Handling Grievances: Role of HR Manager

The report provides insight into handling workplace grievances by HR managers. It describes the type of workplace grievance, the role of HR advisor and manager, and the key steps to handle grievances.

Running head: HRM
Labor Relations
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1HRM
Executive Summary:
The report aims at providing an insight into handling of grievance by a human resource manager.
The report puts across a description of the type of the workplace grievance and the role of HR
advisor and manager and in handling the grievance. The report also outlines the key steps to be
provided on meeting the union representative and griever, investigation and information
gathering and preparation of grievance response.

2HRM
Table of Contents
1. Description of the Type of Workplace Grievance.......................................................................3
i. The Events that Occurred:............................................................................................................3
ii. Type of Workplace Grievance Received by Manager................................................................3
2. Responsibilities of Manager and HR Advisor in Handing Grievances.......................................3
i. The Role of the Manager and their Responsibilities....................................................................4
ii. The Role of HR and their Responsibilities..................................................................................5
3. Advice Provided to Managers on the Steps They Need to Take in Respond to Grievances.......6
i. Meeting with the Griever and Union Representative...................................................................6
ii. Investigation and Gathering of Information................................................................................6
iii. Preparation of the Grievance Response......................................................................................7
References:......................................................................................................................................9

3HRM
1. Description of the Type of Workplace Grievance
i. The Events that Occurred:
An employee grievance refers to the problem, concern or the complaint that an employee
holds either against their workplace or a person they seem to work with. This includes the
management. Workplace grievance arises when something within the workplace dissatisfies
them and they believe that it is unjust or unfair. In this particular report, a manager receives a
letter of employee grievance that has been terminated due to willful misconduct. The employee
mentioned about the misconduct on the part of the manager when she provided her inputs related
to a project on three occasions. He thereby requested for a transfer to a different location with a
higher amount of pay.
The grievance forced the human resource advisor to take up an investigation in order to
justify this particular case. On talking with the other employees and the managers, they found
that the employee faced the consequences of termination due to falsification of the expense
record. In spite of repeated warnings he was not willing to rectify his mistake. The other staffs
also supported the manager saying that she merely practiced her authority over a subordinate and
remained within her limits. A quick view of the events that occurred is as follows:

4HRM
 What occurred: Ms. Andy Henderson inputs to certain modules of the project portrayed
that she falsified the expense record.
 Who Witnessed the Situation: The situation was witnessed by the project director Ms.
Kohler and three other employees
 When the Situation Occurred: The situation occurred in three occasions. On the third
occasion severe action was taken against Ms. Andy Henderson.
 Action taken by the Manager: Ms. Kohler, the project director of the firm finally
terminated Ms. Andy Henderson her for willful misconduct
ii. Type of Workplace Grievance Received by Manager
The manager received an individual grievance from an employee whom she terminated
based on willful misconduct after the project director realized that she was falsifying the expense
record on three consecutive occasions (Saundry et al., 2014). However, an employee grievance
should be dealt with seriously since it is a concern, complaint or problem that the employee has
about the workplace or work or the people they are working with which mostly include the
management. A grievance is raised by employees when they feel dissatisfied and possess the
belief that whatever happened has been unjust or unfair to them.
2. Responsibilities of Manager and HR Advisor in Handing Grievances
It has been found that unattended grievances gives rise to dissatisfaction, frustration,
lower productivity, absenteeism and the lack of interest in work. Most often grievances occurs
when the expectations of employees does not get fulfilled from the organization and leads to
feeling of dissatisfaction and discontent (Block, 2016).

5HRM
i. The Role of the Manager and their Responsibilities
The manager should adopt the following approach in effectively managing grievance.
These include:
 Taking quicker action: This involves instant identification and resolution of the
grievance. Managers should have enough training for effectively managing grievance.
This will help in reducing the detrimental impacts of the grievance on employees and
their performance.
 Acknowledging the Grievance: It is necessary for manager in acknowledging the
grievance (Wilton, 2016). This implies that the manager is willing to impartially look at
the complaint without a bias. This will help in creating conducive work ambience.
 Consideration of Facts: The managers need to gather sufficient and appropriate facts
thereby explaining the nature of the grievance (Adler & Brett, 2014). The manager
should have a record of these facts for later redressal.
 Examination of the causes of Grievance: The managers should not only identify the
cause of the grievance but should undertake necessary remedial actions for preventing
repetition of grievance.
 Ensure Decisioning: The managers should not only identify causes of the grievance but
also decide on the alternative courses of the action for managing the grievance (Thomson,
Thomson & Arney, 2015). Decisions should be based on the impact of each of the course
of action.
 Review and Execution: It is necessary for the managers to quickly execute decisions
ignoring the fact whether it might or might not hurt employees (Hill, Jone & Schilling,
2014).

6HRM
An effective procedure undertaken in dealing with the employee grievance leads to amiable work
environment as it helps in redressing grievance for the mutual satisfaction of the managers and
employees (Sundaray & Sahoo, 2013). This enables the managers in framing procedures and
policies that are acceptable to employees.
ii. The Role of HR and their Responsibilities
Positive labor relations acts as two way street where both the sides needs to contribute
little by trying and working together (White & Bryson, 2013). In doing so, the role of the human
resource (HR) and their responsibilities are as follows (Sikora & Ferris, 2014):
 The HR manager should ensure that managers involved in grievance procedure should
meet with complainant in secluded and quiet place
 The HR manager should explain the role of the manager, the procedure and the policies
in handling procedures
 He should try to fully explain the situation of employees by eliminating misunderstanding
and promoting better acceptance of situation.
 The HR manager should try and let the employees in presenting the issues without
commenting and prejudicing.
 The HR manager should make use of friendly and positive ways in resolving crisis than
undertake punitive steps that cause disturbance to the system.
 He should remain cool, calm and collected during courses of the meeting
 He should focus on subject of the grievance than the allied issues
 The HR manager should not use threats for managing grievances
 He should never make use of the allegations against the personalities.

7HRM
3. Advice Provided to Managers on the Steps They Need to Take in Respond to Grievances.
i. Meeting with the Griever and Union Representative
a. Purpose of the Meeting: To discuss whether the grievance put up by the employee is
justified on the part of the manager.
b. Timeliness of the Meeting: It should be immediately after the issuance of the
grievance.
c. Steps taken by the Manager after the Meeting: This includes (Gomathi, 2014):
 Investigation of the grievance when the manager finds its unnecessary
 Holding grievance hearing
 Making decisions and informing employees
 Undertaking further action
ii. Investigation and Gathering of Information
The key elements that the managers need to investigate are:
 Who: The managers should consult the other employees on the floor who has also
witnessed the incident.
 What : He should provide a justification of the grievance put forward by the employees
 Where: This should be undertaken within the organization
 When: The managers should undertake investigation immediately after receiving the
grievance letter from the employees
 Why: He should do so to justify the fact that whatever he did was right
 How: The manager could do so by face to face meeting with the people

8HRM
The five questions the managers should ask include:
 Do any one of know whether there is anyone else who reported the incident
 Did your job get affected by such incident?
 Is there any evidence of documentation or notes related to the incident?
 Can you people refer me to anyone else who possess relevant information
 What are the actions you expect the organization to take?
iii. Preparation of the Grievance Response
April 4, 2019
Ms. Kohler
Title: Project Director/ Manager
City, Postal Code
Dear Ms. Kohler,
This is in response to the grievance filed against you on the 5th of December (Year) by Ms. Andy
Henderson that indicated your inappropriate behavior against him. As an HR advisor, I would
like share information with you after investigation of the circumstances of the associated
evidence and grievance which I would like to share with you.
During our recent meeting you mentioned what compelled you to terminate the employee on the
third occasion on account of falsifying the expense record in spite of providing two warnings.
We have tried speaking with the other staff members present in the three occasions who denied

9HRM
any kind of misconduct on your part. One of the staff members specifically told us how you
simply exercised your authority on a subordinate and stayed within your means.
Thus, in view of the proceedings that arose from the meeting, you have taken the right steps and
hence we provide you with a clean chit.
Best Regards,
Bill Smith e
Human Resource Advisor

10HRM
References:
Adler, A., & Brett, C. (2014). Understanding human nature: The psychology of personality.
Oneworld Publications.
Block, P. (2016). The empowered manager: Positive political skills at work. John Wiley & Sons.
Gomathi, S. (2014). A Study on Grievance Management in Improving Employee Performance in
a Pvt Enterprise. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(20), 20.
Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., & Schilling, M. A. (2014). Strategic management: Theory & cases: An
integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
Saundry, R. A., Latreille, P., Dickens, L., Irvine, C., Teague, P., Urwin, P., & Wibberley, G.
(2014). Reframing resolution-managing conflict and resolving individual employment
disputes in the contemporary workplace. Acas Policy Discussion Papers, 1-21.
Sikora, D. M., & Ferris, G. R. (2014). Strategic human resource practice implementation: The
critical role of line management. Human Resource Management Review, 24(3), 271-281.
Sundaray, B. K., & Sahoo, C. K. (2013). Impact of strategic industrial relations measures on
quality of work life: the Indian experience. Employment Relations Record, 13(1), 25.
Thomson, A., Thomson, R., & Arney, E. (2015). Managing People: A Practical Guide for
Front-line Managers. Routledge.
White, M., & Bryson, A. (2013). Positive employee attitudes: how much human resource
management do you need?. Human relations, 66(3), 385-406.

11HRM
Wilton, N. (2016). An introduction to human resource management. Sage.