Employee Relationship Management
Employee Relationship Management
Employee Relationship Management
Employee Relationship
Management
2
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
It is combination of Industrial
Relations (IR) and Human
Resource Management (HRM)
It is a much wider concept to
encompass both IR and HRM
9
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
Employee
Development
Employee Employee
Discipline Counseling
11
Open-Door Policy
IR Covers:
Collective Bargaining
Role of management, Unions and
govt.
Industrial disputes and resolution
Grievances and discipline
Labour legislation
16
HISTORY OF INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS CONCEPT
Roots go back to Industrial revolution of late 18th and
early 19th century.
Before that the greater share of economic activity was
in agricultural sector
Impact of Industrial revolution:
Mechanizations
Mass production at low cost
Specialization of functions
Higher capital requirements
Evolution of entrepreneurial elite
Unhygienic, harsh working and living conditions
Increased mobility of workers
17 Human being pivot of this relationship:
Human Control of
resource the labour
management process
Systems
22
Unitary Approach
Systems Theory
Key proponent: Dunlop
Frame of reference: Pluralist
Focus: a general theory of industrial relations
Theory: industrial relations is a sub-system of wider society
with four elements:
(i) actors: employers, employees, their representatives,
government agencies
(ii) environmental contexts: technology, market, budgets,
distribution of power
(iii) procedural and substantive rules governing the actors
(iv) binding ideology, common beliefs encouraging actors
to compromise
38
THEORIES OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS (3)
Scientific Management
Key proponent: Taylor
Frame of reference: Unitarist
Focus: Use and control of labour
Reference to industrial relations: Implicit
Theory: system of management maximising output by greatest technical
efficiency of work methods, achieved by:
(i) unchallenged management powers to allocate work tasks
(ii) managers relationship with employees is rational and objective
(iii) managers treat workers impersonally and collectively
(iv) work tasks reduced to basics for low-skilled, low-paid
employees in assembly line production
(v) employees are chosen to suits the tasks to be performed
(vi) employees given training in best work methods
(vii) employees motivated by incentive payment schemes
40
THEORIES OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS (4)
Trusteeship theory
Key proponent: Mahatma Gandhi
Focus: non-violent industrial relations
Theory: He insisted on recognizing each individual as a
human being. Believed in non-violent means. Laid down
rules for strike:
The cause of strike must be just, not without grievance
There should be no violence
Non-strikers should never be molested.
According to him, employees should regard themselves as
trustees or co-owners and employees should also regard
themselves as trustees and protect the mill and machinery and
put them to better use.
41
THREE PARTIES OF IR
‘Employer’ (Management)
‘Workers/Employees’ (Trade Unions)
The ‘State’ (Government). State plays 2 roles:
Employer of Civil Servants
Supposedly a neutral body/third party???
Does industrial harmony between the three actors can be
easily achieve particularly between employees and
management?.
To moderate their conflict, the interference of the
government is crucial. Government influence the
relationship by introducing rules and regulations and some
code of industrial harmony.
42
SUMMARY
The approaches to industrial relations highlights
conflict between trade unions and employers:
– Need to move beyond this limited view.
– Theory provides a guide to understanding the
relationship between the parties in the
employment relationship.
Three types of theories are introduced in this
chapter:
– pluralist/neo-institutionalist
– unitarist/HRM
– Marxist/labour-process theory.