OBJECTIVES
As a person with knowledge of Human Resource Management and Employee Relations, the author has always brought up to his superiors the viability of strategy formation regarding the analysis of this topic and at times fail to understand the reasons or logic behind certain strategic implementations imposed on it.
By delving into this project paper, the author intends to have better insights into how Human Resource Management and Employee Relations are thought up, formulated and then imparted down into the subsidiaries of the organization. The author hopes to have an in-depth understanding as to how the Human Resource management of organizations enable them to compete effectively and profitably in this era of internationalization where competition is extremely intense.
In order to reinforce the learning objectives, two key focal issues were focused upon i.e. innovation and diversity. Innovation was discussed with regard to Human Resource Management and Employee Relations where it was renowned for its developmental capabilities to constantly innovate. Diversity came under strategic thinking and formation as the author considered the diverse culture, political climate, economic surroundings, social environment, technological settings, government policies and legal systems in order to better understand the issues being discussed.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF
This essay utilized the Employment Relations Act (2000) as the model to review its present impacts on trade unions and Employment Relations in general, and how it dealt with critical situations. From the analysis, key trends in the Employment Relations Act (2000) were then identified, how it worked and its effectiveness in dealing with critical situations was ascertained. The paper then moved on to assess the Employment Relations Act (2000) with regard to its suitability to critical situations, during which the internal capabilities of the Employment Relations Act (2000) in relation to the strategy being followed was determined also. An overall analysis of the performance and effectiveness of the Employment Relations Act (2000) was also conducted to assess and compare its capabilities with those of others. Gaps in the Employment Relations Act (2000) were then identified.
Finally, several choices of strategies to improve the employee relations management of organizations as effective means in critical situations were recommended and evaluated in terms of appropriateness to the issues reviewed, feasibility in carrying out the options and acceptability within the key stakeholders and decision makers. Several key implementation issues related to managing strategic change were also addressed as well.
INTRODUCTION
Employee relations as a form of human resource management can be defined as the efficient and effective implementation of the policies and tasks necessary to satisfy a firm’s employees and management as well. Employee relations management focuses on the careful management of the processes involved in the proper functioning and compensation of the workforce.
More often than not, small companies and organizations don’t really have the capabilities to implement effective employee relations policies. Instead, these companies and organizations engage in activities that various schools of human resource management typically associate with employee relations. These activities include the establishment of employee relations protocols, compensation and benefits improvements, and performance evaluations.
However, employee relations deal with all operations done within companies and organizations. Activities such as the management of tasks, the control of activities, logistics and evaluations are often related with employee relations. A great deal of emphasis lies on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Therefore, employee relations include the analysis and management of internal processes.
QUESTIONS
1) How and why has ER superseded Industrial Relations (IR) and was this change inevitable?
All companies and organizations are governed by their basic goals and objectives. These objectives are often regarded to as the “corporate vision” or “corporate philosophy” (2001). And within the “corporate philosophy” lies the policies that are meant to foster good employee relations. Thus, certain strategies are being implemented with the aim of achieving these goals and objectives, and this constitutes a key element in the characterization of a company or organization. Personnel are undoubtedly a much more important indicator in determining the characteristics of a company or organization as opposed to industrial relations, and this is perhaps the reason why employee relations have superseded industrial relations.
It is a well known fact that human resources play a crucial role towards differentiation and a potent source of competitiveness for any organization or company. Therefore, any organization must constantly invest in employee relations development even during periods of recession. In previous decades, most companies and organizations had heavily invested in enhancing their industrial relations while paying lesser attention to their own workforce. However, the fast pace of globalization in the 21st century has brought along the need for companies and organizations to shift their focus more on employee relations. With this in mind, the determination of the extent to which an organization can invest in terms of employee relations development depends on the financial capabilities of the company or organization (2004). Finances will also be carefully considered in determining the target for training and development, because it should jive with the basic policies of an organization’s human resource development strategy.
In lieu of the present developments in employee relations development, there have been significant visions of learning that evolved. A majority of these learning visions are based on the idea that employee relations involve a social process where knowledge is denied instead of being acquired passively. Employee relations then, transforms into an interactive process. The interaction is being verified through the help of the participants in the employee relations development process such as the management and the employees. In this framework, high quality of employee relations development would mean the continued guidance and support of the active learning process of both parties. Obviously, this would call for an intensive and phased guiding strategy (2002).
When in the active pursuit of strategic employee relations development, the interaction of the management with its labor force forms an integral part towards its success. Collaboration as a method is gradually being used by most organizations nowadays. Through this approach, the labor force can learn from the management through the imitation of their techniques in the strategic human resource development processes. In the process, the labor force is able to obtain the chance to see their own ideas in a different aspect and therefore be able to take alternatives into consideration. The relative effectiveness of this approach is determined with the capability of the labor force to continuously challenge their pre-acquired knowledge by trying to adapt to the interpretations of the management.
Aside from the labor force and the management, the different resources of learning belong to a third category of factors of a strategic employee relations development environment. Moreover, employee relations development methods have shown signs of significant growth over the past years. Consequently, obtaining knowledge becomes more complicated. This is because the transformation of all this information into knowledge requires the labor force to possess the appropriate reference frameworks. But the management can certainly help the labor force transform information into valuable knowledge.
The recent efforts of companies and organizations to educate the public regarding the new trends in strategic employee relations development would definitely make learning easy for every individual who desires to do so. Also, the growing impact of information and communications technology (ICT) fits in with the larger transformation towards a knowledge-based human resource development. Most companies and organizations are already adapted to ICT. Nowadays, companies and organizations are more and more using artificial intelligence systems in order to implement strategic employee relations development.
Strategic employee relations development is being influenced by the interaction of two major factors. On the one hand, the instructional factors: the educational philosophy brought about by the organization and its conversion into didactical ideas. On the other hand, organizational factors: the staff, infrastructure and policies related in this area. It is obvious that every organization must possess a sound vision of policies and the efficient use of the operating budget in order to effectively perform its strategic human resource development plans (Gonzalez, 2003).
Nevertheless, strategic employee relations development needs an interaction between both factors. This is because in order to respond to the new visions of learning, it will eventually transform into a model together with the various aspects of the environment. In return, the labor force will have to continuously monitor their limitations and along the process introduce innovations.
2) What effect has the Employment Relations Act (2000) had on trade unions and ER and why?
The Employment Relations Act (2000) has led to the development of employee relations in most organizations and companies, and in the past decade it has gradually transformed from low-level activities into high-profile contributors to organizational success ( 2002). However, budgets are also elevating at a faster rate than the gross national product.
The Employment Relations Act (2000) has from time to time formulated certain strategies regarding the Safety and Health of workers and employees at their workplace. Companies and organizations have to always make it a point to strictly comply with these guidelines set by the European Union.
Aside from safety and health issues, companies and organizations have to also make the initiative to comply with the ergonomics issues also established by the Employment Relations Act (2000). Included in these ergonomics issues is a framework made to improve the review of present measures and standards regarding ergonomics which include guidelines dealing with heavy loads and vibration noise.
Other elements of the Employment Relations Act (2000) include:
- Establishing measures for reducing the risks of injuries and diseases as part of the Employment Relations Act (2000) Guidelines.
- Spreading awareness of risk factors through seminars and training.
- Suggestions to encourage the participation of women in research and designing of workplace dimensions.
Responding to Trade Unions & Recognition
There is definitely a need to reconcile both the inside-out and outside-in capabilities. While most companies and organizations’ employee relations policies involve focusing on its human resources as its core competencies with market position following its resource base, the company will be put into a disadvantageous position should it choose to neglect both the macro as well as industry environment. Therefore, because of the Employment Relations Act (2000) companies and organizations have started to become aware of the latest employee relations development changes, as well as changes in political, economic, legal and even demographic trends in order to develop the outside-in capabilities, such as market sensing, customer linking, channel bonding and technology monitoring.
The advantages enjoyed by companies and organizations may come in the form of increased revenues. Knowing what the market demands and the latest provision in the Employment Relations Act (2000) could help them fully exploit their research and development capabilities to come out with innovative employee relations development efforts which are not only cost-effective but also high in quality and performance. The strategic option can even be used as marketing tool where the focus is on staying close to your employees and listening to their feedbacks. On the flip side of the coin, there will be huge mobilization of resources involved, and the associated risks bestowed on the company.
Nevertheless, the mentioned strategic option seems the most practical in the wake of globalization, since there is a sudden shift towards a more integrated and independent employee relations development. The key stakeholders too should not have any objections so long the company’s core business is not threatened. By virtue of the centralized control of the subsidiaries of an organization, it is being expected that major barriers should not exist in carrying out such an option except additional time may be required given the scope and span of operations.
Understanding the strategic importance of employee relations development in relation to the Employment Relations Act (2000) is something that companies and organizations have to be familiar with. They normally practice a centralized and globally scaled development of capabilities among its employees. This allows information dissemination to be retained at the corporate headquarters.
CONCLUSION
The results of the analysis carried out on the Employment Relations Act (2000) indicated very significant benefits for the human resources of companies and organizations, even amidst the threats of unrest. Therefore, we could conclude that the Employment Relations Act (2000) could still be expected to expand and progress.
The review of the Employment Relations Act (2000) also revealed very little inconsistencies considering the strategies of most companies and organizations. This is coherent with their traditional inside-out approach. However, the need to reconcile both the inside-out and outside-in approaches becomes imperative now for most companies and organizations.
The analysis among the environment and the Employment Relations Act (2000) revealed certain gaps, most of which are biased towards the environment. However, these gaps paved the way towards determining a number of recommended strategic options to secure the competitiveness of companies and organizations while abiding the Employment Relations Act (2000).
Also, companies and organizations have to find a balance between adherence to internal forces and to the changing forces of the environment in order to implement such strategic options.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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