Employee Relations Strategies Research Articles

Board responsibilities, reactions to ED malfeasance depend on circumstances, experts say

Nonprofit boards have a number of responsibilities, one of which is to oversee the performance and conduct of the organization's executive director (ED). If the ED is suspected of engaging in financial impropriety or some other type of malfeasance—for example, sexual harassment of staff—the board is required to take action. But what action it should take, exactly, isn't always clear and can depend on the circumstances, according to Suzanne Benoit of Benoit Consulting, a provider of human resources and employee relations strategy and services.

Appropriate steps in response to ED malfeasance depend on circumstances, experts say

One of the most fundamental responsibilities of nonprofit boards is to oversee the performance and conduct of the organization's executive director (ED). And if the ED is suspected of engaging in some sort of malfeasance—whether financial impropriety, sexual harassment of staff or something else—the board is required to take action. But what action it should take, exactly, isn't always clear and can depend on the circumstances, according to Suzanne Benoit of Benoit Consulting, a provider of human resources and employee relations strategy and services.

Employee relations strategies and its effects on employees’ performance in the higher institutes of commerce and management (HICM) of The University of Bamenda

The main aim of this article was to examine employee relations Strategy and its effect on Employees’ performance in the Higher Institutes of Commerce and Management. To accomplish this task, the mixed research approaches were used. The techniques used in analyzing qualitative data was Thematic Content Analysis while the descriptive statistics was used to analyze the quantitative data with the SPSS software version 23.0. A sample of 100 respondents were selected in this study using the random sampling technique. Both primary and the secondary data was used. After analyzing the data, the results show that the workers relation techniques have a positive effect on employees’ performance. A unit increase in the workers relation techniques will increase the performance of employees by 0.856, significant at 1 percent. After testing our hypothesis, it can be concluded that, employee relations strategy has a great effect on employees’ performance in The Higher Institutes of Commerce and Management. At the end, it was recommended that All staff of the university should be treated equally to avoid situations where some staff members feel left out, Effective communication should be encouraged at the level of central administration down to the faculty level and Promotions and end of year awards to meritorious workers be regularly done. Irrespective of the above results, this research still has a lot of limits coming from the methodology, time, respondents and geographical location.

Employee Relations Strategy in Increasing The Work Motivation of Employees of PT. Esaputlii Prakarsa Utama Barru Regency

This study aims to determine the development of an industrial relations strategy program as an effort to increase employee motivation and to determine the condition of the organizational communication climate that exists between management and employees at PT. Main Initiative Esaputlii. This study used descriptive qualitative method. The results showed that PT. Esaputlii Prakarsa Utama has succeeded in carrying out the industrial relations program because it has received a fairly good response from employees as well as employees who are quite satisfactory through programs, special events programs, award programs, and internal communication media programs. Likewise with the organizational communication climate applied by PT. Esaputlii Prakarsa Utama with behavior that shows to the core, warm but still responsible.

The role of the state in influencing work conditions in China's internet industry: Policy, evidence, and implications for industrial relations

While there is growing scholarly interest in work conditions in China's internet industry, many studies have focused exclusively on corporate employment relations strategies. By contrast, the article demonstrates the Chinese government's significant role in shaping the collective work experience in business reality. Drawing on three months of fieldwork in China, the findings suggest that the state's quest for technology supremacy has resulted in internet companies that compete ferociously, which in turn causes extreme working hours and burnout. The censorship of online labour activism and the ambiguity in court decisions also lower the interest of tech workers in organising and defending their labour rights. This study opens up an evidence-based debate on industrial relations in contemporary China and calls for more discussions on the state's role in shaping worker well-being and protection.

A study on significance of Employees-Employer relations and its effects on organizational development with special reference to steel Industrial units in Trichy

The study was carried out to establish the effect of employee relations on organization development. The findings of the study indicated that to a great extent Trichy Steel Roll mills organization practices employee relations. This study shows that Some Components of employee relations in this organization were identified. Finally, the researcher found out that employee relations strategies improve organizational development. Employees are ever ready to make an extra effort if they are satisfied with strategic decisions of their organizations. Employees give importance to employers for their communication procedures that affect their efficiency and motivation level. Employee relations create competitive advantage over competitors. Significance of Employee relations was also discussed in this paper. 100 samples were selected at three categories from sample industry for the study.

Employee Relations Strategies and Performance of Water and Sewerage Service Provider in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Employee relations is one of the key fundamental elements of organizational performance, prosperity and sustainability. Since good employee relations results in a highly committed, motivated and loyal employees there is need for organizations to develop strategies that will improve performance. Employee relations strategy involves decisions and actions made by the management affecting the way in which the organization relates with its employees. The general objective of this study was to establish the effect of employee relations strategies on the performance of Water and Sewerage service providers in Nairobi Kenya. The Water and Sewerage service provider under study was Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company, Kenya owing to the fact that it is the largest service provider both in Nairobi and Kenya based on customer base and revenue turnover hence the findings were generalized to the entire population. The study was guided by the following specific objectives; to examine the effect of employee welfare, communication, employee participation and grievance resolution mechanism on the performance of Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company, Kenya. The study was anchored on four theories; unitarist, pluralist, system and process theories. The study employed a descriptive design. The target respondents were 3534 staff cutting across all cadres. Stratified random sampling was applied to select 10% of respondent from each stratum of; senior managers, middle level managers, supervisors and support staff thus sample population was 354.Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and the results presented in tables. The study found that employee welfare, communication, employee participation and grievance resolution as components of employee relations strategies significantly influence organizational performance at Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, Kenya and therefore various strategies to strengthen these components of employee relations strategies should be explored and put in place. The multiple regression analysis results indicated that variations in employee relations strategies discussed that is; employee welfare, communication, employee participation and grievance resolution explains 54.8% of the variations on organization performance at Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company Kenya meaning the other employee relations strategies for training, recruitment among others that influence performance of Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company. The study recommended that a similar study should be carried out in various organizations in other sectors of the economy to complement the findings.
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EFFECT OF WORK PLACE ENVIRONMENT ON EMPLOYEE RETENTION IN SELECTED SUPERMARKETS IN KENYA.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of work place environment on employees’ retention in selected supermarkets in Kenya. The study specifically sought to determine the effects of job satisfaction, employee relations, employees occupational health and safety and working conditions on employees’ retention in selected supermarkets in Kenya.Methodology: The study will adopt a descriptive research design. The study was undertaken in three selected supermarkets in Kenya notably; Tuskys supermarkets; Naivas supermarkets and Choppies supermarkets. The target population comprised of a total of 1500 staff working in the three selected supermarkets in Kenya. These included; 640 staff at Tuskys supermarkets 560 staff at Naivas supermarkets and 300 staff at Choppies supermarkets. The study adopted a stratified random sampling technique to select 316 respondents as the sample size for the study. Questionnaires were used as the main data collection instruments and a pilot study was conducted to pretest questionnaires for reliability. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the gathered data and the results were presented on tables, figures and graphs.Results: The study findings indicated that, job satisfaction, employee relations, employees’ occupational health and safety and working conditions were the key effects of work place environment that affected employees’ retention in selected supermarkets in Kenya. The study concluded that, commitment, employees’ motivation and rewards are key aspects of employee job satisfaction which influences employee turnover rates in supermarkets. The study further concluded that job satisfaction the key factor that affects employee’s retention most in supermarkets, followed by occupational health and safety, then working conditions with and lastly employee relations.Contribution to policy and practice: The study recommended that to improve on the level of employee job satisfaction, the supermarket management should offer the employee with good remuneration packages, recognize and reward the high performing employees. The supermarket management should adopt effective employee relations strategy through application of effective communication channel, use of effective conflict resolution methods, encouraging team building activities and providing better working conditions. The supermarket management should implement effective work safety procedures, increase the level of compliance with health and safety policies, implement effective work hazards and risks control methods and implement safety measures to avoid employee exposure to illness and accidents. The finally recommended that the supermarkets management should provide employees with favorable hours of work, provide flexible work schedule, increase on the employee work life balance and provide good work facilities.

An Effective Line Management System to Develop Strong Employee Relations Strategy

An Effective Line Management System to Develop Strong Employee Relations Strategy

Employee Relations Strategy: Implication for Performance in Lagos State University, South-West, Nigeria

The incessant industrial action, strike, boycotting among workers in the educational sector especially in the public universities is becoming a worrisome phenomenon. This paper examined the impact of employee relations strategy (Organizational policies, Promotion, Equity, Recognition and Mentoring) on job performance in Lagos State University, Southwest, Nigeria. A model was developed and tested using One hundred and thirty six (136) copies of valid questionnaire, which were completed by staff in the State owned university, Lagos, Nigeria. Structural Equation Modeling was adopted to test the hypotheses and relationships that might exist among variables. Results of the analysis indicates that equity, promotion, mentoring and recognition have positive influence on employees’ performance. While in the opposite direction, organizational policies have negative and insignificant effect on job performance which suggest that increase in employees’ performance will require that managers pay more attention to friendly organizational policies.

Çalışan İlişkileri Stratejisi: Lagos Devlet Üniversitesi, Güney-Batı, Nijerya’da Performans Çıkarımı

The incessant industrial action, strike, boycotting among workers in the educational sector especially in the public universities is becoming a worrisome phenomenon. This paper examined the impact of employee relations strategy (Organizational policies, Promotion, Equity, Recognition and Mentoring) on job performance in Lagos State University, Southwest, Nigeria. A model was developed and tested using One hundred and thirty six (136) copies of valid questionnaire, which were completed by staff in the State owned university, Lagos, Nigeria. Structural Equation Modeling was adopted to test the hypotheses and relationships that might exist among variables. Results of the analysis indicates that equity, promotion, mentoring and recognition have positive influence on employees’ performance. While in the opposite direction, organizational policies have negative and insignificant effect on job performance which suggest that increase in employees’ performance will require that managers pay more attention to friendly organizational policies.

The plebeians rehearse the uprising

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of rising concerns about income inequality on the reputation of large global employers. In an era in which middle class incomes have stagnated for several decades, the continuing decline of labor unions seems paradoxical. The paper suggests that the impassivity of the workforces of the developed countries may be coming to an end and that thoughtful employers can and should be doing more to address the needs of their employees from both a benefits and job satisfaction perspective. Otherwise, they may face renewed repetitional threats that could translate into regulatory penalties. Design/methodology/approach – The paper cites evidence of an increasing concern about income inequality in the developed economies and examines best practices in employee relations from a number of leading corporations to suggest ways in which companies can manage new repetitional threats relating to the way they manage their employees. Findings – The paper provides insights into three strategies that well-managed companies can adopt with respect to their employee relations: they can become leader brands, consistently pursuing employee benefits strategies at the cutting edge; they can develop a distinctive employee investment strategy; or they can create workplaces focused from innovation from the bottom up. Research limitations/implications – Due to the anecdotal nature of the evidence adduced to suggest best practices in employee relations, further research needs to be done to examine the question presented in a more empirical fashion. Practical implications – The employee relations strategies described can be deployed by any corporation seeking to create a new employee compact with its employees to safeguard its reputation and be perceived as a builder, rather than despoiler, of communities. Social implications – Concerns about income inequality and its negative impact on the social fabric are being voiced by leading voices in the business community. If the strategies recommended in the paper are adopted broadly, this could have a significant impact on the regeneration of struggling communities. Originality/value – Although substantial attention has been devoted to the subject of income inequality from an economic perspective, there is very little in the literature that addresses income inequality from the viewpoint of its impact on corporate reputation and the threat of future anti-business government action.

Mutual gains or mutual losses? Organisational fragmentation and employment relations outcomes at Qantas Group

While previous studies indicate the commercial benefits for airlines from either ‘high road’ or ‘low road’ employment relations approaches, there is limited evidence of success among organisations utilising a ‘hybrid’ model involving differentiated arrangements with different workforce segments. In analysing the processes and outcomes associated with strategic change at Qantas Group, this article examines the reasons why organisations adopt hybrid employment relations arrangements and the outcomes associated with this approach. Drawing upon the strategic negotiations and employment subsystems frameworks, we find that hybrid strategies emerge under the influence of product market pressures and institutional forces. In the Qantas Group case, these factors combined to inhibit the capacity of management to pursue either low road or high road strategies, resulting in differentiated and fragmented arrangements. The case highlights the potential risks of hybrid employment relations strategies for worker commitment, workplace conflict and organisational performance, with implications for human resource management scholarship and practice.

Strategi Employee Relations Untuk Meningkatkan Kinerja Karyawan Dan Citra Pada PT Kereta Api (Persereo)

PT Kereta Api (Persero) is a state-owned company engages in the ground transportation service. To maintain the existence and compete with other transport services is required to provide optimum service to the community as the train service users to be satisfied with the services provided by doing a variety of efforts to improve the quality of service for rail service users through various strategies. One of them is an employee relations strategy to improve employee performance and company image, because the employees are the spearhead of a company that have an important role for the progress of the company. This study aims to determine the program or employee relations activities organized by public relations to improve employee performance and image of the PT Kereta Api (Persero), to see the strategy and planning of public relations and employee relations programs especially to improve employee performance and company image, to know the media used and the constraints in the implementation of employee relations programs. The method used in this study is a descriptive qualitative research, it is conducted by collecting factual information that describes existing phenomena, and then identified in order to get a description that can be evaluated. Formulation data with interviews conducted with resource persons, observation and literature study. Based on the research conducted, it can be seen employee relations strategies that run on PT Kereta Api (Persero) is divided into programs that consist of various activities, including program management and development of quality human resources, employee welfare programs, socialization programs corporate culture, achievement motivation programs, special events programs, and internal communications media programs. The results from studies show that employee relations strategies in the PT Kereta Api (Persero) have been regarded as fairly successful run because it gives a fairly good response from the employee, be accepted by the employee and the employee has been satisfied with the various activities organized by public relations at PT Kereta Api (Persero). Public Relations of PT Kereta Api (Persero) play a role in establishing and maintaining good relations and mutual understanding between the company and public so that can create a positive image of the company. For that reasons employee relations should be established well in order to provide satisfactory service to customers. The most important element in employee relations is communication employees.

Flying high and low? Strategic choice and employment relations in Qantas and Jetstar

This paper examines the strategic choices made by Qantas Airways, a full-cost legacy airline, and its low-cost carrier, Jetstar, regarding employment relations in the context of increasingly competitive market pressures. Initially these airlines pursued divergent employment relations strategies. As the external environment became more turbulent, these employment strategies began to converge. Both airlines have adopted a hybrid approach to employment relations which is crucial in determining whether the Qantas group can survive the current turbulence in the aviation industry which threatens to the long-term viability of the airline. This research identifies the strategic role that employment relation strategies play in establishing a sustainable business model for airlines that are comprised of both a legacy and low-cost airline.

Strategic Choices in Pluralist and Unitarist Employment Relations Regimes: A Study of Australian Telecommunications

Using interview data collected between 1992 and 2009, the authors explore how deregulation of the Australian telecommunications sector and re-regulation of the labor market affected employment relations (ER) strategies at Telstra, Australia's former telecommunications monopoly. Labor market re-regulation reversed much of the previous institutional support for union activity, and unions struggled to adjust to this changed institutional context. Telstra's ER strategies included large-scale downsizing and outsourcing. It moved dramatically toward unitarist (anti-union) ER approaches, with a shift away from collective bargaining toward individual employment contracts. This history raises a more general question of the extent to which employers make strategic ER choices autonomously and the extent to which such choices reflect the influence of the national institutional context. The authors conclude that while the changing institutional context—in this case, primarily government regulation—facilitated Telstra's strategic choices, management ideology was an important intervening variable in determining such choices.

REGULATION AND EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS IN AGED CARE

As Australia's population ages, the provision of aged care is gaining economic, social and political significance. The increasing importance of aged care is reflected in a number of recent government inquiries into the sector and some notable research into its regulation. However, academic investigation into employment relations in the residential aged care sector has been scarce. Even less attention has been paid to the employment relations strategies of residential aged care providers and the forces and pressures which shape them. This article seeks to address that gap by reporting on research which identifies those forces and pressures on a specific provider in New South Wales residential aged care. It does so utilising regulation theory to argue that despite significant changes to the formal industrial relations framework, most recently through Work Choices, labour regulation is not the most significant factor shaping the employment relations decisions of employers in residential aged care. Labour law represents but one element in a diverse and intersecting web of regulations. Combined, these create the ‘regulatory space’ within which aged care providers make decisions about employment relations.

Management and Employment-Relations Strategies in the Airline Industry: Perspectives on Asia, Australia and the Middle East

This chapter discusses the variety of approaches to the management of people in airlines from the Asia / Pacific / Middle East region in the face of increasing deregulation. We identify key differences between the institutional environment for airlines in the US versus those in Asia-Pacific nations and discuss their competitive implications. Then we describe the competitive and employment relations strategies of seven airlines (both incumbents and new entrants) from four countries. We note that incumbent airlines show little change to their basic employment paradigm, despite major restructuring efforts. New entrants show more variety, both in their approach to union relationships and their approach to relations with employees. However, we find that none of these airlines fully matches the model of Southwest Airlines, one of the world‘s most successful airlines, and suggest that there may be unexploited opportunities to turn employment relationships into a source of advantage.

Employment relations in liberal market economy airlines

PurposeThis paper aims to evaluate the institutional complementarity thesis, which anticipates that the institutional context of the firm will have a considerable influence on the choice and success of employment relations strategies. Focusing on two liberal market economies, the paper presents analysis of secondary data from the US airline industry and primary data from UK civil aviation to assess the power of the institutional context on employment relations.Design/methodology/approachSecondary data were drawn from trade journals, newspaper reports and other civil aviation information sources such as the Civil Aviation Authority database. Primary data collection involved interviews with airline management, officials at the British Air Line Pilots Association, and pilots. A large‐scale questionnaire survey of pilots was also conducted.FindingsIn both liberal market economies airlines have adopted a range of employment relations strategies, which demonstrates the robustness of strategic management choice. Moreover, in both the UK and the USA, airlines with institutionally complementary employment relations strategies performed less well over a range of measures than their counterparts with employment relation strategies more closely aligned with coordinated market economies.Originality/valueThe findings identify best practice in the management of people in the airline industry and build a business case for cooperating with employees and their trade unions.

Management strategies in the Czech telecommunications sector: a comparative study of Český Telecom and T-Mobile

This article compares employment relations (ER) strategies at the incumbent fixed line Czech telecommunications company (TelCo), Český Telecom (ČT), and the T-Mobile subsidiary, T-Mobile Czech Republic (TMCZ). It considers the extent to which the firms were able to introduce Western-style HRM practices within the context of three changing dynamics. First, the collapse of communism in the former Czechoslovakia was followed by rapid economic liberalization and privatization in the Czech Republic. Second, telecommunications sectors worldwide were subject to deregulation and the rapid diffusion of new technologies. Third, fixed line and mobile TelCos were subject to differing challenges and opportunities. The article uses path dependency, institutionalist and strategic human resource management (SHRM) related theories to assist in this analysis. It concludes that by 2005 the introduction of Western-style HRM practices into the Czech telecommunications sector appeared less constrained by former institutional and historical constraints. TMCZ's ER policies were further influenced by its parent firm's transnational strategies that sought to coordinate better its subsidiaries and create a ‘global’ brand. Despite the differing circumstances of the fixed line and mobile sectors, by 2005 ER practices and strategies at the two firms were to an extent converging, as ČT continued to cut costs and TMCZ adjusted its strategies to better accommodate a saturated market. Given these changes the article postulates that the Czech telecommunications sector has now shifted towards a mature transformation stage, as ER strategies increasingly reflect Western-based SHRM practices and concepts.