Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Employement Relation: 1. Background
Employement Relation: 1. Background
1. Background:
“It can be classified in several ways, ranging from direct EIP requiring the
Gennard & Judge (2005) explain employee involvement by citing the work of
management, and then these are implemented with the hope to increase
employee information & knowledge about the organisation, and thereby help to
performance. However, Poole & Mansfield (1992) present their point of view
if they do not radically interfere with their control function within the firm.
2005 p181).
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2. Employee relations in UK and china- a comparison:
MNCs increasingly dominate the world’s markets, and are playing a central role
in the globalisation of economic activity. In turn, the internationalisation of
markets for products and services is requiring multinationals to develop new
forms of trans-national management organisation. Among these, the ways in
which MNCs manage their personnel on an international scale are increasingly
viewed as critical to the success of globalising strategies (Bartlett & Ghoshal,
1989).
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Employee relations are about setting a trust among the employees so that they
feel as a part of the family. Since a Chinese MNC has to operate in UK, the
distinguishing factors need to be kept in consideration which might impact our
employee relations strategy.
3.EMPLOYEE RELATIONS:
Before undergoing the discussion and strategy, it is important to know that how
the both HRM practices in chinese and UK firms are different. The cultural
distance between the HRM in China and the Western oriented societies has
been documented by several studies (Hofstede, 1980). It has been found that
there are significant differences. Management cultural values in the UK have
been described as high on individualism, moderately low on both uncertainty
avoidance and power distance, and moderately high on masculinity (Hofstede,
1997). In contrast, Chinese culture has been described as high on power
distance, low on individualism, moderate on uncertainty avoidance and
masculinity, and high on long-term orientation. Thus, there are major differences
in management culture between the two.
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now sanctions a wide set of practices, previously more commonly found in joint
venture firms, such as fixed-term labour contracts, performance-based rewards
systems, as well as greater individual contributions to social security
arrangements (Warner,1993).
4. Avoid conflicts:
Issues of conflict and discipline may not be resolved at local level. Many
countries have mechanisms by which disputes may be taken to an outside body,
usually in the form of industrial tribunals or arbitration bodies.
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In our case we have to minimize the conflicts that may arise due to the
management practice differences. The conflict might arise due to the reasons
stated above.
Kaufman (004) states in his one of the presentation that EI is not a new idea &
He points to the 1920s Shops Councils and Employee World War-I shop
For the sake of this assignment, I would only discuss few option with examples.
a. Consultation:
Good employee relations s the foremost important condition needed for success.
Gennard & Judge (1997) explain that employee involvement schemes can thrive
where both management and employees are willing to be open in their attitude
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and behaviour, operating in a background with no disputes and confrontation;
force.
upon management to make the final decisions but management takes into
account the views of employees before making the decisions. CIPD (2004)
useful interacting tool. It provides a daily online update on news affecting ITV
and there’s a weekly Water cooler for employees who are not online.
support management initiatives. We can use this option as it will lead to direct
b. Communications:
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Other types of communications may include the practises like team briefing,
company newsletter and journals and some times more cost effective options
such as staff suggestion schemes, employee attitude surveys and quality circles.
These surveys can be used to measure the reaction of employees and also see
whether they accept the changes. This form of Employee relations is believed to
be cost effective as companies spend less and also motivate employees through
recognition of their ideas and rewards offered for suggested and implemented
ideas.
Inmarsat Plc.,is one example that has shown a good practice of employee
For some employees, the privatisation brought uncertainty, as there were some
redundancies. There was a low staff morale and motivation, and the company’s
With the help of a specialist the company designed a staff opinion survey that
would bring a reality about the employee attitudes and morale. The
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Before the survey, there was a communication exercise designed to promote
and encourage a high response rate. The company had a target of 70% but the
response rate was 75%. Other surveys followed in 2000 and 2002 with new
2002 survey included staff based at the company’s overseas offices. The
response rate improved to 86% for that survey. This was done by and
problems and brought improvement not only on staff morale and motivation but
Plus,2004)
It can be a motivating tool for employees when the opinions of employee are
known and employees are motivated when they see their problems addressed.
participation.
d. Teams Working :
Self-managed team, save money for the company as they eliminate layers of
management. They can eliminate excess personnel as they “can take on tasks
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Employees are able to get more skills from others in the team.
Financial Participation
This is where the employees share in the ownership and prosperity of the
realised by the organisation. Employees therefore know that for them to gain
aims and objectives and to promote the idea that common interest lies in
maximising company profits. Examples are profit sharing and share ownership
schemes.
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Good employee relations
Resources
Monitoring
Gennard & Judge (1997) explain that employee involvement schemes can
by force.
Resources:
Resources in the form of time, finance and skills are needed for the success of
monitoring of the schemes and it include financial resources, time for meetings,
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Schemes are unlikely to be effective unless top management, is committed to
to see its commitment like through the top management involvement into the
All the planned programs once started should be monitored as well. This
expected desired outputs of the scheme like improved efficiency and quality
are being realised. Gennard & Judge (1997) state that: “Regular monitoring
Conclusion:
The message which employee relations seeks to put across is that people are
important, and taken as the asset. All the types seek to enhance employee
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The success depend mainly on two factors namely, the top management
programs. From the cases and the outline of the assignment it is clear that
conditions for success should be met and that the appropriate type of EI
these conditions once met have improved productivity, uplifted morale and
improved service quality. In the cases we have seen that correct information and
involvement. All such initiatives have resulted in raising the employee morale
and satisfaction.
Involvement, participation and consultation can take many different forms. This
paper looks at current UK experience and identifies examples of best practice,
ranging from team briefings and quality circles, to firms where management and
the workforce have agreed to adopt a “partnership” approach. They show that
best practice takes many different forms, ranging from schemes of direct
manager-to employee communication and involvement, to more formalised,
representative involvement. And they demonstrate that what works best is what
most suits the needs and circumstances of the particular business and its
workforce.
We should try to choose those practices which are suitable in our case and we
need to focus on involving employees more into the organisation. it would help
us in lowering the differences between the two managerial styles. Since the top
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management might be Chinese and UK both, however the staff is UK based,
therefore such schemes are very useful to gain our commitment to work force.
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References:
Bartlett, C., & Ghoshal, S. (1989). Managing across borders. London: Hutchinson.
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