Employee Relations

What is Employee Relations 

Employee relation refers to the exertions an organization does to accomplish good relationship between employers and employee (Buller, and McEvoy, 2012). It helps an organization to maintain positive relationship with their employees that drives the loyalty of employees toward their organization. Employees become more engaged in their work when they have constructive relation with their employers. The performers of employee relation are employers, government, shareholders, employee etcetera and employee is one of the significant performer among them.

 

 Figure 1, Source; Pyjamal HR written by Promita Sanyal

What are the Different Types of Employee Relations?

Vertical Employee Relations

To put it simply, both vertical and horizontal employee relations are hierarchical in nature. This means that the manager and employee relationship is vertical. Because of these restrictions, an employee-manager relationship is distinct from other types of relationships. Supervisors should make an effort to be kind, communicative, understanding, and supportive of their staff members. Supervisors must realize that they don't have to seek approval from their staff members; instead, they should be adaptable and receptive to fresh perspectives. In an ideal workplace, there is a narrow line that must be avoided between a manager and an employee.

Horizontal Employee Relations

Relationships between team members or workers at the same level within the organization are known as internal employee relations. Water cooler conversations amongst coworkers make for excellent examples of horizontal employee interactions. Despite not being on the same team or even in the same vertical, these individuals have deep bonds since they have informal discussions several times a day. Proactive HR specialists can map horizontal employee interactions to identify key personnel in the company who might not be ranked highly in the hierarchy.

Importance of Employee Relations

• Better employee engagement : For small and medium business owners and managers, increasing employee engagement can be difficult. Employees can be empowered to feel like they belong and have worth at work, even though the majority of them are probably not as involved in the company as the owner is.When employees feel respected and valued, they will likely respond and contribute positively
• Improved employee productivity: Enhanced productivity is an inevitable outcome of higher employee engagement and happiness. Positive work environments almost always result in increased outputs and better quality work. Organizations with highly engaged employees have revenues that are more than twice as high over a three-year period, according to a review of organizational performance across companies.
• Higher employee retention: For the company, a high employee turnover rate results in needless expenses for hiring and training. One of the numerous elements that contributes to higher employee retention rates is improved employee relations. An essential component of good employee relations is open communication, which helps to maintain staff members' motivation and engagement. 
• Greater employee empowerment: Employee empowerment is one of the many benefits that are interconnected. When working toward shared objectives in an environment that fosters personal growth and development, employees are more likely to act responsibly and have a favorable attitude about their job. It is clear that employee satisfaction, engagement, and empowerment are related.
• Greater employee satisfaction: The two are correlated: employee engagement and satisfaction. An employee's production is impacted by the intangible quality of job satisfaction in a number of ways. Contented workers are more likely to stick with their current position, make more positive contributions, and are less prone to start arguments and cause disruptions at work. In addition to being uncomfortable and distracting, conflict depletes enthusiasm and energy at work, which lowers productivity. 

 Employee Relations Issue

• Workplace safety
• Attendance 
• Wage
• Hours Worked
• Harassment
• Communication Problems
• Conflict Resolution

 Strategies to Improve Employee Relations

• Encourage individuals to share their work with each other
• Encourage effective communication among the team members
• Morning meeting is another effective way to improve the relation among the employees
• Involve your team members
• Assign them targets and ask all your team members to contribute equally and achieve the target within the desired time frame

Employee Relation Strategy and Planning

The 5e Model

At Mapien we believe developing and deploying an effective employee relations strategy requires careful assessment of the current state. And engaging a client’s senior leadership team is the first step .Moving through Mapien’s 5e model ensures employee relations issues are unpacked and considered in the formulation of the ideal future state.

Figure 2, Source; Mapien

Top Companies With the Best Employee Relations

• Take-Two Interactive Software
• L2
• Ultimate Software
• Placemeter
• Good Apple Digital
• Esri
• Virgin
• Google

Figure 3, Source; EM360

Conclusion

Employee engagement is attracting a great deal of interest from employers across numerous sectors. In some respects it is a very old aspiration – the desire by employers to find ways to increase employee motivation and to win more commitment to the job and the organization. In some ways it is ‘new’ in that the context within which engagement is being sought is different. One aspect of this difference is the greater penalty to be paid if workers are less engaged than the employees of competitors, given the state of international competition and the raising of the bar on efficiency standards. A second aspect is that the whole nature of the meaning of work and the ground rules for employment relations have shifted.

References

Buller, P. F., & McEvoy, G. M. (2012). Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening line of sight. Human Resource Management Review, 22(1), 43–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2011.11.002

5E Model, developed in 1987 by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1058007.pdf

 HireQuotient https://www.hirequotient.com/hr-glossary/employee-employer-relationship

Employee relation 2015 Dec 21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_btNIdvEfo&t=15s