also there is few or no cooperation among departments. The fact that the organisation outsources functions will lead to costly operations and they might run at a loss and will not be able to reach the government target of increasing the number of patients served in a day. Another thing is that this will make the employees in the house lose confidence in their roles. The departmental management structure ought to be revised where by there should be a hierarchical order of who reports to who. If this is not addressed the organisation will fall apart since at the moment the employees work independently and there are some operational procedures that are not being fully implemented. If some areas of the organisations management practices such as employees’ selection, discipline, grievances and communication continue being delegated to line managers then this will lead to slack reporting structures. It will also bring about weak communication in future and there after low productivity. The ill defined limits of authority and accountability have resulted to role ambiguity, job insecurity, low morale and poor motivation. In future, this will lead to misuse of facilities, low productivity and embezzlement in the organisation. According to the above case, good employee relations are required. This involves the policies and practices concerned with the management and regulation of the relationships between the staff members and trade unions as a whole. Sound employee relations are based on effective mechanisms for participation and communication, a safe and effective work environment, commitment and motivation of the staff (Ackers & Wilkinson 2003) . These policies and procedures should be aimed at promoting channels of communications at all levels in the entire organisation. They should also identify and expand common areas of interest between staff members. There is need to anticipate and defuse conflict whenever it arises. The management should also encourage staff to articulate concerns and conflict as they seek resolutions of underlying issues. There is also need to provide channels of conflict resolution and development of mutual trust in their reliability. The key to encouraging employees’ relations is partnership. This is not an easy alternative nor is it a substitute for collective bargaining or the problem solving which is a daily affair in many areas of work. Partnership creates an atmosphere that is conducive for decision making, quick reaction as well as provision of an environment to achieve the best results out of utilization of ones skills and knowledge. This applies to both the employees as well as the. To improve on success, management of change should be done collectively by all the parties involved. Partnership and flexibility should be a key theme over the next five to ten years. If this organization is to maintain and pick up its competitive edge, there is need to retain its skills based on attracting workers and customers from all walks of life. However, people must be able to balance the diverse pressures in their lives, and in ensuring that diversity issues are high on the employment relations agenda. The organisation could do with recognition of the principle of freedom of association in the trade unions but should not be through forced membership. Trade unions should be recognised and should protect their members from being coerced in any way as a result of their non membership of any association. There should be a representative body for the purpose of collective bargaining on behalf of the staff members in a defined common interest group where majority of staff members in the bargaining unit express their desire to have that body represent them. According to Kaufman ( 2004, p. 139) recognition of the importance of open communication and joint consultation between management and staff encourages the exchange of information, ideas and views of mutual interests and concern through both formal and informal channels. Communication is the bond that makes policies authentic and without which they are futile. Communication is essentially a two-way process involving dialogue relatively, to simple instruction. This organisation performs badly in this area, failing to give communication the priority it deserves.  Delbridge and Whitfield (2007, p. 28) state that getting communication right involves both professionalism and perseverance. The qualities mandatory include focusing on positive behaviours and outcomes, taking a constructive problem-solving approach, anticipating problems, recommending solutions and capacity to proffer sound advice to senior managers about implementation. Negotiating skills are still practical but needed less often. A wider area of knowledge is necessary, along with the skills applied for instance surveying, interpreting employee attitudes, communications and conflict management. The most important thing is the ability to fit policies and practices to suit the organisation’s goals and the quality of its personnel. Departments are encouraged to develop appropriate arrangements to promote discussions of matters of concern. Once an agreement has been reached at the administration should arrange for regular consultative committee meetings between human resources department staff and other members of management and union (Eaton 2000). The consultative committee provides a formal channel of communication. Where a staff member is dissatisfied for any reason, it should be articulated and resolved as quickly as possible at the lowest possible level. The capability to handle conflict remains a major subject for many organisations. Intervention as a technique of resolving workplace issues represents an important shift from the traditional industrial relations framework, it emphasises on prescribed discipline and grievance procedures, towards more of a win-win approach reliable with the philosophy of HR management. Staff members are required to maintain certain standards of conduct. If anyone decides to act otherwise then the management renders them liable to disciplinary action. This is desired to be corrective and improves conduct and should be taken as soon as possible. A standard performance should be maintained, anyone who fails to maintain this in accordance with their employment contract and the organisational rules render themselves liable to corrective action (Truss, Soane & Edwards 2006). To realize external influences especially social cultural factors the hospital management ought to enhance community participation. This is development and cooperation in the workplace where they should organise going out there to treat people for example the disabled and also should offer free services such as eye treatments and testing for various diseases. This encourages the community around them to build trust in them as well as increase in the number of patients visiting the entire hospital. They should also show support to the patients in the case where a patient visits the hospital due to mental disability, the staff or the person responsible should not just treat but should also offer guidance and counselling to encourage them to come another time if faced with the same problem (Ackers & Wilkinson 2003). Commitment of all members is integral and without it the organisation will cease to function. The organisation should focus on improving membership not just in numbers but also in terms of professional growth, promoting community service through humanitarian projects and also by helping the organisation to raise financial resources to fund its projects (Kelly 1998, p. 59). To promote informed and sound employee relations practices, there is need for training. Induction courses and training sessions should be provided to ensure familiarity with policies and procedures as those managing others for instance the supervisors should be provided with skills necessary to give effect to the policies such as communication and consultation. Conclusion Commitment offers managers a skeleton for monitoring a range of indicators; this includes employee attitudes and behaviours. State of the employment relationship predominantly represents an objective that employees should understand, recognized with and execute themselves to the objectives of the organisations they work for. Employee relations specialists ought to be more strategic and see the bigger picture. This means being well-known with a wide range of techniques and skills such as mediation and communications. Ultimately, it may also mean asserting additional strength on the employees’ interest and agenda. This may perhaps not fit with a management culture still based on command and control. It is a legitimately transformational message but lacking some significant progress in this direction, both high-performance working and strategic business partnering are unlikely to be successful. Major goals of the organisation include promoting the professional well-being of the members through learning interventions. In this case professional, social, civic and cultural affairs should be met. To achieve external influences especially social factors the organisation should enhance community participation, development and cooperation in the workplace and in this case show support to the patients. If technology is improved, it will dramatically change the business landscape and create opportunities and issues that managers will need to address in many aspects. This will encourage free flow of information through networking and create new opportunities for innovation in their products and services. Formation of trade unions should be left for every employee to decide when to join and teamwork should be observed. This will encourage the workforce to state issues affecting them in their place of work. These issues should be discussed by the management and should favour the interests of every individual. Communication is a major subject as it improves limits of authority and accountability in every running organisation. This is because it improves interrelations between the management and the staff as whole and is eases problem solving. Table showing the influences in the Trust at the moment. Political factors Economic factors Social factors Technological factors -Currently the economy is at recession -Coping well with the recession economy - Acquired trust status with its customers for 15 years. -The support staff within operational support department supplies technical work -Governments budget deficit is more than usual -Increased governments deficit - Provides hospital service for the entire covering about 80 square miles - Set targets by government to increase quality, efficiency, and effectiveness. -Provides doctor practices across the area -. Policy set on agenda for change -Used competitive tendering for some years -Turnover is relatively stable - Group centred culture Table showing the SWOT analysis for the health trust. Strengths Weaknesses -Acquired trust status about 15 years ago -Currently employs approximately 1000 support stuff -Has a fairly good relationship with the unions - Has resulted to outsourcing of its service functions as a result of competitive tendering -lack of communication policies - role ambiguity especially supervisors -lack of managerial skills -issues with delegation, team building and motivation -Slack reporting structures, thus poor communication -ill-defined limits of authority and accountability - trade unions are reluctant to change -Job insecurity, Over-rigid job boundaries -Multi-structured differentiated bonus system -Untrained employees Opportunities Threats -Use of competitive tendering -Contracts being offered to internal departments offering better value for money -Government has set targets for the trust, to increase quality, efficiency, and effectiveness. -High governments’ deficit leading to low high taxes. - References Ackers, P & Wilkinson, A 2003, Understanding work and employment: Industrial relations in transition, Oxford University Press. Daniels, K 2006, Employee relations in an organizational context, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, London, p. 157. Delbridge, R & Whitfield, K 2007, ‘More than mere fragments? The use of the Workplace Employment Relations Survey data in HRM research’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 18, No. 12, December, pp. 21-28. Eaton, J 2000, Comparative employee relations: an introduction polity press, Leat. Egan, J 2005, Evolution not revolution: The changing face of the workplace, Employment Review, IRS, No. 832, 30 September. Pp. 8-15. Farnham, D 2009, Employee relations in context, CIPD. Hollinshead, G Tailby, S &Nicholls, P 2003, Employee relations. FT Prentice Hall. Kaufman, E 2004, The global evolution of industrial relations: Events, ideas, and the IIRA, International Labour Office, p. 139 Kelly, J 1998, Rethinking industrial relations: Mobilization, collectivism and long waves, Routledge, p. 59. 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