Employee-Employer Relationship Analysis

This assignment provides a comprehensive report on employee-employer relationships, highlighting the significance of effective communication, employee involvement practices, and problem-solving approaches. The report draws on various references from academic sources, emphasizing the need for mainstreaming OHS management and promoting work-life balance strategies to improve employee health and wellbeing. By analyzing the operations of a company, the report concludes that efficient employee-employer relationships are crucial for organizational efficiency, profitability, and individual development.

BUSINESS RELATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
a) Implications of different perspectives for handling employee relations in National Health
Services(NHS) ............................................................................................................................3
b) Changes in trade unionism affecting British Medical Association's employee relations.......4
c) Roles of different key players in employee relation...............................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
a) procedures that should be adopted by NHS in different conflicting situation........................6
b) Features of employee relations in conflicting situations........................................................7
c) Effectiveness of the procedures followed in resolving this conflict.......................................8
d) Role of negotiation in collective bargaining...........................................................................9
e) Various negotiation strategies and their impact....................................................................10
TASK 3.........................................................................................................................................12
a) Assess the influence of the EU on industrial democracy in the UK and how it is likely to
change after UK exit.................................................................................................................12
b) Compare various methods that are used to gain employee participation and involvement in
the decision making process in any organisation you are familiar with...................................13
c) Impact of human resource management approach had on employee relations.......................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
Employee-employer relation is the basic meaning of employee relation. It is a relation
which exist in the organisation amongst the employees. It is often called as Industrial relations.
Employee relation not only mean a relationship between employer and a single employee but
also relationship between employer and total workforce in the organisation as well as in the
respective industry. Having a reputation of good industrial relations ensures company's success.
The present report will throw light on how good employee relationships in National
Health Services(NHS) contributes to the growth of the organisation. The report will tell us about
how the employee relations are affected by changes in trade unions. It will also show who are the
key players in employment relations(Millward and Brewerton, 2015). The project report will
cover different types of industrial disputes, collective bargaining concept in relation to NHS,
ways of resolving the employee disputes, impact of human resource management on employee
relations, industrial democracy and involvement of employees in decision making.
TASK 1
a) Implications of different perspectives for handling employee relations in National Health
Services(NHS)
There are different frames of references which improves the employer-employee relations
namely;Unitarist and pluralist and radical. The different references are throws different
implications but the aim of these approaches is to maintain health employee relation with NHS.
 Unitarist approach: This approach relates that there is single authority in managerial
level in NHS and the employer and employees conflicts can be avoided through internal
methods without the interference of the outside forces such as trade unions. The conflicts
can be either be solved by dismissal of bad influence in the organisation or through
properly communicating with employees association. A representative from the
association confronts the management of NHS regarding the conflict in the work area and
listens management regarding the issue and explains them the consequences of the
conflicts which could be harmful for the organisation and for the employees.

 Pluralist approach: This approach is concerned with establishing a place of work where
positivity runs in the attitude, behaviour of the NHS and a work place full of values and
ethics for the employees. NHS is made of different individuals and it is natural that they
have different individual interest in the organisation which might create conflicts in the
company(Wang and Seifert, 2017). This perspective focuses on satisfying employees'
needs in order to create a sense of belongingness in the company in the minds of the staff
members. Generally, the management of NHS resolves the conflicts by negotiating with
them or external force like trade union interferes in the decision making in the
organisation. A representative from trade union advocates on the behalf of employees on
the collective manner and ask for its rights to be served by NHS. Peacefully solving
employees problems enhances the employee relation of the company.
 Radical perspective: The radicalism approach of employee relation lays its emphasis on
disparity in wealth and power in the NHS organisation. The conflicts arise out of social
status employees having in the firm and concentration of economic power and status in
the management is challenged with the saviour of workers ;trade unions. So the equality
given to workers in NHS would improve the employee relations.
b) Changes in trade unionism affecting British Medical Association's employee relations
 Changes in the laws and regulation of trade union has greatly affected NHS's
employee relations. The purpose of leaders and workers to come together to form a union
is get what they deserve at the work place that is safety, job security, minimum
prescribed pay in the legislations, ethical working environment and other common
interests(Zheng and et.al.,2015.). Trade union was firstly formed in ninetieth century and
later on in 1824 it was legalised for betterment of the employers and employees. In
twentieth century the members associated with these unions multiplied due to the fact
that it was formed for protecting the interest of workers at the workplace. There are
several changes that took place which affected NHS relations with employees which are
given below:
 Change in technologies:Rapid development in the technology, machines has shifted the
focus of NHS from being labour intensive organisation to capital intensive unit. This has
created problem of unemployment for the workers by loosing their jobs. This has

adversely influenced the employees' relation of the company. Trade unions forced NHS
to modify its laws in relation to dismissal of employees for protecting the job security
interest of people working in the organisation. Although adoption of new technologies
and machines reduces the operational cost of NHS but it hampers company's employee
relations.
 Change in political and legal factors: Country's laws and political stability has largely
affected the National Health Services employees relation. Top management has to abide
by the laws formulated by the government of the country which might not be welcomed
by the workers in the organisation. Trade unions are formed not only for the betterment
of the employees but also for the benefits of the employers. Trade unions provide
essential training programs and conducts motivational campaigns for the workers so that
they do not resist the legal and political factors which will groom the skills of the workers
to cope up with dynamic environmental needs and requirements to ensure proper
functioning of the company while influencing the employee relation in a positive
way(Rubery,2015.).
c) Roles of different key players in employee relation
Maintaining good employee relations of NHS revolves around various parties namely
workers, organisation, government bodies, and other stakeholders which are related to
workplace. The different roles of parties affecting employee relations are discussed below:
1. Employer:The top management of NHS is responsible in maintaining good and
reputable employee relations. It is on the management of the company to develop a happy
and equitable working place for its employees. Management plays a mediator role in
times when dispute occurs between the employees as it might the organisational harmony
and peace(Cooper and Baird, 2015). The top managers are responsible for the growth and
development of employees through motivation, promotions to ensure the success of both
NHS and its employees.
2. Employees: Employee joins NHS with their personal objectives for which they execute
the defined task allotted to them in an effective way so that they can contribute to the
company's objectives. The employee relation indicates two way channel means that when
employees needs are fulfilled and if they are motivated through monetary and non

monetary perks then they will work more passionately towards organisational goals but at
the same time any employees' personal objectives and needs cannot override NHS's
overall purpose (Ocampo, 2015).
3. Trade unions: It is formally organised group of people, especially workers who come
together to protect the interests of workers at the workplace. Trade union play a
significant role in improving employee relations in NHS as they act as the mediator
between employees and employer and settle the dispute between them by a mutual
agreement (Simms, Holgate and Roper,, 2018). They listen problems of the employees and
communicates it to the management of the National Health Services to resolve the
problems.
4. Employers Association: Employer associations play a vital role in maintaining
employer employee relationships in the organisation. They provide needed support to its
associate employers in way of recruitment, trains new members, conducts various
research and studies that are required by the associated members. The voluntary body
often speaks collectively on behalf of its members to other bodies.
5. Government:National Health Service, belonging to public sector is obliged to
deliberately and diligently follow the government's regulations and laws. Various laws'
that affects workers, employers and trade union such as labour laws age acts, are to be
considered while offering a suitable work place to its employees (N. Theriou and
Chatzoglou, 2014).
TASK 2
a) procedures that should be adopted by NHS in different conflicting situation
Every organisation conducts its operations in a very dynamic environment in which
company faces various conflicting situations such as lockouts, strikes, absenteeism from a
particular employee, dispute amongst the employees with in the NHS. It faced conflict from a
group junior doctors in which British Medical Association, government interfered to settle the
dispute.
When a conflict arises only between a single employer and the company, then NHS
should listen to the grievance of the employee and take reasonable steps to satisfy him so that he

can be motivated to work passionately in the workplace. Active listening and motivating is on
way NHS can resolve its conflicts with an employee (Marginson, 2015).
When conflicts arise between two employees, first of all NHS should actively hear two
sides of the story. Then the management of the company should avoid any biases and favouritism
to resolve the matter on fair basis. Result of the conflict should be such that it does not the
demotivate the employees but leniency should not be the outcome if the issue is not manner so
that this outcome become a guideline in the future if any such dispute occur between the
employees (Men, 2014).
If NHS faces conflicts between a group of employees then the management should first
of all see that whether the subject matter is such that it could affect the organisation in long run
or if it is one time circumstance. Listening to the problems is an essential part of making any
decision regarding solving any problems. When a conflict arises in large group, it uses power of
collective bargaining so that result are favoured in the particular direction. Manager of NHS
primilarly act according to the policies and rules of the company already defined and if the
dispute does not come to an end is then passed on to human resource management. Lastly, if any
satisfactory outcomes does not exist then employees resort to employee association, trade unions
and government comes into play for the either through arbitration or through legal proceedings.
The same dispute NHS is facing where Junior doctor association contracts have been agreed but
British Medical Association has voted against and the case is pending under jurisdiction. The
dispute have cost them a total loss 129000 working hours in the year 2017 (Bowkett, Hauptmeier
and Heery, 2017).
b) Features of employee relations in conflicting situations
 Employer- employee relationship is build on mutual respect for each other in NHS. No
individual will work for any organisation in which there is no suitable working
environment, where ethics and dirty politics are practised against employees or where
favouritism is done between the employees or where employees are not heard. When all
of above requirements are met by the management of the company, employees will be
motivated and they will precisely work for the organisation which ultimately result into
NHS growth (Hasle, Seim and Refslund, 2016).

 Employee relation include cooperation at the time of the conflict. If NHS does not
cooperate with the employees by listening to their problems and tries to resolve them ,it
will hamper the NHS's relationship with its employees and will result into decrease in the
efficiency of the employee.
 Frameworks in the organisation limits the operations within which everything has to be
done. Employee relation ensures that every employee of NHS works within ideal
framework of the company. This relation helps employees and the employer to
understand each other and work together to accomplish NHS goals and objectives.
 Effective negotiation forms a solid base for maintaining an efficient employee-employer
relation in the industry. NHS uses the tool of effective negotiating process to resolve the
matter either directly with an employee or when the trade union is involved then with
them. Negotiating is a process of bargaining with the other party after detailed discussion
and coming to a point of closing the deal in reasonable time and in which both the parties
are in win -win situation. Same thing happen when conflicts occurs between employee-
employer and a reasonably good deal is closed out which benefits both the parties. This
enhances the trust level of employees in the organisation and vice-versa (Ocampo, 2015).
 Employee relation also posses a key feature of consulting before acting. Normally
conflicts of trade union level causes detrimental losses to NHS like losing significant
working hours which decreased its sales and profitability in the year 2017. Consultation
is done by the management of the company by consulting the labour expertise to make
suitable policies for the workers in the organisation on the basis of which workers get
better workplace.
c) Effectiveness of the procedures followed in resolving this conflict.
NHS followed negotiation process for settling the dispute with new junior doctors which resulted
in the contract for junior doctors. The effectiveness of the negotiation process can be viewed
through following points:
 Negotiating proves as a tool for building and developing employee relation in NHS.
 It is through effective negotiation process between the government, NHS and British
Medical Association that a contract for the junior doctors was executed however, it was
opposed by the BMA.

 Negotiation enhances the listening capabilities of NHS to resolve the employee problems
for better understanding them.
d) Role of negotiation in collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is the process in which employer negotiate with employees to
resolve conflict situation. NHS has employed large number of employees, those who always
provide quality health care services to patients. Higher authorities of NHS takes support of
negotiation process to understand viewpoint of its employees so that correct solution can be
taken to resolve conflict situation (Men, 2014).
Enhancing quality of works: One of the major role of negotiation in collective bargaining
is that it supports in improving quality of work of employees. Doctors of NHS present their
requirements in front of employer and committee members listen their view point. They bargains
with each other and employer reach to the solution where necessity of employees can be meet.
This is beneficial in order to raise satisfaction level of doctors. That reflects through their
performance, they put hard efforts to provide quality services to patients.
Improve effectiveness: Negotiation is helpful in finding the best solution. This improves
workplace culture and helps in raising operational efficiency of workers to great extent.
Furthermore, negotiations always work as support system, employers listen the quarries of
employees in collective bargaining process and they realise the impact of issues of employees on
working performance of BNHS. Doctors of NHS select their representatives to negotiate with
employer on behalf of them. Representative of the organisation put the point in front of employer
and describe each situation broadly (Mitchell, 2016). They both discuss on the t problem and find
the common solution where both can work effectively. Negotiation allows in finding the best
productive solution that may help in increasing confidence of people and making them positive
towards brand. This negotiation process aids employer in making clear communication with staff
members related to modifications so that they can understand necessity of changes and accept
these changes in business unit. This helps in improving productivity of doctors and they provide
more quality services to the end users.
e) Various negotiation strategies and their impact
Negotiation is the process of settling disputes of organisation of various matters. This is
the technique that helps the employer in listening point of view of both involved parties in

conflict and finding the best possible solution for the same. Conflict situation create negative
image in the mind of employees. People those are involved in conflict and those who are not
involved in such critical situation both get affected with such kinds of conflict situation. In such
condition employer arranges negation sessions for both parties and listen their point of view.
This enables the person in identifying the best way to resolve problem and raising satisfaction
level of both employees. Various strategies related to negotiation are described as below:
Collaborative strategy
This is the best strategy in which negotiator develops the culture of compromise
relationship. They find the best solution that can be win-win situation for both involved persons.
In this strategy employer can involve new source of value that can be valuable for both persons.
This always create positive image in the mind of doctors of NHS because they will think that
company listen their problems and always find the best way to resolve their issues.
Accommodation strategy
This strategy is generally applied in most critical situations that impact negatively on
employee’s performance. If NHS is facing financial crises and due to which staff turnover is
increasing in NHS then in such condition employer can arrange a meeting with existing doctors
and can convince to work in the firm for longer duration .Higher authorities provide them
additional benefits so that they feel motivated and perform their job effectively. This is the best
way through which NHS can resolve the issue of employer and employees. By this way company
would be able to retain its skilled doctors in the firm for longer duration (Bowkett, Hauptmeier and
Heery, 2017).
Compromising strategy
This is another kind of negotiation strategy in which workers negotiates with employer
for their post. As people are not satisfied with the current position thus, they don’t put hard
efforts to meet the organisational gaol. By implementing compromising strategy NHS would be
able to gain trust of its staff members. Furthermore, this will be beneficial in order to improve
working environment. By this way conflict will be resolved and all the workers will perform
their duties well.

TASK 3
a) Assess the influence of the EU on industrial democracy in the UK and how it is likely to
change after UK exit
Industrial democracy gives right employees to share their responsibility, decision making power,
and authorities at their workplace. European companies have industrial democracy at their
workplace from decades. Due to some disruptive relationship between the British company's
unions and their managers, industrial democracy doesn't fit in well in European companies.
A leading role has been given to the workers of the National health services decision
making process by the European legislation. It encourages 'partner based relationship' in which
both management & union works for the same set goals. This all has been done due to EU
influence on industrial democracy (N. Theriou, and Chatzoglou, 2014).
Due to participation of workers in decision making process, there interest towards the
has increased which is also leading in performance and their contribution towards growth of
National health services.
Due to influence of EU on industrial democracy, option for worker shareholder & worker
partner also has been provided. It provides the employees share in the ownership of the company
which leads to enhance interest of the employees towards the company. This scheme has get
more success in UK companies.
Major changes took place after UK exit EU. It resulted in a huge cost saving as UK is no
more contributing to EU budget. New job opportunities also created after this exit. However,
shortage of labour also took place due to this immigration which reduced the potential growth of
UK that effected some sectors too.
For the people who leaved, EU was going to allow UK to re-establish itself as a
independent nation in rest of the world. And for those who didn't leave, it was a challenge to
retreat itself with the global power network.
We know that UK has been allowed by EU to leverage world's biggest, exiting EU has
given a permanent diminish influence to UK and has forced it back on the secondary
relationships to push the influence.

b) Compare various methods that are used to gain employee participation and involvement in
the decision making process in any organisation you are familiar with.
Employee participation and their involvement plays an important role in success of the company.
Because unless worker get involved in the company, he/she will not work with their full
efficiency. National health services use several methods to enhance employee participation and
involvement in decision making process so that they can enhance work efficiency of their
workers and can effectively achieve the goals.
There are also several methods that can be used to get more employee participation &
involvement in decision making like:
 Placing a suggestion box : it is the method in which employees are encouraged to give
their suggestions to that can be made for the better performance of the company NHS has
placed a suggestion box in its office premises in which employees can place their own
suggestion towards the company. If changes suggested by employee is implemented, it
may show that company listens to employees (Mitchell, 2016).
 Vote for changes : If NHS wants a big change in the business, it puts some option which
will help in improving the performance of the company towards workers of the
organisation and tell them to vote for the option they think will be the best for the
betterment of the company. It will show them that they are important part of company
which makes them to get more involved in the organisation.
 Giving option of work stakeholders : NHS provides its employees an option to
purchase its shares. Through which they could become stakeholders of the company. It
will make them feel that they are part of owners of the company which will definitely
enhance their involvement as well as participation in the decision making of the
company.
 Train them as per their choice : NHS gives its workers several options of training. They
can choose any option which they think will enhance their career opportunities in the
future. It shows the workers that company do cares for them. It will also enhance their
involvement towards the company as they are working on their own choosan course.

c) Impact of human resource management approach had on employee relations
National health service in order to improve employee relationship must be engaged in
doing effective communication with the workers. Human resource managers can make use of
Harvard model in order to enhance the employee relationship. This model is also known as
human resource management territory. It lays keen emphasis on employee and employer
relationship. National health service organisation can get keen benefit of it. In this they can try to
improve the employer and employee relationship by understanding the needs and demands of
workers. Adhering to it will increase the operational efficiency of workers. Also, relationship can
be enhanced by engaging in effective communication. This will help firm in combining the
objectives of company with the employees. Also, strategic leadership can be required in order to
enhance the employee relationship (Ocampo, 2015). Improved relationship can support national
health service organisation in increasing their operational efficiency and productivity. This can
support firm in retaining and acquiring efficient employees. Harvard model can also assist in
gaining competitive advantage. Also, brand name and image can be established by them by
improving their employee relationship. This can enhance their profit and revenue.
Michigan model can also be used by national health service organisation. In this model
keen emphasis will be laid by firm on HR systems should be designed in such a way that they
match organizational strategy. This a hard model of HRM. Michigan model is based on the
“product market logic” according to which, in order to gain high profits labour must be cheaply
obtained, used economically, developed and exploited fully. This model can help firm in gaining
competitive advantage and engaging employee in their work fully and efficiently. Also, by the
use of this model national health service organisation can establish their unique image in the
market. They can over come various barriers through enhancing employee relationship. This will
support them in acquiring and retaining employees and workers. It helps in enhancing the profit
and revenue national health service organisation.
CONCLUSION
From the above, it has been concluded that building and maintaining an effective
employee relations is so crucial for the NHS success. It is the employees who forms the
organisation and who are directly related to the operations of the company. In the report it was
seen that any dissatisfactions amongst the employees can lead to disruption of NHS functioning
and it has hinder the organisation's efficiency and eventually in its profitability. So it has been
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concluded that efficient employee-employer relationship in an organisation have proved to be a
success mantra for the firm in whole and also for the development of individuals in the company.
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