Unit 20 Employee Relation Assignment Copy

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Unit 20 Employee Relation
QFC Level	Level 5

Introduction

In this unit 20 employee relation assignment copy the focus is given on the employee relation which ensures profitability. Employee’s relation is the relationship that is formed between the employees in order to achieve the common objective. The management of the organisation needs to ensure positive relationship among the employees in order to create a sound working environment in the organisation. Generally the Human Resource department used to take care about the area related to the employee’s relations in the organisation. Conflicts are the results arise from the misunderstandings which create a negative relationship among each other. The methods like participation, involvement; cooperation is used in order to resolve the conflict.

Task 1

1.1 Explain the unitary and pluralistic frames of reference.

• Employee’s relation is the relationship that is formed between the employees in order to achieve the common objective (Snell and Bohlander, 2010). The management of the organisation needs to ensure positive relationship among the employees in order to create a sound working environment in the organisation. Generally the  Human Resource department  used to take care about the area related to the employee’s relations in the organisation.
• Unitary and pluralistic frames of reference are the assumptions followed by the management of the organisation in order to manage the operations. Unitary form directs the employees to work jointly for a common purpose and objectives. All the employees share their equal contribution to achieve the target and the management measured the efficiency of the groups with the target achievement. The job satisfaction and enrichment is high (Achrol, 2011). For example in British Airlines all the employees perform their duties which are aligned with the customer’s satisfaction. Unitary frames of reference remove the confusions or doubts as all the employees shared equal practices and approaches in order to accomplish the task. The mission of  Ryanair Airlines  is to serve the customers effectively in order to enhance a quality experience. Thus all the employees are given training in order to deliver a quality value to the customers visiting the stores.
• Pluralistic form involves two or more sub groups present in the organisation where the interest and the objectives are different than each other (Adams, 2012). The sub groups can be the management, trade unions present in the organisation. At British Airlines the trade union UNITE plays a major role by connecting the employees with the management. The issues faced by the employees are communicated by the UNITE representatives to the managers of British Airlines. Other than that the management also discuss certain issues with the representatives of UNITE in order to remove the misunderstandings. The employees are motivated as their opinions are shared to the management by the representatives of the trade union.

1.2 Assess how changes in trade unionism have affected employee relations.

Trade union exists in the organisation for connecting the employees with the management with an objective to remove the conflicts and misunderstandings. Trade union is the collection of the employees which is formed in order to resolve the conflicts by involving the process associated with the collective bargaining. Formerly trade clubs were there who used to safeguard the interest of the skilled craftsman and later the trend related to the amalgamation and mergers were significant at the second half of the nineteenth century. This has result to the trade unionism and other bodies like trade council for the sake of the employees in the organisation. The rise in the Shop Stewards was also observed where the representatives of the trade unions are unpaid. Memberships for the trade union were rose in the period from 1945 to 2005. But after that it was declined around 7.43 million in the year 2006 as per the Certification officer Annual Report (Alexander and McCorkle, 2015). The reason for the decline in the membership of trade union is due to the policies of the employment, composition of the employment terms and conditions, effects of the legislation etc.

A challenge is there for the trade union UNITES in British Airlines regarding the unpaid overtime. Along with that the job cuts has increased the employee’s motivation and significantly the turnover were drop down around 15%. The representatives of UNITE communicate this matter directly to the management and they haven’t give importance. The issues are also there in the trade union of UNITE due to the less number of members. The reason behind the less numbers is due to the low salary and the part time employees working in British Airlines. The changes in the social and the economic structure are also affecting the employee’s relationships. British Airlines also gives prime importance to the employees by offering shares. This has influenced the employees to become stakeholders in the organisation like British Airlines. All the employees are given chances to share their opinions which have increased their level of commitment at British Airlines (Allred and Raia, 2016). The area of the  Human Resource management  has also increased which involves the demand and the supply of the workforce, training, working environment, performance measurement, designing the responsibilities etc. and that replaces the Personnel Management from the organisation.

1.3 Explain the role of the main players in employee relations.

The players are the bodies or the groups who plays an important part in enhancing the employee’s relations. The activities of those players are significant and that influence the employee’s relation. The main players involved in the employee’s relation are as follows:

1. Employer: The role of the employer like British Airlines in respect of the employee’s relation is to become a great employer by giving employment opportunities and to assure a pay structure that will support their requirements (Andaleeb, 2015). The employer used to identify the issues of the employees and assure to resolve them as fast as possible. The training and development session is organised by the employer like British Airlines in order to clear all the doubts of the employees and share important information in order to remain updated. Health and safety is also given focus which aims to provide safe and secure working environment at British Airlines.
2. Employees: It is the employee’s bonding which results to strengthen the employee’s relations. The groups are there in British Airlines which are formed in order to achieve the departmental targets. The employees follow all the rules and the regulations for maintaining a positive relationship among them. The employees are the strategy implementer of the organisations and they must understand their roles and responsibilities in order to achieve the group targets. Thus it is the employees who form a base towards the employee’s relations.
3. Trade Union: The trade union are the group of members who collectively negotiate with the employer or the management for the protection of the right. UNITE is the trade union present in British Airlines who used to communicate with the management about the issues faced by the members. The management of British Airlines also considers UNITE to be the important part of the organisation in order to increase the motivation and satisfaction level of the employees.
4. Legislation: The Employees Relation Act 1999 gives focus to the individual, family and the collective rights of the employees in order to bring fairness in the organisation. National Minimum Wage 1999 fixes the minimum wage rate of the employees working in the organisations. Amendment was made in the Employees Relation Act 2004 where the revision to the trade union’s recognition and allocation of the funds to make the trade union more effective modern are focused which will strengthen the area related to the employee’s relation (Anderson and Narus, 2010). ACAS and the employment tribunal is also there which gives a clear guideline for the employers.

Task 2

2.1 Explain the procedures for the chosen organisation, should follow when dealing with different conflict situations.

Conflicts are the results arise from the misunderstandings which create a negative relationship among each other (Boselie, 2010). The result of the conflicts sometimes brings disputes, strikes in the organisation which result to the low productivity. But it is the conflict which assists the  business management  of the organisation to understand the effectiveness of the decisions that they have taken. The conflicts that are observed at British Airlines are the job cuts by the management. For this the employees are de-motivated and give less effort which in turn is affecting the productivity of British Airlines.  In this situation the management of British Airlines considers certain steps in order to deal with the conflict situations are as follows:

1. Collaboration: The management of British Airlines believes in collaboration. The management generally conduct a meeting where the representatives of UNITE and employees to share their feedbacks. The management gives priority to those feedbacks and tries to solve the situation as fast as possible. The management also tries to convince the employees and the representatives for such steps in order to cope up with the emergency situations. Thus a collaborative approach is being followed (Brudan, 2010).
2. Empathy: The management works on the area to build positive relationships with the employees in order to motivate them and in turn the productivity will increase. With the positive relationships the employees will be in the position to share their opinions regarding any issues and the management can also freely communicate with the employees. The strong relationship will help to solve the conflict situation that has been observed at British Airlines.
3. Compromise: Compromise is also given focus to resolve the conflict. The management will give reasons for the extra working hours or job cuts at British Airlines and the employees on the other hand will give the views based on the contracts. In this situation the management will compromise such acts and the employees should also support the management to grow the company which in turn will increase the growth opportunities (Caldwell, 2012).

2.2 Explain the key features of employee relations in a selected conflict situation

The success of the organisation is interlinked with the productive performances of the employees. Employees are the members of the organisation whose efforts are aligned with the business objectives and goals. Thus the employees must have a positive relationship among each other which enhance the performance level. The trust should be there among the employees that will improve the relationship and productivity. The management of British Airlines is focusing on the productivity of the organisation in order to boost the turnover and the market share. For that the employees are working for extra hours without any extra pay which have created a situation for conflict with the management. In this situation the key features of the employee relation can work in the following way:

1. Communication: Clear communication between the management and the groups in British Airlines can establish transparency in the system. The misunderstandings or the doubts can be reduced. All the opinions and the feedbacks are needed to be collected in order to understand the reason for the conflict. The group members must also discuss the issue among themselves with a clear communication in order to remove the misunderstandings and doubts. Apart from that the management must also share all the updates with a clear communication to strengthen the employee relations (Farndale, Scullion and Sparrow, 2010).
2. Mediation: The mediation approach must be considered in order to solve the conflicts effectively. The management must conduct a meeting in the presence of the trade unions for solving the issues. In the meetings all the parties must give their opinions to clear their stands. After discussing all the parties must compromise and reach to a point which will be positive for all the parties (Rose, 2014).
3. Trust: There must be a trust between the employees and also with the management. Trust is the factor that can give confidence among the parties involved in the conflict. The employees should have the trust on the management and for that the management have to create such examples which will influence the employees to keep faith and trust on the management.

2.3 Evaluate the effectiveness of procedures used in a selected conflict situation.

The first phase of the negotiation was not effective in case of the British Airways as both the parties (Unite and management) are not ready to compromise. The un-cooperation between the parties is high which failed to achieve the desired result of resolution (Lewis and Thronbory, 2012). The ego between the parties is very much high which can be observed from the statement of Willie Walsh and Tony Woodley. The Chief Executive of British Airways Willie Walsh made a comment that the strikes by the cabin crews are the biggest failure as the management has able to serve 72, 000 customers in a day. He has also ignored the report of Tony Woodley who is the Joint Secretary of Unite. But the second phase of the negotiation was more effective which settled the long disputes effectively. All the parties have shared their interest and they are ready to compromise which is actually needed to solve the critical situation of the British Airways. The members of the Unite have voted in favour of the new deal. Len McCluskey and Keith Williams have solved the dispute by having an effective communication and compromise on both the end. Both the parties are now focused to grow the business of the airlines in order to develop their future growth opportunities. Thus it is the compromise which took the longest disputes towards an end.

Task 3

3.1 Explain the role of negotiation in collective bargaining.

In the workplace an individual employee sharing his/her issues with the management will have low bargaining power. Due to this problem the growth of the trade union was observed where the employees can collectively appeal to the management about their issues. Thus it is the collective bargaining that enhances the individual to bargain jointly in order to influence the management to solve the issues (Lewis and Thronbory, 2012). The management will also consider the issues due to the weightage of the collective bargaining.

Collective bargaining is the bipartite process where the negotiation is done between the management and the employees. Third party intervention is not there in the collective bargaining (Harzing and Pinnington, 2010). Direct discussions are mainly done between the employees and the management in case of collective bargaining. Negotiation takes place from both the parties. For example the union members of Unite will place their demand to the authority of British Airlines regarding the job cuts and employment terms and conditions. The authority will counter the demands of the union members and at last the compromise will take place from both the end in order to resolve the conflict. Thus negotiation plays a vital role in the process of the collective bargaining. In the process of the collective bargaining there are important players who play a major role in the terms of negotiation. A shop steward is the important pillar who is elected by the members of the union in order to carry out the daily process of the activities of a union. The role of shop steward is to represent the union and also assist in the recruitment of the new members for the union. He play a role of a communicator between headquarter and members by informing the members about any new decisions. The issues faced by the employees are communicated to the management by the shop steward. The union officials used to collect the opinions or views from the members of the union and discuss the matter with the shop steward for forwarding it to the management. Apart from that the registration process is being conducted by the officials. The employers’ association like Confederation of British Industry (CBI) plays a vital role in promoting the interest of the business by the function like advising, lobbying and creating network with other business (Hendry, 2012). Lastly is the management who drives to make the business profitable and they will counter the views of the representatives of the union for the sake of the business. Thus the benefits of the negotiation are to solve the conflicts or disputes in an effective way by considering the interest of all the parties. The negotiation solves the issues efficiently by resulting to a win-win situation. All the parties involved in a conflict can get a direction by negotiating with each other. For example the effective negotiation between Len McCluskey and Keith Williams has solved the long conflict of the British Airlines by having an effective communication and compromise on both the end.

3.2 Assess the impact of negotiation strategy for a given situation.

The strategy of negotiation is basically the interaction of the parties involved in the conflicts. There are different types of strategies involved in the process of negotiation which are as follows:

• Competitive strategy: It is the strategy which is aligned with the tendering process where the request for the proposal is being forwarded to the qualified bidding parties. After that a negotiation is done by the authority with all the qualified bidders and selects the one who can give enhanced value. This strategy is not helpful for the conflict situation in British Airways. The management are cutting the jobs in order to strengthen the business units which have created conflict with the union that is Unite.
• Cooperative strategy: It is the  business strategy  used in the negotiation process where there is a high degree of cooperation exists between the parties(Snell and Bohlander, 2010).. For example, there is a conflict between the employees of British Airways and the management regarding the job cuts decision. Initially the strikes were observed which minimises the business turnover of British Airways by 15%. After that cooperative strategy was applied by both the parties in order to settle down the conflicts. This strategy is ideal for the conflict that was observed in British Airways. Cooperation from both the end can only solve the conflict in an effective way. The collaborative strategy for the negotiation enables the sharing of the information from both the end. Resolving the issues by focusing on the win-win situation can be observed from the cooperative strategy. The cooperation from the Unite members and the management team of British Airways solve the long conflict with this conflict and thus it is one of the effective negotiation strategies.

Task 4

4.1 Assess the influence of the EU on industrial democracy in the UK.

• Industrial democracy implies that the workers are considered to be the partners of the organisation and enhance their empowerment in order to take decision. Work committees, suggestions, joint management councils are the methods involved in the industrial democracy. By indirectly the workers are allowed to participate in the decision making process by sending their representatives.
• Co-determination practice of Germany is treated as one of the best practice model. This practice includes the work council and structure that consist of two levels which are administrative and supervisory. It is basically the right enjoyed by the workers as they can participate in the affairs of the management in the company they used to work. In this practice both the interest of the workers and the employers are protected.
• European Work Councils are the bodies that represent the employees of the organisations in Europe. The body used to consult with the management of the organisation regarding the business decisions that can affect the entire working conditions at Europe.
• The treaty on European Union was signed at Maastricht and that was affected from the year 1993. The objectives of this treaty are to enhance the improvement of the effectiveness in the institutions, establishment of the monetary and economic union, focusing on the security policy etc. This treaty has created the EU and accordingly the three pillars were created which are European Communities, foreign and security policy and police (Eur Lex, 2010).
• Information and Consultation Directive gives focus to the consultation and information rights to the employees working in the companies operating in EU. This directive was affected from the year 2005. Information and consultation involves the area like economic situation, structure of the employment, procedures of taking appointment from the management Exchange of the views are also fall under this directive (Eur Lex,2010).

Thus the mechanisms of EU have given a framework which has to be followed in the organisation operating in EU. These mechanisms have created an atmosphere of cooperation and involvement which can increase the productivity of the organisation. As the motivation level will be high among the employees and the management can also convince the employees about their decisions for the sake of the business growth.

4.2 Compare methods used to gain employee participation and involvement in the decision making process in organisations.

• Employee’s participation involves the employees to share their opinions in the decision making process of the organisation(Snell and Bohlander, 2010). It is one of the motivational tools applied by the management of the organisation for increasing the employee’s satisfaction and morale which in turn the efficiency will be improved and conflicts can be reduced. Employee involvement on the other hand focuses on the environment where the employee’s contribution towards the ongoing process of the organisation is effective. It is also a tool applied by the management to increase the productivity of the organisation.
• Representative Participation is one of the methods where the representatives of the union, employees and employers used to seat and discuss on certain issues of the organisation (Boselie, 2010). This is one of the effective forms where all the parties can smoothly give their views regarding the issues and an environment of cooperation is formed. But the negative side can be the involvement of all the employees are restricted which can hamper their opinions.
• Survey of attitude is one of the effective techniques used in the involvement method where the employees can give their views regarding the job evaluation process, performance measurement tools job determination etc. Quality circle can also be applied where the management can get the idea about the issues from a top to down approach with the formation of the groups in the organisation. But the negative side can be the restrictions in the involvement of the some members who possess more knowledge.

4.3 Assess the impact of human resource management on employee relations.

Human Resource Management in relation with the employee relation is focused on the responsibility, communication, involvement, quality, flexibility etc. in order to establish an environment of harmony and unity. The human resource management gives information to the employees about the latest developments in the business situations, training and development needs, change in the work process, new approaches in the work process etc. On the other hand the employees must also communicate their opinions towards the management about the changes. Thus it is an important area to the human resource department of the organisation to enhance the productivity while considering the feedbacks of the employees on the concerned change and decision. The process for the communication must be transparent where the employees must be informed about the changes planned by the management. Transparency in the communication can reduce the chances of misunderstandings and conflict. The management of the British Airways must share all the updates to the employees in order to create a sound working environment in the organisation. Human resource management also give focus to the empowerment where the employees can share their views or opinions towards any decision (Hendry, 2012). The feedbacks from the employees can help the management to understand the situation current mind set of the employees. The management of British Airways can get an idea about the employee’s stand regarding the concerned decision. Participation and involvement can motivate the employees to share their opinions and also increase the productivity of the organisation. But sometimes the high involvement of the employees in the management can give rise to the personal interest which can affect the profitability of the organisation. Thus the management of British Airways must consider the involvement that is depend on the profitability of the organisation.

Conclusion

To conclude this report has given several dimensions of the employee relation. It is the human resource management which focuses on the employee relation in order to maximise the productivity and to reduce the conflicts in the organisation. The effectiveness of the techniques is needed to be assessed in order to adopt it in the practices. The trade unions play a major role in order to communicate the issues of the employees to the management. Transparency in the communication can reduce the chances of misunderstandings and conflict.

References

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