Employee Relations

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

Session 112/03/2013

04/12/2023 2

Introduction • Among the most fundamental aspects of employee relations are job

design and related position descriptions. Well designed jobs provide employee satisfaction and optimise productivity. Jobs need to be designed with the understanding that:

they are required by the organisation; they have relevance and meaning; they provide opportunities for professional growth; they reflect good management practices; they reflect a positive attitude towards employees through an adequately resourced working environment; and they provide job satisfaction and remuneration

Ms Soorya Soman, Faculty, Birmingham Gradutae School Kochi

04/12/2023 Ms Soorya Soman, Faculty, Birmingham Gradutae School Kochi

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TRADE UNION

• A group of workers joined together to protect their own interests and to be more powerful when negotiating with their employers.


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HISTORY OF TRADE UNIONS


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AIMS OF TRADE UNIONS

• To improve the pay.• To improve working conditions• To support training and development• To ensure that their members interests are

considered during decision making.


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TYPES OF TRADE UNIONS

• General Union: skilled and unskilled workers performing different jobs in different industries.

• Industrial Unions: different workers in the same industry.

• Craft Unions: small unions for skilled workers, performing the same or similar work in different industries.

• White collar Unions: professionals who perform the same or similar tasks in different industries.


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Pay Bargaining

• Negotiating with the employers of a business on behalf of their members over issues of pay. It is an example of collective bargaining.


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List of employer associations

• Confederation of British Industry• Federation of Small Businesses• Institute of Directors.


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Trade Union Congress

• The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions. There are fifty-eight affiliated unions with a total of about 6.5 million members.

• TUC policy is made at its annual Congress, which meets for four days each year during September.

• Affiliated unions can send delegates to Congress, with the number of delegates they can send proportionate to their size.


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Theoretical perspectives

• Pluralist – Pluralist theory emphasizes the representative function of

management and trade unions, and it reinforces the value (and legitimacy) of collective bargaining. Pluralists recognize organizations within management and within unions as legitimate. They believe that management's primary function is to coordinate, communicate and persuade, rather than control or demand.

• Unitarist– The unitarist theory of industrial relations emphasizes the co-

dependency of employers and employees. To a unitarist, an organization is an integrated, friendly and collaborative whole. Unitarists do not favor employee unions. Unitarism has a peternalistic approach where it demands loyalty of all employees.


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Cont…

• Radical– Radical theory sees industrial relations as a necessary (but not

ideal) result of employees protecting themselves from powerful big-business. Radicals believe that profit-hungry corporations have no regard (aside from legal obligations) for their employees, and are willing to profit off of them at any available opportunity.

• Marxist– The marxist theory of industrial relations claims that capitalism

breeds corruption and greed, leaving the employees to suffer while corporations rake in profits. Marxists claim that institutions would be far better employers if run as state organizations, while compensation would be standardized to promote a co-operative, non-competitive work environment.

UNIT 2 – Session 213/03/2013

04/12/2023 15

CONFLICT AND DISPUTE

• Conflict: (a) A state of open, often prolonged fighting; a battle or war. (b) A state of disharmony between incompatible or antithetical persons, ideas, or interests; a clash. (c) In Psychology, it is a psychic struggle, often unconscious, resulting from the opposition or simultaneous functioning of mutually exclusive impulses, desires, or tendencies. (d) Opposition between characters or forces in a work of drama or fiction, especially opposition that motivates or shapes the action of the plot.

Dispute: (1) To argue about; debate. (2)To question the truth or validity of; doubt: Her friends disputed her intentions. (3) To strive to win (a prize, for example); contest for: Our team disputed the visitors' claim to the championship. (4) To strive against; resist: disputed the actions of his competitors.

Ms Soorya Soman, Faculty, Birmingham Gradutae School Kochi


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What is conflict ?

• “Any opposition or difference of wishes, needs, statements, arguments, actions or principles between two or more staff members, or between staff members and the Organization.”


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• Deal with conflicts and grievances in a timely manner

• Costs of conflicts : Direct costs for handling formal cases Hidden costs of conflicts ( wasted time, loss of

skilled staff, low morale/productivity, health costs)


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Formal and informal channels

Informal • Ombudsman• Self-help/help of

colleagues, friends, supervisors, Human Resource officers, Executive Office, etc.

Formal

• Administrative review• Joint Appeals Board• Specialized resource

procedures• Administrative Tribunal


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…………………

Informal• Early resolution• Proactive/Preventive• Win-win solution • Before conflict escalation • No administrative

decisions are required• No record keeping

Formal• Time consuming• Reactive• Judgments/decisions• Win-lose solution• After conflict

occurrence

• Administrative decisions required

• Record keeping


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The role of the Ombudsman

• As a facilitator of conflict resolution:–by providing advice on resources available,

informal mediation, informal fact finding, referral, etc.

• As an agent for change (systemic issues):–by making recommendations for change on

policies and procedures


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ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

• Negotiation– Back and forth communication between parties.– It is voluntary, private and confidential– Quick and inexpensive– Informal and unstructured– No third party is involved– Negotiated agreements can be enforceable– Can result in a win-win solution


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If negotiation is unsuccessful, then…………

• Mediation– A voluntary process in which an impartial person

helps in communication and promotes reconciliation.

– The mediator is a facilitator and do not make decisions or force agreements (agreements can be creative in nature).

– They can give suggestions.– Can go in for joint or separate caucusing.– Mediations are held in the office of the mediator

or other agreed locations.


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……………

• Mediated agreement can become a contract and be enforceable.

• Can result in a win-win solution


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• Arbitration– Submission of a disputed matter to an impartial

person for decision.– It is an out of court method for resolving disputes.– The arbitrator will control the process , listen to

the situation and make the decision.– Like a trial only one side will prevail. Unlike trials

appeal rights are limited.– There can me one or more than one arbitrator

(mostly 3).


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………………

– The results can be binding if all parties have previously agreed to be bound by the decision. In that case an arbitrators awards can be reduced to judgment in a court and thus be enforceable.

– In non-binding arbitration, a decision can become final if all parties agree to accept it or it may serve to help you evaluate the case and start a settlement talk.

– You will usually be represented by an attorney during arbitration.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Session 3

Date : 02 April 2013


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Steps for Conflict resolution

• What are the signs of conflict?• Who is in conflict?• What is causing conflict?• How do you manage conflict?• Do you need help?• How can you prevent conflict in future?


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General response to conflict

• Fight : shouting or loosing your temper. Try to subdue the conflict

• Flight: turn your back on what is going on. By ignoring the problem you hope it will go away.

• Freeze : not knowing how to react you become passive. You might begin to deal with the issue but things drift or become drawn out through indecision.


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What are the signs of conflict?

• Witness a heated exchange.• A meeting turns into a stand off.• Motivation drops- fewer people volunteer to take up new tasks

and there is little employee input at team meetings and briefings.

• Behaviour changes- people make derogatory remarks.• Productivity falls- there will be more queries and complaints due

to lack of cooperation.• Sickness absence increase – unhappiness leads to depression or

stress.• Responses to staff attitude or surveys indicate underlying

dissatisfaction


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Who is in conflict?

• Conflict between individuals involving:– Colleagues– Employees and their managers.

• Conflict between groups involving:– Teams – Large group of employees and the management


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Conflict between individuals- reasons

• Colleagues – Clash of personalities– Strong difference of opinion over work– An overspill from personal issues outside work.

• An employee and their manager– Your management style is too authoritarian– You favor other colleagues when assigning tasks.


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Conflict between groups- reasons

• Teams– Rivalry between colleagues.– Disagreement over a teams goals or shared values.– Resentment that one team is not pulling its

weight.


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• Groups of employees and management( it is often created by the classic ‘ us and them’

mentality)- a general resentment towards senior management.

- Poor moral and low level of motivation.- It can be focused on specific issues like health and

safety, rates of pay, redundancies, lack of proper consultation.


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What is causing conflict?

• Poor management• Unfair treatment• Unclear job roles• inadequate training• Poor communication• Poor work environment• Lack of equal opportunities• Bullying and harassment


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Conflict can also be sparked off by:

• The personalities involved ( personality mix can be affected when a new member joins)

• Learnt behavior – the way you have been taught to behave, behavior you had copied, or your own strategy to cope with a problem.

• Our changing needs and expectations- Conflict at work can often be caused when employers ignore the needs of employees or set unrealistic expectations.

• Ignoring common values ( ignoring natural justice)• Unresolved problems from the past-distinguish between

demands and interests.• Increase in work load or changes in the organisation.


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How to manage a conflict?

• Develop a strategy:– How to prevent the conflict.– How to manage the conflict.– When and how to seek outside help like mediation

and conciliation.– When a dispute may be referred to higher

authority.


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Managing conflict between individuals

• Have quite word – talking and listening to employees, giving them time and space to express their feelings and concerns often help to clear the air.

• Investigate informally- take the time to gather relevant information about those involved.

• Use the internal procedures if the conflict has moved to a more formal stage.

• Upgrade your soft skills since a manager needs a great deal of sensitivity and empathy.

• Consider getting a third part help like mediation


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Managing conflict between groups

• Improve the way you communicate and consult with employees.– Ensure that the communication is timely relevant

and concise.– Check whether consulting with employees is

legally approved.– Use dispute resolution procedures.– Promote joint decision making.– Use problem solving cycle.


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• Form representative structures like – working groups to deal with specific issues like

absence level, work patterns etc.– Permanent consultative groups.– Collective bargaining. Where employers negotiate

terms and conditions of employment with trade union representatives.


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• Use problem solving cycles.

1.Name the problem & set

goals.2 Analyze the

problem

3. Collect data

4. Analyze the data

5. Search for solutions

6. Analyze solutions

7. Create action plan.

8. Evaluate the plan

PROBLEM SOLVED


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• Use dispute resolution procedures.• Consider outside help.

• What is the difference between MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION?


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How to prevent future conflicts?

• Put the system and procedures in place.– Establish formal procedures– Explain plans– Listen– Reward fairly– Work safely


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• Develop relationships.– Value employees– Treat Fairly– Encourage initiatives– Balance personal and business needs.– Develop new skills

• Work together.– Build trust between employees representatives

and management.


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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND NEGOTIATION

Session 403 April 2013/09/04/2013


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Collective bargaining

• It is an industrial relations mechanism or tools and is an aspect of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions.


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The collective bargaining process comprises of five core steps

• Prepare: This phase involves composition of a negotiation team. The negotiation team should consist of representatives of both the parties with adequate knowledge and skills for negotiation.

• Discuss: Here, the parties decide the ground rules that will guide the negotiations.


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• Propose: This phase involves the initial opening statements and the possible options that exist to resolve them.

• Bargain: negotiations are easy if a problem solving attitude is adopted. This stage comprises the time when ‘what ifs’ and ‘supposals’ are set forth and the drafting of agreements take place.


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• Settlement: Once the parties are through with the bargaining process, a consensual agreement is reached upon wherein both the parties agree to a common decision regarding the problem or the issue. This stage is described as consisting of effective joint implementation of the agreement through shared visions, strategic planning and negotiated change.


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Types of Collective Bargaining

• Distributive Bargaining-: In this One party’s gain is another party’s loss.

• Integrative Bargaining-: In this both the parties may gain or at least neither party loses.

• Attitudinal Structuring-: When there is backlog of bitterness between both the parties then attitudinal structuring is required to make smooth industrial relations.

• Intra-Organisational Bargaining-: There can be conflicting groups in both mgt.& unions also so there is need to achieve consensus in these groups.


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NEGOTIATION

• “Negotiation involves two or more parties with competing or conflicting interests or needs, working towards an agreement on how they will cooperate.” Every time you negotiate, you have to make choices that affect whether you achieve a successful outcome for your business.


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Planning Your Negotiation

• Plan Both Your Approach To The Subject Under Negotiation,

• And Your Tone • And Communication Style.


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In Approaching The Subject Of Your Negotiations:

• Set your objectives clearly in your own mind (including your minimum acceptable outcome, your anticipated outcome and your ideal outcome)

• Determine what you'll do if the negotiation, or A particular outcome, fails

• Determine your needs, the needs of the other party and the reasons behind them

• List, rank and value your issues (and then consider concessions you might make)


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Cont…

• Analyse the other party (including their objectives and the information they need)

• Research the market and consult with colleagues and partners

• Rehearse the negotiation• Write an agenda - discussion topics, participants, location

and schedule.• In deciding your communication style, familiarise yourself

with successful negotiating strategies. Arm yourself with a calm, confident tone and a set of considered responses and strategies to the tactics you anticipate.


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Engaging With The Other Party During The Negotiation

• Introduce yourself and articulate the agenda. Demonstrate calm confidence.

• Propose - make your first offer. The other party will also make proposals. You should rarely accept their first offer. Evidence suggests that people who take the first proposal are less satisfied and regret their haste.

• Check your understanding of the other party´s proposal.


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Cont..

• Remember your objectives.• Discuss concepts and ideas.• Consider concessions, then make and seek

concessions.• Suggest alternative proposals and listen to

offered suggestions.• Paraphrase others' suggestions to clarify and

acknowledge proposals.• Give and take


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Closing The Negotiation• Take a moment to revisit your objectives for the negotiation. Once

you feel you are approaching an outcome that is acceptable to you:• Look for closing signals, Eg.

– Fading counter-arguments– Tired body language from the other party– Negotiating positions converging

• Articulate agreements and concessions already made• Make 'closing' statements, Eg.

– 'That suggestion might work.'– 'Right. Where do I sign?'

• Get agreements in writing as soon as you can.• Follow up promptly on any commitments you have made.


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Possible outcomes

• Avoid/Ignore: Each negotiator shows low concern for his own interests and the interests of the other. Hence, they reach an outcome that is inferior to one they could have reached had they been better informed.

• Accommodate/Compete: Two negotiators thoughtfully employing an individual and interactive negotiation perspective can expect to work their way toward some solution set where one or the other can maximize his or her gains.

• Compromise: The negotiators, still skillfully employing their individual and interactive negotiation perspectives can agree to compromise and divide the pie equally.

• Collaborate: Negotiators who take advantage of opportunities to employ a joint decision-making perspective, can seek integrative solutions.


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Capitulation (Soft Negotiation)

• Gives value to the relationship and may not be able to separate the issues from the persons

• Has reaching an agreement as its primary goal• Makes concessions in favor of the relationship• Makes offers and changes positions easily• Accepts one-sided losses just so an agreement

can be reached• Avoids contest of will and yields easily to

pressure


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Confrontation (Hard Negotiation)

• Considers the other party as an adversary• Has victory as its primary goal• Is hard on people and on the problem• Makes threats and is critical of the other party’s

positions• Considers one-sided gains as the end result of the

agreement• Searches for even a singly acceptable position• Tries to win a contest of will and will apply pressure


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Negotiator Utility Assessment

Substantive gains• These are the typical things we think of as the

subject of the negotiation and expressed in measurable terms such as the price of a car. Although negotiators’ ideas about their interests may change over the course of the negotiation, they need to come away with some sense of substantive satisfaction; a sense that they got what they came for.


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Cont..

Fairness• Even if they get what they want, parties will not be satisfied

if they think the process was not "fair.“ This is a subjective assessment, but a powerful one.

Reputation• Negotiation is a social activity that revolves around the

relationships of those at the negotiating table and the relationships of negotiators and their constituents. In this sense, negotiators have a reputation to uphold, be it a reputation for winning, for fairness, or honesty. Everyone needs to feel heard and respected. Should a negotiator feel his or her reputation was damaged for some reason, the negotiation can fail or an agreement may not prove durable.


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Cont..

Justice• Negotiators often measure their success by

the success or failure of other parties. For many, wrongs must be made right and others must account for their actions. This may be an underlying interest that does not surface in the deliberations. It is subtle yet powerful


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• For some strategic reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.”

--Martin Luther King, Jr.


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• “We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools. We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly


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Assignment

• Conduct a workshop on “developing negotiation skills”.


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Topics

• Consultation and employee participation• Industrial democracy and employee

participation• Employee involvement techniques• Empowerment

Employee Communication and Consultation

Unit – 4 Date : 23/04/2013


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What is employee communication and consultation??

• Employee communication means the provision and exchange of information and instructions which enable an organization to function efficiently and employees to be properly informed about developments.

• Consultation is the process by which management and employees or their representatives jointly examine and discuss issues of mutual concern. It involves seeking acceptable solution to problems through a genuine exchange of views and information. It does not remove the right of managers in decision making. It just impose an obligation that the views of the employees will be sought and considered before decision making.


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Why are communication and consultation important???

• Improve organization performance• Improve management performance and decision making• Improve employee performance and commitment• Help develop trust• Increase job satisfaction• Encourage a more flexible working environment


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Who should take the responsibility for communication and consultation??

• Senior management– A communication and consultation policy is a particularly effective way

of communication

• Line managers and supervisors• Trade unions


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What should be communicated?

• Information about the conditions of employment• Information about the job• Information about the organization

– Objectives and policies– Past and present performance and progress

• Financial performance like sales, income and expenditure, turnover, assets and liabilities, cash flow, return on investment etc has to be made public by law.

– Future plans and prospects


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The process of employee communication

• Effective communication should be-– Clear, easily understood and concise.– Presented objectively.– In a manageable form to avoid rejection– Regular and systematic– Relevant, local and timely– Open to questions being asked and answered.

• Methods of communication – Spoken and written– Direct and indirect


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Face to face methods of communicating

• Group meetings – team briefings, quality circles etc• Cascade networks – a procedure to pass on the information

quickly.• Large scale meeting – allow limited opportunity for the

employees to respond.• Interdepartmental briefings – meeting between managers to

reduce inconsistent decision making. All the above methods enable discussions, questioning and feedbacks.They provide opportunity for the employees to contribute their ideas.


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Written methods of communication

• Company handbooks, Employee information notes, house journals, newsletters, departmental bulletins, notices, individual letters to employees.– Effective where the need for the information is important or

permanent.– The topic requires detailed explanation– Accuracy and precision in wording are essential – The audience is widespread and large– A back up is needed to oral communication– There is need for permanent record.


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Consultation

• Timing and content– Working conditions– New ways of working– Output and quality– Training– Health and safety– New equipments– Staffing levels– welfare

• The legal aspects of consultation


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Employee Involvement

• Employee involvement means that every employee is regarded as a unique human being, not just a cog in a machine, and each employee is involved in helping the organization meet its goals. Each employee’s input is solicited and valued by his/her management. Employees and management recognize that each employee is involved in running the business.


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Employee Empowerment

• Employee empowerment is a somewhat different concept. It means that in addition to involving employees in running the business, employees and management recognize that many problems or obstacles to achieving organizational goals can be identified and solved by employees. Employee empowerment means that management recognizes this ability, and provides employees with the tools and authority required to continuously improve their performance. The management states its expectations about employees recognizing and solving problems, and empowers them to do so.


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Cont…

• Many people confuse communication systems such as team briefings with involvement. Involvement, however is more than just the exchange of information. It is the gradual but radical delegation of control to those closest to the process itself.

• Employees who have been trained, empowered, and recognized for their achievements see their jobs and their companies from a different perspective. They feel personally responsible for its performance.

• The best way to obtain a genuine commitment from people is to involve them in the project from the beginning.


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Cont…• Even if the original ideas are not theirs, the process of designing,

planning and assessing will automatically pull them into the stream of things.

• Managers who try to take back some of that power end up with bitter, frustrated, and disillusioned employees.

• Performance will suffer, and future attempts to involve employees will be met with cynicism.

• The cultural effect being sought is a sense of ownership of the company among its employees. This can have remarkable effects on employees’ commitment to the company and the type of activities they will undertake. In the distribution arm of Coca – Cola Beverages for example, one can see warehousemen with business cards who actively promoted the product in their own time at events where the Coke name was present, in sponsorship or just the provision of drinks.


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Keys to Involvement

• Financial. Share ownership and profit distribution plans can help to foster an interest in a company’s affairs at the competitive level which is often hard to get across in the normal day to day routine of workplace activity.

• Job security. Doubt as to whether you will still be with the company next week are hardly likely to encourage a sense of belonging.

• The structure of the work organization; in particular, job design can influence the degree of control an employee has over his or her work and, with that, the degree of personal responsibility felt for the outcomes and quality of work.


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Cont..

• Studies of organizations moving toward cell-based manufacturing and team structures in job design frequently show falling absenteeism, higher productivity and better quality of output as a result of the greater sense of involvement and decision making responsibility which comes with these systems. Digital Equipment for example use a derivative of autonomous work groups called “High Performance Work Design”. The company feel they have achieved better quality, higher output, lower inventory and faster and more accurate decision making. These changes are not just confined to the high tech end of manufacturing. Emcar, a clothing manufacturer, changed from traditional production lines to “Autonomous Work Groups” (AWGs), with individual piecework being replaced by a group bonus. As a result, absenteeism and labor turnover dropped to well below industry norms and productivity increased. Turnaround times on average orders were reduced from 6-8 weeks to just 4.


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Key actions for employee involvement and empowerment

• Giving employee the responsibility • Training employee to accept responsibility • Communicating and giving feedback • Giving rewards and recognition

Basically a happy and satisfied employee is productive employee who insure the employer’s profit and continued existence of the company and the worker’s jobs.


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Expected Results / Benefits

• Employee involvement and empowerment approaches aim at enhancing responsibility, increasing authority, and making jobs challenging and interesting to employees, based on their abilities and the needs of the organization.

• The return on such nominal investments will come in the form of higher levels of employee motivation, creativity, productivity, and commitment.


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Successful companies believe that the only way to compete is through employees who

• are in the best position to ensure and improve the quality of product or service.

• are best able to lower costs by eliminating waste throughout the process.

• are in the best position to speed up their processes by reducing cycle times

• are the ideal agents of change when they are in touch with their processes, trained through education and experience, and empowered to act decisively


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IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURES FOR EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

• Facilitating Employee Involvement: One of the most important tasks faced by any management team is motivating it’s organization’s members.

• Listening: A Basic Involvement Tool. It encourages people to open up, and to become involved.

• Suggestion Programs: Another Involvement Tool. The format for these programs usually involves suggestion boxes and forms throughout the facility, with periodic management review of suggestions and feedback to the people making the suggestions


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Life after Listening: What Comes Next?

• Not every suggestion will be implemented, but all should be answered. The simple act of listening to employees raises their expectations for improvement. Listening and then failing to provide feedback on the status of a suggestion or improvement idea is probably worse than not listening at all. If managers don’t listen, employees will only suspect that management doesn’t value their ideas. If managers listen and then fail to provide any feedback, the suspicion will be confirmed.


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A Few Obstacles and Recommended Solutions

• Negativism in reviewing employee recommendations for improvement: If the idea does not make sense, explain why in honest terms. If employees are adamant about the improvement recommendation’s soundness, reconsider it with an open mind. We’ve seen more than a few improvement recommendations implemented after initially being disapproved.

• Fear is another strong negative motivation,: Any employee involvement and empowerment effort that is attempted over a foundation of fear will collapse


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Cont..

• Failure to respond to employee recommendations is another sure-fire way to kill an employee involvement and empowerment effort. If management does not acknowledge employee recommendations, employees will rapidly conclude that management has no interest in their ideas. Management must acknowledge all improvement recommendations, including the ones that are not deemed feasible.

• Punish anyone as a result of a continuous improvement recommendation. While this seems so unlikely a course of action as a hardly be worth mentioning. Let’s consider the earlier examples. Suppose a manager comments that a suggestion makes goods sense, but expresses disappointment that the idea had not been recognized and implemented earlier. Comments of that nature are essentially reprimands, and should be avoided at all costs.


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THANK YOU

Employee Relations

Business

Transcript of Employee Relations