Employee Relations: Understanding the Relationship and Conflict Resolution

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................6
Task 1.....................................................................................................................................................6
1.1......................................................................................................................................................6
1.2......................................................................................................................................................8
1.3......................................................................................................................................................8
Task 2...................................................................................................................................................10
2.1....................................................................................................................................................10
2.2....................................................................................................................................................12
2.3....................................................................................................................................................12
Task 3...................................................................................................................................................13
3.1....................................................................................................................................................13
3.2....................................................................................................................................................14
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................15
References...........................................................................................................................................16

Introduction
For any kind of business, it is very important to keep the employees happy and satisfied
which can help in maintaining a good relationship in between the employer and the employee
of an organization. This can eventually help in the achievement of the business objectives
because of the fact that when the employees have a good relationship with the organization,
they will always try to give their best in the work for achieving the goals (Blyton and
Turnbull, 2014). In this report, the understanding of the employee relationship against a
changing background will be developed along with that of the nature of the conflicts that
usually happen in the industries and its respective solutions. Additionally, an extensive
discussion on the process of collective bargaining and negotiation will also be emphasized in
this report.
Task 1
1.1
The employer and the employee relationship in an organization is not constant and it is
varying. The relationship cannot be properly understood from any one perspective and thus
for the interpretation of this relationship, the perspectives that are considered are the unitarist,
pluralist or radical perspectives(Matlay, 2012). Nevertheless, in spite of these perspectives, it is
necessary to understand the fact and develop the own concept and have a personal view and
value realisation in this regard. The unitarist and the pluralistic reference frames will be
discussed in details below along with the understanding of the implications of them:
Unitary frame of reference: In this case, the whole of the organization has only one
aim of success and common objective fulfilment having a paternalistic approach
demanding loyalty from each and every employee. This perspective views that the
interest of both the employer and the employees are same for the organization helping
in the enhancement of employee honesty and thus manage a proper relationship with
all the employees. The necessity of trade union is not felt in case of harmonious
working and if the employees are dishonest and ineffective in their work, then that
can give rise to conflicts. Thus, conflicts are considered in a negative view since it can
lead to the breaking down of harmony and increase power inequalities in the

organization. The integration of the workers sentiments are not proper because this
frame is normative in nature and it does not explain the identification and sharing of
common goals throughout the organizations.
Pluralistic frame of reference: It is unlike to that of the unitarist approach and
considers the concept of diverse workforce having different attitudes, beliefs, values
of the employees and the employer in the organization. The interests of them are not
same and thus conflict within the organization is bound to occur. The leadership and
the organizational attachment also have opposing sources. In this frame of reference,
the trade unions play its roles in being the employee representatives since the
employees are helped positively for focusing on the decision making capability of all
the employees(Wilkinson, 2009). The collective bargaining process can be very
helpful in bringing about stability in the relationship with the employees by going
through a set of negotiation and concession in between the employer and the
employees. Proper HR decisions can be very helpful in pluralistic approach which can
solve many conflicts. The employees can be consulted by the employers in case of
any conflict and thereby it can be resolved. Since, the occurrence of conflict is
obvious, it is not overlooked and such situations are treated efficiently with the help
of cooperation from all the associated stakeholders of the organization. There can be
some rules which can help in determining the ways to solve such conflicts but since
these rules cannot be implemented in diverse conditions of workplace, it is not
beneficial.