Employment Relations Individual Essay

Attainment of organizational objectives is a mutual task of the employer and the employees. Both parties have specific roles to perform and benefits that arise from completing their tasks efficiently. Employee relationship plays a vital role in realizing these goals. This relationship denotes the cooperation between the employers, regulatory bodies, and the employees. In the past, the industrial relations system was widely used and entailed employers hiring, supervising, and paying employees. Nevertheless, this scheme is being promptly replaced by the contemporary employment relations system that is flexible, holistic, and considers various aspects (Goodwin & Maconachie, 2011). The current essay provides an argument related to the shift from industrial to contemporary relations that has been experienced in the United Kingdom and Australia due to dynamics in the workplace.

The dynamics in the workplace have necessitated a change of system for governing employees. It is caused by the fact that the employees are the most valuable asset that a business can maintain (Holgate et al., 2012). When the relationship among employees is productive, they have high levels of efficiency, which, in turn, increases the productivity of the organization. The result of such healthy relationship is increased income, higher customer satisfaction, and better atmosphere in the workplace. However, increasing insight amongst the workers has made them realize all the available options of employment and the best employers in the industry. Moreover, globalization has better opportunities for workers in different geographical locations. Thus, the employees have expectations that the companies must fulfil to retain them. Failure to address these requirements results in a situation where the businesses cannot retain the employees. This scenario is inconvenient for the businesses, since high employee turnover results in the fact that the organization spends numerous resources for hiring and training new employees. Furthermore, the organization loses competent workers to its competitors. Thus, employers have reevaluated their role in employee relations and adopted procedures that allow the employees to meet the organizational objectives, while simultaneously improving their skills (Pillai, 2013).

For instance, in Australia, there is an increasing trend of work-life policies that are intended at enhancing employee relationship with the employers. This trend entails the employers being more involved in and concerned about both work and non-work needs of their subordinates. For instance, the service industry in the country has progressively adopted the work from home technique, where the workers are allowed to work from their home for services that can be provided to customers efficiently (Psychogios, Szamosi, & Wood, 2010). Considering such trend, customer care representatives can receive calls from the clients of their respective organizations being at home, if they have queries regarding the products and services provided. This strategy considerably increases the motivation of workers as it offers benefits of less hustle and lower spending. A staff that is permitted to work from home does not incur expenses of fueling the cars or boarding the trains to go to the workplace and also does not require to wake up very early in the morning and prepare themselves for the working day. Furthermore, several organizations in Australia have introduced centers in the workplace, where mothers can come with their young infants. Professional nannies take the infants care, and the mothers can see them at intervals determined by the management (Radhakrishna & Raju, 2015).

These practices ensure that the individual, non-work, needs of the employees are catered for by the management. As a result, the employees are highly motivated to improve their performance, since they feel that the organization is concerned about them. For example, a mother with a young child will be more relaxed in conducting her duties when her child is at the organization being taken care for by professional nannies (Radhakrishna & Raju, 2015). The above elements represent a shift from the conventional industrial employee relations system to the contemporary relations system under the pluralism. The leaders under this viewpoint do not consider themselves as the primary source of authority in the organization. The leaders acknowledge that the workforce is comprised of workers that have different values, commitment levels, attitudes, and strengths (Williams & Adam-Smith, 2010). Therefore, they adopt an approach that serves to disseminate power in the organization to manage the diversities. For example, the leaders permit freedom of expression allowing the workers to choose those leaders, who represent their concerns. Under pluralism, leaders attain outcomes by forming teams, encouraging participation, and coordinating work efforts.

In the United Kingdom, the shift to contemporary relations system has been enhanced by technology. Organizations are employing systems that foster employees’ participation in the decision-making process. For instance, in Sainsbury, the CEO implemented a scheme called “tell Justin”, which enhanced the communication between him and the employees at all levels of management, including the lowest ones. This was achieved by a communication portal where the employees signed up and could present their opinions and feedback directly to the CEO. It allowed the workers to participate in the verdict making process of the organization actively (Yong, 2010). It is caused by the fact that often, the staff members have business insight regarding the service provided, since they interact with the clients. Therefore, when they are involved in the decision-making process of the firm, they help the company to save numerous resources as they prevent the business from making errors. The trade unions in the country are flexible as they are not industry specific. They were formed by the mergers of several industries representing different occupations (Goodwin & Maconachie, 2011).

Regarding the working hours, organizations have taken an approach that allows flexibility to the employees. Once the organization has set the minimum working hours as per the country regulations, workers can decide on the time they will begin their work provided that it is within the hours specified by the managers. For instance, an employee may start working at 8 in the morning and leave at 5 or may begin working at 12 in the afternoon and leave at 9 p.m. This mode allows workers to pursue their individual tasks, while still ensuring that they perform their daily duties (Holgate et al., 2012). As a result, this approach is aligned with the pluralism perspective that acknowledges the diversities in the workplace. For instance, a worker that is a parent may wish to begin working in the morning so that he/she could come home earlier to spend more time with children in the evening. On the other hand, bachelors may opt to arrange individual tasks in the morning and begin working in the afternoon, since they do not have many responsibilities. In both countries, the state has the role of determining the minimum working hours and the minimum pay (Psychogios, Szamosi & Wood, 2010). Moreover, the organizations are then required to pay the employees above the minimum requirements.

Conclusion

Employee relations is a multi-disciplinary concept that requires strategic management. It is caused by the fact that it helps employees increase their productivity. Thus, it has benefits for both the employer and the employees. For example, the employers may obtain higher incomes stemming from the increased productivity of the employees, which results in producing more products. The employees, in turn, receive such benefits as better working conditions and promotions. Decentralization of power and the acknowledgement of the diversity in the workplace are the primary principles advocated by the pluralism framework. Both countries have made significant steps in improving employee relations. These efforts could be attributed to the competition faced by different countries from the developed states, particularly the United States.