BUSINESS

MANAGEMENT
 Elements of a Healthy Employer-Employee Relationship

Collective Bargaining

Industrial Relations Methods Used By Employees

OBJECTIVES Sources of Conflict

Approaches to Conflict Resolution

Reasons for Resistance to Change

HR Strategies to Reduce the Impact of Change

THE BIG PICTURE

 What is the secret to a healthy

and happy relationship? Well, if
you're thinking 'I'd love to
know the answer to that', you
are not alone. And, just like a
personal relationship, the
relationship between an
employer and the employee
requires attentiveness,
understanding and trust.
GOOGLE'S WORK
ENVIRONMENT
ELEMENTS OF A HEALTHY EMPLOYER-
EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP
 Mutual Respect: this is the idea that there is an understanding –
tacit or explicit – where each person recognizes their position in the
business.
 Mutual Reliance: this means that the employee knows they have a
job to do and will receive a salary, or wage, and benefits for doing
that job.
 Openness and Communication: as in any relationship, the ability
to express one’s opinions and feel listened to and valued is
important in a healthy work relationship.
 Gratitude: saying 'thank you' can go a long way in making people
feel appreciated.
 Support: Letting someone know that you are there to listen to or
help them with a situation can develop trust.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

 Collective bargaining refers to the process in

which work conditions and salary or wages are
negotiated between employers and employees,
usually through their respective agents (a union and
a management team, for example).
 Large organizations do not have the time to
negotiate with individual employees. For both
workers and managers, having employer and
employee representatives to negotiate makes
better sense.
 Sometimes the collective bargaining system may not work and
an industrial dispute may arise.
 A common way in which workers take action is when they go on
INDUSTRIAL "strike".
RELATIONS  Workers may start a "go slow", which means they deliberately
work below their potential.
METHODS USED
 Alternatively they may "work to rule", which involves working
BY EMPLOYEES strictly by the company rule book -and following every rule in the
organization would probably bring it to a standstill.
 An "overtime ban" occurs when employees refuse to
work overtime.
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS METHODS USED BY EMPLOYEES -
DEFINITIONS

A go-slow is an action where employees are instructed to work at a reduced rate.

In a work-to-rule action, employees work at the minimum level required by their contract.

In an overtime ban, employees are instructed by their union to refuse to work beyond
their contracted hours.

Strike action means that employees refuse to work. This is usually the result of major
disagreements within large organizations over pay, benefits and working conditions.
SOURCES OF CONFLICT
 Change - this can be driven by either internal or external factors.
 Different interests - workers, who in certain respects have a
lesser stake in business than managers or the shareholders, focus on
their individual goals, which may include more flexibility in the workplace
or higher wages.
 Different values - individuals see the world differently. Lack of
acceptance and understanding of these differences can cause conflict.
 External factors - any number of external factors can disrupt the
workplace: changes in STEEPLE.
 Insufficient resources - no organization has unlimited resources.
 Poor communication - sometimes managers and workers
clash because lack of communication has created misunderstanding.
 Poor performance - sometimes people do not do their jobs properly.
APPROACHES TO
CONFLICT
RESOLUTION
Conflict resolution involves
actions taken to reduce
tensions and manage conflict in
the work environment. Some
approaches to conflict
resolution include:
 Conciliation and arbitration
 Employee participation and
industrial democracy
 No-strike agreement
 Single union agreement
CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION

 Conciliation and arbitration: in this process, employers and

employees will agree to have a third party come in to resolve the
discord between employer and employees.
 Conciliation is where the two parties agree to have an independent
third party act as a mediator to help resolve the dispute.
 Arbitration is where the two parties agree to have an independent
third party act as a mediator to help resolve the dispute but the final
decision is legally binding.
  At one extreme, industrial democracy implies workers "control
over industry, perhaps linked with workers" ownership of the
means of production, as with producer cooperatives.
EMPLOYEE  Another approach is the appointment of worker or trade union
representatives to company boards or governing bodies.
PARTICIPATION
 For others, industrial democracy takes the form of
AND INDUSTRIAL "worker participation", such as collective bargaining in which trade
DEMOCRACY unions negotiate with managers.
 A fourth approach places less stress on power sharing and more
on consultation and communication:
NO STRIKE AGREEMENT

 No-strike agreement: just like it says, many unions have a no-

strike clause in their contracts to combat negative publicity from
stoppages. This means precisely what it says: workers will not strike
and thereby disrupt work flow and productivity.
 A no-strike agreement is the promise by employees not to
strike as a way to settle disagreements.
SINGLE UNION AGREEMENT

 Single union agreement: in this arrangement, the employer only

negotiates with a single labor union. This minimizes disruption and
conflict as different unions may have different objectives. Under a
single union agreement, that union represents the workers and the
employer only deals with the one union.
 In a single union agreement, the employer only negotiates with a
single labor union.
REASONS FOR
RESISTANCE
TO CHANGE
REASONS FOR RESISTANCE TO CHANCE

Discomfort of employees are often happy with the current situation and want to
maintain the status quo.

Fear - changes often makes employees afraid simply because they do not
know what will happen.

Insufficient reward - employees often perceive that implementing the change

requires them to do more work for no increase in compensation.

Lack of job skills - employees may not have the skills necessary to perform in
the changed work environment.

Loss of control - when managers insist on change, employees feel that they do
not have control over their lives.
REASONS FOR RESISTANCE TO CHANCE

Mistrust - employees sometimes do not trust managers.

Poor communication - employees do not know why the business needs to change.

Poor timing - change is brought about for the needs of the organization but might occur at a time
that, for either professional or personal reasons, may fit poorly with the needs of employees.

Prior experience - an employee may have had a bad experience with change in an
another organization or at an earlier time with his or her current employer.

Social support - an employee who works with a group of people who resist change may choose to
resist for the sake of maintaining social relationships.
 HR STRATEGIES
TO REDUCE THE
IMPACT OF
CHANGE
 Develop a vision for the change process and the desired outcomes. If necessary,
the business may have to realign its largest aims and vision for the organization.

Forecast and allocate the necessary resources to implement the change.

HR STRATEGIES Involve employees in the change process from the outset so that employees are
not surprised and so that they do not feel powerless.
TO REDUCE THE
Regularly communicate to all appropriate stakeholders how the change process
IMPACT OF is unfolding.

CHANGE Train employees in advance of those changes that affect them directly, which
should allow them to see the benefits of change immediately.

Routinely communicate the benefits of the changes.

Be aware of the stress that change can cause and support employees as much as
possible, before, during, and after change.