Employee Relations HND 2013 Assignment 1 Essay

Unitarism is considered to be as a family-type system where the association is alleged to be an incorporated and pleasant atmosphere like a happy family. A principal theory of the unitary approach is all employees and the employers as well in the entire organization share the same goals, interests and dedications therefore working hand-in-hand and towards their mutual objectives. Somewhat like an Ant Colony, all of the ants work together for the same goals, and for the colony. Which brings me to another point where in Unitarism has a sort of a paternalistic approach where loyalty of all members is a must, just like ants where the queen is considered the father figure. Trade Unions are not referred to as much and are deemed unnecessary and conflict is alleged to be disorderly. From an Employee’s point of view, The Unitary approach should encompass; Waged work ought to be flexible; Individuals ought to be oriented, multi-talented, effective and efficient in business procedural improvement. If any Trade Union is recognized its purpose is that to improve communications between the employees and the employer. Good relationship is stressed on and the terms and conditions of employment are complete and comprehensive. Employee brainstorming sessions are encouraged therefore bringing out the best solutions to any problems. Also helping employees bring out their innovation, creativity, qualities and it leaves room for improvement. Workers should have a sense of belonging and security at the workplace through the skills and expertise of the managers who are informed regarding their endeavors, therefore allowing them to maximize their efficiency at the workplace. From an Employers point of view, The Unitary Approach should incorporate; The company policies must maximize the unification of employee efforts, inspiration and motivation. The company’s extensive goals must be communicated in an organized and proper manner to all staff. Systems should be established to ensure employee loyalty and commitment such as reward-systems. Line Managers should ensure ownership responsibilities of their team/staff. Staff-management conflicts – from the perspective of the unitary framework – are seen as arising from lack of information, inadequate presentation of management’s policies. Personal objectives of each employee in the entire organization must be discussed with them and then incorporated with the organizations requirements. Pluralist Perspective; Pluralism consists of powerful, divergent sub-groups, managements and trade unions within an organization. This approach responds to conflicts of interest and misunderstandings between managers and workers in regard to distribution of profits as a normal and inescapable problem. In regard to this, Managements would opt less towards administrating and monitoring, and opt more towards convincing and synchronization. Trade Unions are supported a lot here and considered to be legitimate legislatures of employees. Conflict is solved by cooperative negotiations and is regarded not necessarily as a negative entity and if accomplished can in fact be channeled into development and positive energy. Realistic managers cannot deny the fact that conflict occurs and have no choice other than to accept it. There is greater susceptibility for conflict than harmony. They must have procedures in advance for settling any disputes that may arise which may include; Industrial Relations and Personnel Specialists who guide managers and offer specialist services in respect of staffing and matters relating to union consultation and negotiation. Autonomous external negotiators should be incorporated to help in regard to settlement of disputes. Union recognition should be encouraged and union representatives given scope to carry out their representative duties All-Inclusive mutual agreements must be negotiated with unions. The Differences between Unitarism and Pluralism; Unitarism and pluralism are concepts that differ vastly in their definition as well as their procedures. These terms are mainly heard of in employee relations. Unitarism believes that the management or employees of the organization have to be interconnected and work hand in hand with each other to achieve their goals and for the welfare of the company. While Pluralism on the other hand believes that various groups of employees have different needs and necessities therefore making it sort a selected procedure and acknowledging this fact can help the company achieve its goals. Something one must know is that unitarism believes that the employees and company shares the same agenda, the experts call it a â€Å"Unitary Outlook† Pluralism does not believe in the control implemented by the management. . This is one of the main differences between pluralism and Unitarism. Pluralists encourage that a particular system be followed in the interest of the organization. It opines that power is nicely dispersed rather than concentrated in the hands of a few individuals. Pluralism gives ample opportunity for employees to voice out their opinions. On the other hand, unitarism believes in the perception of the entire organization as one big family. The management and the staff share common objectives, interests and purposes according to unitarists. It has a paternalistic approach, and it expects the loyalty of the employees. Pluralism on the other hand, is not paternalistic in its approach and hence, it does not expect the loyalty of the employees. These are the important differences between unitarism and pluralism in the arena of human resources development. Question 2: The past 25-30 years have seen massive overall changes in the regard to employee relations in the United Kingdom’s Organizational sector. The main factors that influenced this change are political, economic, social and technological factors, The influence of the Conservative government played a major role in the political aspect of employee relation change which was performed during 1979-1997. –The Wilderness Years- These years had drastic changes and were very unstable for the Conservative government, they included declines in trade unions, new laws and acts sorted out and the importance of the Labour government from 1997 to the present day which has also brought different changes to employee relations. In regard to legal perspectives the Conservative government has played a significant role in labour law which involved changing the relationship between the employer and employee, the employer and the union and the membership therefore establishing effective communication and understanding. The other changes inaccordance to legal reference were; Removing constitutional supports for collective bargaining. Advertising and Promoting Non-Unionism. Abolition of the obligatory union membership. Restraining industrial action and increasing fines for unlawful action. Regulation of internal Union government. Flagging labour law and social security measures which delivered a level to wages. Removing protection afforded by individual employment rights. Technological Impacts; All organisations function within specific technological limitations which have an impact on its size and structure, whereas the size and structure have an influence on the culture of an organization. As culture affects the relationship between people it can be seen that technology and technological development play an important role in employee relations. It is important for employee relations professionals to understand the meaning of the word ‘technology’ If it simply suggests some form of process or engineering, then does it have any role outside of manufacturing? It is more than an engineering process, in the perspective of an organization it is the application of skills and knowledge. New technology can be viewed in three ways in regard to employee relations; 1.) Its impact on traditional skills acts as a de-skilling agent as well as a creator of un employment. 2.) In a more positive way it creates a chance for old employees to learn new skills. 3.) This perspective views technology as a way to remove previously unpleasant or repetitive tasks from the equation. Question 3: Workers (Employees); The role of the employee is classified over the things he should yearn for in an organization. A good employee will try to develop oneself and seek a variety of assignments, tackle tough problems and ask for feedback. Coaching is also a very helpful activity it can be both ways as one looking for others to coach and another looking for a coach to learn from. Asking for feedback can be very helpful especially when working with different varieties of people in different situations. One should look for developmental relationships that can help provide a lot of learning and understanding. They should identify goals for new skills and abilities and organize how to achieve those goals. Attending classes and workshops would be a great source of filling in conceptual needs. The responsibility of an employee given to him/her by the organization should be recognized by the employee, Things that the employee must ensure and study when starting work towards development; Precise Goals; identifying goals for new abilities and organizing methods to reach those goals. Vigor to make his/her development successful. Diversity of work assignments. Requesting for feedback. Chances to coach other employees and finding good coaches for oneself. Developmental relationships that give a chance for an assortment of learning Managers; Managers are the head of Employee relations and are responsible for creating a rational, respectful, varied and high performance culture allowing employees to give their best effort. The post holder will improve, provide and uphold a business engrossed employee relation strategy that is to the point and ensures that the E.R team achieve their goals and work plan. The main responsibilities of a manager are; Head of discussions with any official union and staff relations with a purpose to successfully achieve positive outcome and comprehensive understandings to proposals which meet organisation objectives. Lead on the employee relations phases of projected variations to organization structure, employment levels and agreements to support the delivery of business goals. Donate to the considered development of the Human Resource function by introducing a progressive, business focused employee relations strategy that validates the current and future needs of an organization. Contribute to the sustained enhancement of the health of the organization by observing performance indicators, like sick leave, levels of grievances and disciplinaries , work/life balance, increasing initiatives and solutions to establish positive trends. Recognize and implement positive employee relations programmes, in discussion with the applicable stakeholder groups, that will increase effeciencey and motivation in the workforce. Deliver approachable and high quality support, training and advice to all parts of the business including senior managers to guarantee the to ensure appropriate management of all employee relations issues, including poor performance, grievances and disciplinary action. Manage and organize the people aspects of any streamlines within the organization, including redeployment and redundancy that must be completed within timescales and using the budgets. Ensure that the appropriate Human Resource support mechanisms are in place for staff. Give advice and direction regarding all the employee relations aspect of pay and reward projects, deviations to pay, terms and conditions of employment, pay reviews and their application. Improve and implement discussing mechanisms with trade unions which support the yearly pay and benefits with any organizational changes. Effectively manage all legal proceedings and Employment tribunal cases for the organization and act as the ‘Intelligent Client’ for retained lawyers, protecting the reputation and finances of the organization. Preserve relationships with internal diversity networks to enable the organizations targets to be met and contribute to the development and implementation of diversity action plans that fulfill the overall goals of employee relations. Lead a team and use good people management practices. Particularly with regard to performance management and career development. Organizations; One of the main functions of an organization in employee relations is to act as the employer’s spokesperson in pursuit to influence the broad policy environment in a manner conducive to their constituents’ interests (in this respect, it might be noted that the IR function was originally, and in many cases has remained, the cornerstone of the operations of many employers’ organizations). This representation role will remain significant. But â€Å"the ultimate credibility of employers’ organizations will depend on the provision of quality services to enterprises and their capacity and skill in negotiating on behalf of employers† (de Silva 1996:3). In this regard, considerable emphasis is now being given within the region to developing employers’ organizations as strong professional organizations. Priority is being given to strategic planning; developing direct services to members across a range of issues (eg, labour law, IR/HRM, labour market information, human resource development, etc); and providing the necessary internal capacities to deliver these services (which requires knowledgeable, well-trained technical staff, supported by sophisticated research and information bases). References: http://books.google.ae/books?id=FuUmIixUldwC&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=technological+changes+to+employee+relations+in+uk+from+1979&source=bl&ots=Ha2NfkrfnW&sig=DS13XkOYCpc8RFROwW1O2t_2kXY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-0HlUdDjC4KJrQf4ooCgDw&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=technological%20changes%20to%20employee%20relations%20in%20uk%20from%201979&f=false http://industrialrelations.naukrihub.com/pluralistic-perspective.html http://industrialrelations.naukrihub.com/unitary-perspective.html http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-unitarism-and-vs-pluralism/ http://www.earlhamsociologypages.co.uk/conthatnewright.html