UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, JAMAICA

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

MODULE TITLE: Selected Topics in Management CODE: MAN3029

Leadership role and Employee Relations – Tutorial Sheet 1

A. Nature of employee relations Questions

1. When employees have a strong, healthy relationship with their employers, the entire
company benefits. Studies show that employees who have mutually respectful
relationships with their employers are more likely to be happy, loyal and productive in
the long-run. What are some of the practical actions that can be undertaken by the
employer to boost the employee-employer relationship?

2. The importance of employee relations is pertinent because it provides ways to ensure

healthy work environments. It is the secret of successful organizations. It is important
for employees to share a healthy relation with each other at the workplace. Investigate
why employee relations are important in an organization and the implications of poor
employee relations

B. Parties in employee relations - state, employers, employees’ representative Questions

1. The main parties in the employee relations process are employers and their
associations, employees and their unions, and the Government. These three groups
interact within the economic and social environment to shape the employer-employee
relations system. Discuss the roles and responsibilities of each of these parties

2. Discuss five (5) major features of employer-employee relations giving examples of

each

C. Employee relations process & workforce diversity Questions

1. Employee relations can make or break an organization. Great employee relations will
make a business successful in the long run. A good understanding between employees
and employers is important to reduce industrial disputes. Using examples discuss the
statement

2. A good advertisement will demand applicants with a "demonstrated ability to work

effectively in a diverse work environment," and there must be an effort to recruit a

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 diverse applicant pool from a wide range of sources, universities, and regions. How
evident is this activity in the Jamaican organizations?

3. Workplace diversity means a workforce with various differences. The differences can
be cultural differences, age, values, gender orientation, ethnicity, race, educational
background, personality and more. Workplace diversity accepts all employees with
differences as citizens of the organization. Choose any four differences and discuss
their impact on the organization operations.

D. Leadership Role and Employee Relations Questions

1. Employee relations focuses on both individual and collective relationships in the
workplace. It’s a significant shift from the term “industrial relations”, which,
historically, has been used to describe the relationship between employees and
employers. Discuss the meaning of employee relations in modern terms and how
leaders can effectively respond when there’s an employee relations issue.

2. Since we agree that employee relations is not just about dealing with problems, then it
must encompass much more. For example, as a leader, it involves things like how you
are improving employee engagement and ensuring that your business reaps the
benefits through increased employee productivity. Using the statement, discuss the
role of leadership in employee relation.

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