Two internal and two external factors that impact on the employment relationship
Two internal factors affecting employee relations include the management style and activities of the union.
In this case, the management style that the company adopts will increase integration among workers or cause conflict between them and the workers. The management approach that the company used enhanced internal relationships and unique employment status of each worker. Moreover, the employment status determined the monetary rewards, which the company offered to its employees.
The activities of the union in a company may also affect employee relationships. Sometimes, union demands and the workers’ interests cannot be met by the organization. In such cases, if the union calls for industrial actions to solve the worker’s grievances, some workers could betray their colleagues by secretly reporting to work during the agitation. In addition, some union members could be serving their interests, thus not articulating the worker’s demands, a situation that could cause division among the employees.
Alternatively, the two external factors that impact employee relations include policies/law and industry sector.
Concerning law or policies, the UK Government over the years has developed policies which influenced the workers’ relations and growth of the business (Allen, 2010). This has led to the improvement of relationships among employees in the company and most powerhouses in almost all industries in the country. This has led to the growth of the business in the region due to increased workers’ integration. For instance, London has also developed as a global business hub because the workers have learned to work in harmony within the workplaces (Allen, 2010). In the country’s policy framework, the rules and regulations regarding the setting up of new businesses in the country are simple and suit most organizations.
Regarding the sector, the industry in which the company falls plays a crucial role in ensuring that the employees work in cohesion. Therefore, supporting the recommended industry sector practices, such as accountability and integrity, has increased the workers’ confidence and relationships in the company.
The types of employment statuses and their importance
The main employment statuses include the worker, the employee and self-employed.
- A worker is a person who fulfills daily duty requirements, either hired on daily or for a fixed term to help in the production system. His or her contribution to the company is significant because the worker helps reduce the workload so that the organization could achieve its objectives.
- An employee is a person who has a regular term of reference in the company, thus able to enjoy the full benefits of the employment contract. The employee contributes to the improvement of the production system without leaving a vacuum.
- A self-employed person is the individual carrying out his or her businesses, without being subjected to another person’s rules. Self-employment increases specialization and the desire to succeed in advancing the quality of service offered in the company. In addition, it promoted the employment status of a person.
The importance of work-life balance and how it can be influenced by legislation
Work-life balance made the employees’ duties very simple and ensured that the workers had enough time to rest. The reason for this view is that through work-life balance, as provided in the UK law, the employee is given adequate time to enjoy their annual leave, adequate time to work, maternity leave, paternity leave, Statutory sick pay, medical suspension, trade union membership, and time for dependant care. Essentially, legislation influenced the company’s management because it provided absolute authority for the managers to exercise some powers on the employees. The legislation is also important because it defined the relationship among workers and their families, thus it promoted employee relations.
Four areas of legal support that may be given to the employee as a family member
The four areas included maternity and paternity, working hours, salary, and hygienic working.
- Cases of maternity and paternity leaves were some of the areas where legal assistance was to be given to the workers. It was practical because it acted as a way of respecting the employee’s family obligations, ensuring that the workers were allowed to take care of their children at a young age (Pettigrew & Whipp, 2009). Giving maternity and paternity leave should be done without any form of prejudice so that it could promote the workers based on their qualification and experience.
- In order to effectively support good practice in managing employee relations, the workers’ activities, in terms of hours on duty have to be coordinated to efficiency. Also, harmonizing working hours helps in goal accomplishment. When working hours are harmonized according to the employees’ interest, the company can minimize cases of workers’ unruliness.
- Under employees’ salary, the need for legal assistance was paramount because the workers had to be awarded an increase in their remuneration.
- Regarding hygienic working condition, the company used a number of ways to ensure that the workers performed their duties in a clean and safe environment.
For example, the company used policies and outlined clear goals, which help in achieving the recommended standards of cleanliness in the workplace. Moreover, standardization increased the worker’s morale, leading to the manufacturing of quality goods acceptable globally (Pettigrew & Whipp, 2009). As a result, the employees learned to live and work with one another in the hygienic environment.
The reasons why employees should be treated fairly when setting payments
- Treating the employee fairly motivated them to increase their morale and spirit at work. Not only had the workers pronounced such enhanced spirits, but also increased their flexibility, and identified with the use of technology to promote tour facilities (Robbins & Judge, 2009).
- The second reason was to make sure that the workers complied with the law. Despite the generation’s argument that the financial incentives were justified for their short-term and immediate impact on teamwork actions, fair treatment increased their adherence to the company laws. In this regard, fair treatment was more effective than other ways of motivating individuals since the workers felt valued.
Four areas of discrimination legislation
The areas, which showed disparity and discrimination of legislation included race, salaries, sex, and disability.
- From the perspective of workers, employment was not fairly distributed among the employees based on race. For example, the company used formal hierarchy as a form of work coordination without adhering to racial equity. In this case, it applied direct supervision where the workers’ performance was closely monitored by the supervisor as their immediate boss. The later had racial biases in articulating his duties, thus necessitated legal intervention. Notably, the hierarchy ensures that the leader is directly responsible for the activities of people under him/her, but answerable to the immediate boss. Therefore, racial barriers posted a great challenge in the articulation of roles.
- Second, salaries were not paid fairly to the workers. The use of discriminative salary for workers in most of its departments due to matters of technicality, thus resolving the issue was another way of improving employee relations.
- Sex was not a major consideration when employing workers, thus necessitated legal intervention. The input of different people regardless of sex was very important if meaningful success had to be achieved by the company. For technical cases in the industry where a particular gender could pose a challenge, teams, and team working form the best strategy for making conclusive and reliable decisions on the best course of action the company might take to avert a looming problem was necessary. Therefore, in such cases, sex was a major consideration and it needed legal intervention.
- Employment and benefit awards were not based on the person’s disability, therefore the company was discriminative. Such practices reduced workers morale and led to poor output, thus needed legal intervention.
The good practice that forms the basis of the organizational policies and contributed to the psychological contract
In this situation, employee relationship was a specific practice to the company because it encouraged organizational values, which the workers were expected to uphold. In essence, it was embedded in the organizational policies, thus bounded the workers and defined their relationships. The practice was integrity that employees were expected to uphold. Also, the company used its organizational culture to formulate the policies and identity of the work performance that has driven to an advanced level.
The company’s policy that promoted workers relations originated from the specialization of the employees. The policy also encouraged the workers to improve their performance so that they could increase the amount of production and its quality. Basically, this enhanced particular awareness and development of expertise in the workers’ areas of interest and profession in executing their duties.
The differences between fair and unfair dismissals
Fair dismissal comes when an employee breaks a legal contract that he/she signed with the management. It is justified in an organization. For instance, if a worker failed to deliver on the promised, he/she would be deemed incapable of working in the organization and could be dismissed.
On the other hand, unfair dismissal arises from perceived personal or psychological differences between an employee and his or her boss, inconsistent approach to a problem, unreasonable response, failure by the authority to provide sufficient notice to the employee, and insufficient time to correct shortcomings. Even though it is not acceptable, some leaders always perpetuate the act. In cases of unfair dismissal, the company must be liable to pay for the damages and inconveniences.
In order to make sure that the process of dismissals was fair, the procedural structure and design that the company applied improved its efficiency and effectiveness. Often, the organization used a comparative approach to choosing the best alternative. Besides, the comparison is also through the analysis of the data from other regions (Senior & Swailes, 2010). In this approach that the company used, it has managed to create workable structures and proper employee coordination and relations in the management of the company affairs.
The importance of exit interviews with both parties
Exit interviews are important because they help the organization ascertain whether the dismissal and its procedure were fair or unfair. They help the organization find out the cause of employee departure and ways to minimize the same. In such cases, the interviews help the organizations correct the issues, which cause employee dissatisfaction. Similarly, the interviews assist the affected person to realize his or her mistakes and avoid committing similar offenses in the future (Keast & Towler, 2009).
Such interviews also help the organizations estimate the amount of money to compensate the dismissed employee, depending on the cause and nature of contract termination. Notably, the interviews are also appropriate for a person who resigns.
In essence, exit interviews need teamwork so that they can be accomplished fairly. Teamwork in the company is very essential because sometimes the majority of the people in the team may be motivated by generation factors, such as the self-fulfillments of the duties. Such people should be allowed to fulfill their dreams and inculcate such skills in running their affairs. In the company, the technology is related to duties that some of the employees do, such as maintaining the company website are conducted in close consideration with other teams. Notably, the work characterizes the modern generation. However, the formal hierarchical system of work coordination in conducting the exit interview was slow, costly and generally not acceptable to some of the dismissed employees.
The key stages to be followed in managing redundancies
Essentially, redundancies are stressful to the company or individual employee thus should be adequately managed. As outlined in this case, the major stages of managing include the following. First, the company has to identify the pools and number of posts to be made redundant. Second, consult employees. Third, notify department business skills & innovation in large scale redundancies. Fourth, use objective selection criteria. Fifth, carry out offer suitable alternative work. Sixth, invite selected employees to the individual consultation meeting. Seventh, comply with statutory dismissal procedures. Eighth, invite volunteers to assist where possible. Ninth, give the opportunity to appeal. Tenth, make statutory or other redundancy payment. Finally, follow the recommended statutory dismissal procedure.
References
Allen, K. (2010). Britain Top in Europe for Attracting Foreign Investment. London: Guardian.
Keast, S. & Towler, M. (2009). Rational decision making. Chichester: Wiley Publishers.
Pettigrew, A. & Whipp, R. (2009). Managing change for competitive success. New York, NY: Blackwell Publishers.
Robbins, S. & Judge, T. (2009). Essentials of organizational behavior. New York, NY: Pearson Education, Publishers.
Senior, B. & Swailes, S. (2010). Organizational change (4th Ed.). Harlow: FT Prentice Publishers.