Comprehensive Analysis of Employee Relations at Rowlinson Knitwear

This report examines employee relations at Rowlinson Knitwear, a UK-based firm specializing in personalized school wear. It begins by exploring various mechanisms for managing the employment relationship, emphasizing the importance of fair treatment, work-life balance, and effective commu...Read More

Employee Relations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Activity 1.........................................................................................................................................1
1. Various mechanisms for managing the employment relationship..........................................1
Activity 2.........................................................................................................................................3
2. Evaluation of psychological contract and rights, duties and obligations of the employment
relationship..................................................................................................................................3
3. Determine appropriate advice of the employment relationship..............................................5
Activity 3.........................................................................................................................................6
4. Analysis of stakeholder engagement in supporting the positive employment relationships. .6
Activity 4.........................................................................................................................................9
5. Evaluation of positive and negative employee relationships in affecting the conflict
avoidance.....................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Employees are the most supportive stakeholders of an organisation who performs their
duties and responsibilities, so that they can achieve the targets and goals set by the organisation.
Not every employee can work alone at the workplace. They need support and guidance from
their colleagues in order to become successful in their work. Maintaining healthy relationship
among the employees is the priority of an organisation. Rowlinson Knitwear is the chosen firm
in this report assignment which is dealing in personalised school wear garments in the retail
market of UK. Employment laws and various mechanisms for managing the employment
relationship will be discussed in this report. Further, analysis of stakeholder engagement in
supporting the positive employment relationships will be done. In the end, analysis of impact of
both positive and negative employee relations on various stakeholders along with the stakeholder
analysis will be done.
Activity 1
1. Various mechanisms for managing the employment relationship
Maintaining healthy relationship is very essential for the organisations in order to
perform their business functions and activities in a proper manner. Management needs to
maintain healthy and effective relationship among the employees and employer for enhancing
their morale and productivity of organisation. The employees’ relations in Rowlinson Knitwear
are very strong due to which the conflicts among them are reduced to a huge extent (Chang and
et. al., 2015). The management of the Rowlinson Knitwear should provide fair treatment to the
employees for gaining their trust and loyalty. Through this the working efficiency of the
organisation and its employees will increase along with the productivity. For increasing the
relationship among the employee, Rowlinson Knitwear needs to use several mechanisms as
given below:
Appreciation for good performance: Employees feels motivated in their working when
they are provided with rewards based on their performance and efficiency. They also maintain
healthy relationships with other employees when feeling motivated (Frone and Trinidad, 2012).
Managers of Rowlinson Knitwear can provide them rewards for bringing motivation in the
employees.
Encouraging work life balance: Employees feels satisfied and encouraged in their work
when their personal and professional life is balanced. Rowlinson Knitwear needs to take steps for
1

maintaining the balance between the personal and professional life of employees. Through this,
the conflicts among the employees can be eliminated and healthy relations can be maintained.
Proper communication with the staff: Management needs to convey the vision and
mission of the organisation to their workers so that they can achieve the goals and vision in the
predetermined time period. Through this, the workers will behave properly with each other and
proper relationship among the workers can be maintained.
For enhancing productivity: Maintaining effective relationship between the workers is
necessary for increasing their and organisational productivity. When the relations are maintained,
then the employees feel motivated and their satisfaction level of consumers can be increased.
Happy employees provides effective services to their customers in a proper manner which will
increase the brand image of the company (Harrison, 2012).
Avoid problem and Reduce conflicts: For reducing the conflicts among the workers,
Rowlinson Knitwear needs to maintain friendly and positive environment in the organisation.
The managers of the Rowlinson Knitwear needs to treat their employees equally without any
discrimination. Through this, the workers will feel happy and motivated at the workplace due to
which the conflicts can be avoided among them.
Apart from this, there are several other solutions for maintaining the effective
relationships between the employees and their employer such as increasing the morale and
loyalty of workers towards the firm, providing rewards and recognition, assigning proper roles
and work based on the knowledge and skills.
Fundamentals laws
The firm Rowlinson Knitwear needs to encourage their employees for maintaining
healthy relationship with each other. Through this, the issue of labour turnover can be resolved
using the laws. Through these laws, employers can provide the proper facilities and pay to the
workers which will enhance their satisfaction.
National Minimum Wage Act, 1998: This act was established in 1998 with an aim to
decide the minimum wages for the people of UK. This act is followed by every firm of UK at
their workplace. This act states that the people having 21-25 age is provided with £7.38 per hour,
people having age more than 25 years will be provided with £7.83 per hour, and workers having
age 18-20 must be provided with £5.90 per hour. Rowlinson Knitwear also follows this act for
providing suitable pay to their workers (Hogg, 2012). Through this act, the firm is actively
2

managing their workforce by providing them proper salary and wages which are decided by the
government.
Equality Act, 2010: This act was registered in 2010 for providing equal treatment to
employees in UK. This act was established with a goal of eliminating the discrimination in the
organisations based on colour, caste and gender. Managers of Rowlinson Knitwear needs to treat
their workers equal so that the conflicts among them can be reduced. The workers feels happy
and satisfied when treated equally and they work with their full efficiency. Through this act,
Rowlinson Knitwear can effectively provide the equal treatment to their workers for enhancing
their satisfaction level. Through this satisfaction, they will not leave the organisation.
Health And Safety Act, 1974: This act was introduced in year 1974 with an aim to
provide safety to the workers when using machines and equipments at the workplace. This act
includes obligations associated with health, safety and welfare of workers in the organisation.
Managers of Rowlinson Knitwear can provide the training sessions to their employees regarding
using the equipments and machines properly without making any accident or error. Also the
managers needs to conduct the maintenance of machines and equipments (Jaafreh and Al-
abedallat, 2012). Through this act, Rowlinson Knitwear can effectively provides the safety to the
workers and can also ensure their proper health. The firm is providing the induction to
employees for using the new machines and tools at workplace.
Activity 2
2. Evaluation of psychological contract and rights, duties and obligations of the employment
relationship
Psychological contract refers to the set of expectations and promises which needs to be
exchanged among the different parties of employment relationship. These parties can be anyone
from employers, employees, managers etc. who perform their daily activities in an effective
manner. These are responsible for maintaining an effective relationship in the organisation.
Through the psychological contract, employees can maintain their personal and professional life
together as it is helpful in setting the expectations which must be met by the employees. The
employees can determine the amount of work which needs to be done at the workplace. BY
determining the work, employees can execute it on time through which they can maintain the
balance between their work and life. There are several duties, obligations and rights of both
employees and their employer in the organisation which must be followed by the firm.
3

Employees in Rowlinson Knitwear are assigned with their roles and duties through which they
can perform the business operations in an proper manner. It is helpful for Rowlinson Knitwear in
maintaining healthy relations among the different employees. Some of these rights, duties and
obligations of both employees and the employers will be discussed below:
Employer
Rights Duties Obligation
 It is right of employers
to maintain safety and
health of their
employees within the
organisation.
 It is the right of
employer to provide
certified and safe
equipment to
employees during the
working.
 It is the right of
employer to recruit
candidates with talent
and skills who can
perform the work in an
effective manner.
 It is the right of
employer to conduct
training and
development sessions
for their workers on the
basis of their
requirements.
 Employer must assign
the duties to employees
based on their skills
and knowledge.
 It is the duty of the
employer to provide
the basic facilities to
employees during the
working such as
lockers, first aid etc.
 It is the duty of
employer to take care
of the safety of
equipment and
machines under their
control.
 It is duty of employers
to provide training
sessions to employees
for developing their
skills and knowledge.
 It is duty of employer
to maintain healthy
environment and
 It is the obligation of
employer to provide
compensation to their
employees based on
their performance.
 The employer is
obliged to ensure that
the suitable health and
safety facilities are
given to workers when
performing the work.
 The employer are
obliged to provide
leaves to their
employees. These
leaves include, paternal
and maternal leaves,
sick leaves etc.
 Employers have an
obligation to manage
the performance record
of their workers for
providing them
incentives and
4

 Employer expects the
loyalty from their
workers.
effective employees
relationship for
enhancing their
productivity.
compensation.
Employee
Rights Duties Obligation
 Employees has the
right to get equal
treatment without any
discrimination at
workplace.
 It is right of employee
to get fair wages and
remuneration as
specified by the equal
pay act and also to
receive the overtime
pay.
 It is right of employees
to get a notice period
before dismissing from
the job.
 It is the right of the
employee to get the
proper health care and
other facilities during
the working at the
work place.
 It is the duty of the
employees to work
with the maximum
efficiency for
providing better and
improved results to the
firm.
 Employees needs to
maintain positive
relationships with their
colleagues and co-
workers for avoiding
Conflict and issues
amongst them.
 It is the duty of the
employees to serve
their customers in
proper manner for their
satisfaction.
 Employees are obliged
to work according to
the rules and
regulations of the firm.
 Employees are obliged
to follow the health and
safety precautions
while doing the work.
 Employees are also
obliged to take care of
their co-workers health
at the workplace.
 It is the obligation of
the employee to
achieve the
organisational goals
and objectives.
5

3. Determine appropriate advice of the employment relationship
Employment relationship refers to the measures which are used for improving the
relations among the workers and managers. Maintaining healthy relations among the managers
and workers is highly essential for an organisation for their job satisfaction. Firms should fulfil
the needs and requirements of their workforce for getting the maximum contribution from them.
Satisfied employees works with their full efficiency and gains better results and performance.
The Rowlinson knitwear is providing a healthy working environment to their employees and
even their tag line is “employee owned”. Their activities and operations are carried out in an
ethical and proper way (Kalemci Tuzun and Arzu Kalemci, 2012). Sometimes the employees of
taken firm feels insecure in their working. Some advises are provided below so that the
Rowlinson Knitwear can effectively manage the employee’s relations:
 It can be advised to managers of Rowlinson Knitwear to resolve the issues of their
workers. They can build a team for resolving the conflicts and grievances of the workers
at an earliest manner. Through this approach, the issues of employees will be resolved
easily and the workers will feel motivated and satisfied in their working.
 It is required for the Rowlinson Knitwear to pay their employees equal wages and
according to the contract. When excessive work load arrives, workers needs to work hard
extra in overtime. The managers can pay the workers some extra money based on their
working hours. Through this, positive working environment can be maintained and the
relations between managers and workers will remain good.
 It is advised to employees of Rowlinson Knitwear that they must work hard and perform
their work with sincerity. Through this, the workers can work in an efficient manner for
achieving their goals and objectives and the employers will also feel satisfied. When
employers are satisfied than they will support the employees which will strengthen the
relations among them.
Activity 3
4. Analysis of stakeholder engagement in supporting the positive employment relationships
Stake holder analysis: conducting stakeholder’s analysis is very important for firms in
order to identify their various stakeholders and their needs. This analysis contains 3 steps as
given below:
6

 Identify your stakeholders: In this step, different types of stakeholders are identified for
determining their engagement with employees. There are various stakeholders in the
Rowlinson Knitwear such as suppliers, investors, employees, customers etc. who are
providing their contribution in achieving the organisational aims (Long, Perumal and
Ajagbe, 2012). The firm needs to interact with these stakeholders for providing them
services in an effective manner. Through this, the relations between them will be
maintained properly for a long period of time. Prioritize stakeholders: In this step, Rowlinson Knitwear needs to classify their
identified stakeholders based on their interest and work. Through this, the firm can
provide them services according to their needs and on priority basis. This is helpful for
the firm in strengthening the relations with these stakeholders.
 Understand your stakeholders: The Rowlinson Knitwear needs to analyse the feelings of
their stakeholders towards the provided services and products of firm. By understanding
the stakeholders, the stakeholders feels happy which help the firm in maintaining a
healthy working environment at the workplace.
Stakeholder can be any person or group of people who are either from inside of
organisation or from outside of organisation (Maurer and Chapman, 2013). These stakeholders
can affect the operations and activities of the firm. These stakeholders can be employees,
customers, suppliers, investors etc. who provides their efforts and contribution to the firm. The
stakeholders of Rowlinson Knitwear are helping the organisation in maintaining the healthy
relations among the various stakeholders.
Determine positive employee relationships
Stake holders from inside of organisation such as employers and employees provides
their maximum efforts in managing the relationship between them. When the employees are
provided with clear roles and responsibilities then conflicts among them can be reduced which
will support in building healthy relations. When these relations are maintained, Rowlinson
Knitwear can enhance their productivity and performance along with brand image. When the
employees are treated equally at the workplace, conflict among them will decrease which is
helpful in maintaining effective relationship among other workers. Moreover, when the
employees are provided with training and development sessions, then they feel dedicated
towards the work and will try to improve their relations with each other.
7

External stakeholders like customers and government are also helpful in maintaining
effective relationship among the workers of the Rowlinson Knitwear. When the management of
Rowlinson Knitwear determine the needs and preferences of their customers, then they can
provide their services effectively and accordingly which will increase their sales and profit
(Odhong and Omolo, 2014). Through this, the customers will feel satisfied and loyalty for the
firm can be maintained for a long period of time. It is also helpful in maintaining a healthy
relationship between the employees and employers and the conflict among them can also be
reduced. When the rules of the government are followed by the Rowlinson Knitwear then firm
can continue its operations without any hurdles in an ethical manner.
Effective relationship management
Both internal and external stakeholders plays an essential role in maintaining effective
relationship management (Poole and Jenkins, 2013). Effective relationship management is
helpful in ensuring a clear vision to carry out the business operations and to implement the
strategies. Through this, the employees can perform their work in an effective order which will
also helpful in avoiding the conflicts between them.
Activity 4
5. Evaluation of positive and negative employee relationships in affecting the conflict avoidance
Positive impact of employees relations on stakeholders
 When the relations among the employees are good then the productivity of the workers
will improve which leads to high retention rate. For example, if the employees of
Rowlinson Knitwear are happy with their co-workers then there are less chances of
leaving the organisation. The motivated employees will provide the products and services
to consumers in an effective manner which will enhance the satisfaction level of
consumers. When the relations among the employees are good then the chances of conflict among the
workers will decrease. if any problem or conflict will rise then it can be resolved easily
using mutual support. Also it can increase the turnover of the company as the motivated
employees work harder for achieving the organisational goals.
Negative impact of employees relations on stakeholders
8

 When the relations among the employees are not good then it will lead to rise in conflicts
and their efficiency will decrease which will negatively impact the customers (Shuck and
Rocco, 2014). For example: Bad employee’s relations can leads to increase in labour
turnover because of which the firm cannot serve the large number of customers.
 Management of the firm are also stakeholders. Bad employees relations creates negative
environment in the company which will affect the profitability of the firm. For example,
When the employees will not communicate with each other then chances of error in the
work are high which will affect the brand image of firm in a negative manner.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussed report, it can be concluded that the employees are essential
assets of an organisation who performs their daily work for achieving the desired organisational
goals. Maintaining healthy relations is very important aspect for the firms in order to avoid the
conflicts among the workers and employers. The firms need to follow the employment laws such
as equal pay act, health and safety act etc. for effectively performing their operations.
Stakeholder analysis is helpful in determining the various types of stakeholders and their needs
and requirements. Employees and employer both has some rights, duties and obligation which
must be followed strictly at the workplace so that they both can perform their work effectively.
9

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chang, X. and et. al., 2015. Non-executive employee stock options and corporate innovation.
Journal of financial economics. 115(1). pp.168-188.
Frone, M. R. and Trinidad, J. R., 2012. Relation of supervisor social control to employee
substance use: Considering the dimensionality of social control, temporal context of
substance use, and substance legality. Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs. 73(2).
pp.303-310.
Harrison, R., 2012. Employee development. Universities Press.
Hogg, G., 2012. Employee attitudes and responses to internal marketing. In Internal marketing:
Directions for management (pp. 127-142). Routledge.
Jaafreh, A. B. and Al-abedallat, A. Z., 2012. The effect of quality management practices on
organizational performance in Jordan: An empirical study. International Journal of
Financial Research. 4(1). p.93.
Kalemci Tuzun, I. and Arzu Kalemci, R., 2012. Organizational and supervisory support in
relation to employee turnover intentions. Journal of Managerial Psychology. 27(5).
pp.518-534.
Long, C. S., Perumal, P. and Ajagbe, A. M., 2012. The impact of human resource management
practices on employees’ turnover intention: A conceptual model. Interdisciplinary
Journal of Contemporary Research in Business. 4(2). pp.629-641.
Maurer, T. J. and Chapman, E. F., 2013. Ten years of career success in relation to individual and
situational variables from the employee development literature. Journal of Vocational
Behavior. 83(3). pp.450-465.
Odhong, E. and Omolo, J., 2014. An Analysis of the Factors Affecting Employee Relations in
the Flower Industry in Kenya.
Poole, M. and Jenkins, G., 2013. The impact of economic democracy: Profit-sharing and
employee-shareholding schemes. Routledge.
Schreurs, B.H. And et. al., 2012. A weekly diary study on the buffering role of social support in
the relationship between job insecurity and employee performance. Human Resource
Management. 51(2). pp.259-279.
Shuck, B. and Rocco, T. S., 2014. Human resource development and employee engagement.
Employee engagement in theory and practice. pp.116-130.
Online
Stakeholder Analysis. 2018. [online]. Available through.
<https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Example-of-stakeholder-analysis-framework-
from-Hovland-2005-There-are-many-standard_fig1_48990412>
10