Challenges in Employee Relations
Source - https://www.myshortlister.com/insights/employee-relations
Employee relations
refer to the function of managing the relationship between the organization and
employees. Most people misunderstand that employee relations are only needed
when organizations need to deal with trade unions (Gennard, J. and Judge, G.,
2005). This is not the case. Managing employee grievances, disciplinary
actions, maintaining a positive workplace, having transparent procedures,
training and developing employees are parts of employee relations which would
assist in achieving organizational success through an employee relations
function.
In this article, we are
discussing the challenges faced by HR in building an effective employee
relations function.
Source - https://www.stoodnt.com/blog/freelancing-and-gig-economy-in-india/
Challenges
- The gig economy – This is a global market system where companies and independent, freelance workers engage in short-term work arrangements (Woodcock, J. and Graham, M., 2019). Due to the short-term work arrangement, workers do not build a connection with the company. Therefore employee engagement could be reduced. These workers need not be present in the workplace all the time which is also a challenge to build a good relationship with employees. While contracting with freelance workers, HR practitioners need to assure that they are complying with all rules and regulations while protecting the rights and expectations of the gig workers.
- The mental health of employees – This is one of the most challenging tasks HR face nowadays, due to the reputational risk of dealing with the mental health of employees. If proper actions are not taken for the mental health of employees it could increase employee absenteeism, higher employee turnover, and reduce performance which eventually affects the success of the organization.
- Employee activism and technological advancements – Employee activism means the collective action taken by employees to publicly support social, and political causes outside the organization. Access to present public opinions is becoming vast due to technological advances, such as social media platforms and other digital tools. Activism could show a perceived sign of job dissatisfaction to the public and could also lead to disruption of work schedules. If the activism conflicts with the company’s culture, HR needs to be more vigilant in handling it as improper handling could lead to higher dissatisfaction which eventually leads to lower engagement in organizational activities.
- Workforce demographics and cultural differences - Many freelancers/gig workers come from different cultures and different age groups, races and ethnicities.HR should identify each diversified group’s needs and expectations and adapt to them to stay connected to the organization.
How to overcome the challenges
Source - https://simpleshow.com/blog/5-top-tips-effective-intercultural-communication/
- Fostering an open communication environment – This is the process where HR encourages a two-way communication process, a process where rather than higher management passing on all tasks, and targets towards operational level employees, higher management listens to the employees and tries to build connection and trust with them. Managers open doors to discuss any issues employees face and two-way communication would increase team spirit which eventually would increase the performance of the company (Rajhans, K., 2012). Keeping confidentiality plays a pivotal role in this.HR may train management on communication skills to make this more effective.
- Building relationships with gig workers – Although this is a challenging task, due to gig workers not being the traditional employees of the company, HR should establish clear work expectations, and company deadlines with the workers. This would build their trust and to perform clearly, focusing on the expectation of the company. Frequent communication is mandatory to keep updated about the worker's expectations and requirements to perform the task correctly and recognising their work would help build a positive relationship with the gig workers. This could be done through public recognition or even granting performance bonuses to the workers.
- Giving more emphasis on employee well-being – Human resource acts as the heart of the organization as their performance is the key part of achieving the company’s mission, goals and objectives. Healthy workers would mean higher performance. Therefore coming up with mental and physical fitness programmes, counselling services, encouraging work-life balance and fostering a supportive work environment would make employees more motivated and increase productivity(Van De Voorde, K., Paauwe, J. and Van Veldhoven, M., 2012.).
- Manage technology – Whilst promoting the use of technology to increase the efficiency of the company.HR could create a procedure to promote cybersecurity. Training employees on digital etiquette to use technology and digitalization is also needed to ensure employee reputation and organizational reputation will be harnessed.
- Effective handling of grievances – Grievance refers to the feeling of dissatisfaction of employees about their job and their nature (Juneja, P. 2018). Having an open door policy and listening to the employees is a crucial task of grievance handling. There are several approaches which show how grievances could be managed. Integrating style refers that the manager and employee both getting together and trying to find a solution on which both agree. The obliging style refers to the managers trying to accommodate employees' well-being. The compromising style refers to where the manager and the employee try to come into a middle ground compromising some of the expectations. Dominating style refers to a competing style which generated a win-lose situation (Isa, M. and Noor, W., 2011). Managing which approach to be used will be based on a case-by-case basis. At the end of every grievance solution, HR needs to follow up with the employee on whether it has been resolved satisfactorily.
Conclusion
Employee relations play
a pivotal role in the success of the company. Handling grievances effectively,
having an open communication culture, mediating disputes, conducting
investigations and implementing corrective actions would increase employee
engagement and retention in the company, which connects to the success of the
company. Therefore employee relations play a critical role which supports and
interlinks with all of the other HR main functions. To achieve the targets of
the company, HR should focus on all these main functions collaboratively.
References
Gennard, J. and Judge, G., 2005. Employee relations. CIPD Publishing. [Online] accessed on 10.04.2023
Isa, M. and Noor, W., 2011. The influence of heads of
department personalities on the selection of grievance handling styles. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(7), pp.241-252. [Online] accessed on 08.04.2023
Juneja, P. (2018).
Employee grievance - effective ways of handling grievance. Retrieved from: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/employee-grievance.htm
[Online] accessed on 09.04.2023
Rajhans, K., 2012. Effective organizational communication: A
key to employee motivation and performance. Interscience Management Review, 2(2), pp.81-85. [Online] accessed on 11.04.2023
Van De Voorde, K., Paauwe, J. and Van Veldhoven, M., 2012.
Employee well‐being and the HRM–organizational performance relationship: a
review of quantitative studies. International Journal of Management Reviews, 14(4), pp.391-407. [Online] accessed on 09.04.2023
Woodcock, J. and Graham, M., 2019. The gig economy. A critical introduction. Cambridge: Polity. [Online] accessed on 10.04.2023
Great Article.The article highlights the importance of employee relations for the success of an organization and discusses the challenges faced by HR in building an effective employee relations function. The challenges include the gig economy, mental health of employees, employee activism, technological advancements, and workforce demographics and cultural differences. To overcome these challenges, HR needs to foster open communication, build relationships with gig workers, train management on communication skills, identify the needs and expectations of diversified groups, and adapt to them to stay connected to the organization. This aligns with the views of Briscoe, Schuler, and Tarique (2012), who emphasize the importance of maintaining positive workplace relationships, and Clegg, Courpasson, and Phillips (2006), who highlight the role of power in organizations, especially in managing employee relations. Additionally, Marchington and Wilkinson (2020) discuss the need for open communication and effective management of diverse employee groups, which can help HR address the challenges faced in building an effective employee relations function.
ReplyDeleteYou've provided a thorough analysis of the current challenges in employee relations and offered
ReplyDeletepractical solutions for overcoming them. I particularly appreciated the focus on fostering open
communication and addressing the mental health of employees, which are both essential for
creating a positive work environment. Your insights on managing the gig economy and
technological advancements will surely help HR professionals adapt to the changing dynamics of
the workplace. Keep up the great work!
This is good article. What are the main elements of the employee elements?
ReplyDeleteThe components of employee relations are listed below in brief. Employee relations components
• The organization's formal and informal employment policies and procedures.
• The creation, negotiation, and implementation of formal structures, regulations, and processes for managing disputes, collective bargaining, and employment regulation. These serve to establish the pay for performance and other terms of employment, to safeguard the interests of both employees and their employers, and to control how employers interact with their staff members and how they are expected to conduct themselves at work.
• The collective agreements, recognition, negotiating mechanisms, and practices that have developed to make the formal system work.
• Rules and procedures for communications and employee voice.
• Both informal and formal processes that involve ongoing interactions between managers, team leaders, or supervisors on the one hand, and individual employees and employee representatives on the other. These may take place within the parameters of legal agreements, but they frequently follow custom, practice, and the culture of relationships that have developed over time.
• Several parties, each with distinct responsibilities. These include the government, business, employer groups, labour unions, particular managers and supervisors, human resources managers, employee representatives or shop stewards, and workers themselves.
• The governing structure.