Employee relations practices and strategies

Employee Relations

The people are the very foundation of any business. This is the very reason why every organization or company sets its own human resource department which is aimed not only managing the workforce, but also in maintaining a well-balanced human resource environment.

Workforce management and maintenance of the over all human resource environment is not an easy task. It should be noted that today's current trend of organizational structure involves a diverse workforce wherein people of varying age, race, color, educational background and gender serve as the team for one company, aiming for just one common goal - and that is to achieve the desired level of productivity for the company.

Having a diverse workforce has its sets of advantages. For one, it can provide competitive advantage for the company as there will also be diverse skills and knowledge offered by the members of the workforce. At the same time, varied opinions and point-of-views can be solicited from the employees, which can be of significant value.

However, with diverse employees, there is also a list of disadvantages. One of which is the high risk of misunderstanding or squabble within the organization. Numerous kinds of complaints can be received by the management and/or by the human resources department, which if taken for granted can create bigger troubles for the company. The challenge here lays on the fact that each complaint should be properly dealt with (Pollock 2004). But is there a clear way on how can the HR department manage the complaints without risking the people's trust? Is there a designated way of designing and implementing the complaint management system?

The Common Complaints

Generally, there are two types of complaints that can be filed by an employee - the complaint against the organization or the company per se and the complaint which is more on a personal structure (such as complaints against a co-worker, against the immediate boss or supervisor, against the subordinate, etc.). Some of the most common complaints concerning the organization itself are as follows (Union Definition 2007):

Low wages

Indefinite employee benefits

Unsecured health insurance

Meanwhile, when it comes to personal grievances to and from the employees, the most common reasons for complaints are (Mendleson and Ettkin 1985):

Intentional and unintentional stereotyping

Miscommunication

Undesirable behavior

Absenteeism and/or tardiness

Other behavioral attributes of the employees

Whatever the type or the reasons of the complaints are, it is the Human Resources Department's responsibility to evaluate to reasons for such complaint and then eventually study and/or plan how to resolve possible conflicts brought by such complaint.

Design and Implementation of the Complaint Management System

In designing and implementing the complaint management system, the human resource department needs to be concerned with the various aspects of the workplace and workforce first. This includes (Simons 1989):

Building rapport with every employee by talking to them and listening to them.

There can be a number of talks, orientations and other activities with which the human resource department can have direct interaction with all the other employee. By understanding each and everyone's responsibilities on their respective departments, by appreciating how each and everyone shed their efforts for the company will be a good step in establishing rapport with the people. This rapport will be significant to both the HR and the employee for there is a high possibility for an open communication to occur.

Discussing and defining the problem or opportunity.

Once an interaction has been made which eventually resulted for the employee to voice out his/her grievances or complaints over the management or against his/her co-workers, then the real problem will be discussed thoroughly. The HR people can now sit down and analyze the root cause of the problem, how it can be solved and what things should be done.

Asking for behavior change.

At this stage, it is assumed that the complaint has been evaluated and found to be valid and reasonable. If the compliant is more of a personal compliant where one employee is uncomfortable with the manners or with the way his/her co-worker's work, then the HR personnel can now decide of a behavior change is really necessary. If it essential, then the HR personnel can establish the next course of action which will be coursed thru the immediate supervisor of the person concerned. It must be noted that HR should impose a strict guidelines on sanctions or penalties that will be dependent on the severity of the complaint. This can vary on imposing to attend personality training/seminar, to suspension, demotion or to much worst, force resignation or expulsion. The HR, along with the top honchos of the company and/or the immediate supervisor, can impose whatever penalty but this should be clear, justifiable and standardized.