Value and Importance of Employee Relations in Application at Mark and Spencer

This report explores the value and importance of employee relations in application at Mark and Spencer. It discusses the fundamentals of employment law and the different types of rights, duties, and obligations of employers and employees within the workplace. The report also includes a stakeholder analysis and examines how stakeholder engagement and contribution can support positive employment relationships.

Employee relations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
An explanation of value and importance of employee relations in application as well as
explanation of fundamentals of employment law..................................................................1
An explanation of the different types of rights,duties and obligations an employer and
employee has within the workplace.......................................................................................3
A stakeholder analysis for the organisation and analysis how stakeholder engagement and
contribution and can support positive employment relationships..........................................5
An analysis of the impact of both positive and negative employee relations on different
stakeholders............................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Employment Relationship refers to the bonding between an employee of the organisation
and employer of respective organisation. Employment relationship is a thread which links
functions of an employee with the employer. It plays an important role in functioning of an
organisation as negative relations in a organisation can lead to harm in business. Positive
relations on the other hand can put a business in trouble. Employment relationship is a crucial
function of human resource management which helps in maintaining distinguished working
environment in a business as well as it helps in keeping environment healthy (ABURA, 2018). In
this report example of Mark and Spencer is taken into consideration as a case study in order to
understand employment relations in a better way. This company was founded in 1884 and is a
British multinational company. It deals in selling home,food and clothing products across major
countries. This report contains explanation of value and importance of employee relations in
application at Mark and Spencer and fundamentals of employment law. It contains overview of
different types of rights,duties and obligations of employer and employees and stakeholder
analysis. It also contains negative and positive impact of stakeholders on a company.
MAIN BODY
An explanation of value and importance of employee relations in application as well as
explanation of fundamentals of employment law
Employee Relations- Employee relations is a management tool that is performed by
human resource management in order to keep working of employees precise. Employee relations
helps in bringing out satisfaction in employees as well as it brings harmony in workers
(Employee relationship management mark and spencer,2021). At Mark and Spencer employee
relations focus on solving out individual problems that arises out during working time. As Mark
and Spencer has large number of employees,various conflicts arises during their working.
Employee relations helps in resolution of conflicts and provide maximum output to the company.
Employment relations helps in achieving organisational success in long run. It also helps in
improving working conditions and provides a dynamic working environment to the workforce
(Chemuturi, 2020). Employment relations helps in generation of values in an organisation in
different ways which are mentioned below:
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Value and importance of Employee relations
Creates dynamic working environment- Different type of workers work at Mark and
Spencer,in other words in this company cultural diversity is present at a major level. Workers
need an environment which should be favourable to them according to their needs. Various
conflicts at Mark and Spencer arises out daily due to cultural diversity so there is an effective
human resource management present at Mark and Spencer in order to resolve those disputes.
This helps in increasing satisfaction of employees and helps in creating favourable working
conditions in the organisation. Human resource management at Mark and Spencer also helps
employees to overcome stress so that they can relax and enjoy their work.
Career development- All the workforce in an organisation wants grooming in their
career as well as they want increment in their salary and perks. At Mark and Spencer human
resource management focuses in doing career development of the employees by conducting a
brief assessment of their performance. It is part in maintaining employee relations in an
organisations. In order to increase output from the employees career development is performed.
Career development in a right manner by human resource management helps in bringing growth
in a short period of time as well as it increases amount of satisfaction of the employees. Career
development at Mark and Spencer is an important function of human resource management
which helps in making company more competitive.
Employment law
Employment law deals with rules and regulations which are imposed by government of a country
and local authorities on a business. This law is followed by all organisations that exits in UK so
that no legal restriction can be imposed on them. Employment law contains all the necessary
parameters a company has to follow in order to conduct a business with all legal formalities (Eid,
2021). Mark and Spencer follows employment law in a precise manner which helps it in
conducting its operations smoothly and to avoid penalties and fines on the business. Mark and
Spencer has also hired professional legal advisors for employment law implementation.
 Employment Right Act 1996- This Act was brought up by UK government in
1996 which deals in providing workers favourable working conditions in an
organisation. This Act deals with guidelines which are related to unfair treatment
of workers,low wages and working timings of manpower. Mark and Spencer
follows all the principles of employment right act 1966 in order to operate hassle
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free in market. The company keeps this law as a major guideline in order to
develop worker's satisfaction.
 Health and safety work Act 1974- This Act came into force in 1974 in UK and
focuses on creating a good working environment at the workplace. It conditions
all rules and regulations related to safety of workers during their employment in
an organisation to ensure satisfaction of the employees. It also considers health of
workers as a major factor in determining working conditions of workers. At Mark
and Spencer this act plays a major role as company has adopted all necessary
techniques in order to maintain health and safety of workers at a prosperous level
in the organisation.
An explanation of the different types of rights,duties and obligations an employer and employee
has within the workplace
Every organisation has various types of employees who are assigned with different types
of rights,duties and obligations according to their eligibility. As different type of operations are
performed in a company there are various type of people who are present and working for the
company (Kataria, and et. al., 2020). It creates a major difference between relationship of an
employer and employee and also helps in bringing out roles and responsibilities in an
organisation. Thus, rights,duties and obligations on employer and employee at Mark and Spencer
are explained below:
Rights and duties of the employer
 An employer must develop a healthy environment in a business in order to develop
healthy working conditions for the workers so that they can work in a precise manner. At
Mark and Spencer internal and external environmental development is provided to the
workers in order to create dynamic working conditions.
 An employer must establish proper communication channels in order to pass
information from one source to other. Employer must use modern technology in its
operations in order to effectively mange manpower in an organisation.
 An employer should develop a grievance handling department in order to handle
complaints and conflicts which arises out in an organisation. Healthy grievance handling
will help in major policy formations in a company. At Mark and Spencer handling of
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grievances is performed by professional human resource management in order to resolve
disputes quickly.
 An employer must allocate appropriate job responsibilities to every employee so that
functioning of employees must not affect with time factors (Kimberley, 2019).
Employees should be assigned with proper tasks and assessment should be done timely.
Obligations to the employer
 It is necessary for the employer to comply with the labour laws and provide safety to
employees at workplace. Mark and Spencer has followed major guidelines and provides
optimum safety to its workers.
 To follow ethics while performing a job is a major obligation to the employer, an
employer must follow human values like honesty,integrity,courtesy etc. Major
department's employers at Mark and Spencer follow proper ethical practices in order to
ensure a proper code of conduct.
Rights and duties of employees
 Employees must always follow instructions of employer and work hard according to
given instructions. At Mark and Spencer it is important to follow instructions given by an
employer in order to achieve desired goals of company.
 Employees Should follow policy of company majorly which means that employees
during their employment tenure they must comply with the policy of company. Mark and
Spencer has developed a major policy related to its operations and the company makes
sure that every employee follows the same.
 Employees should create a healthy working environment in business which helps in
maximising output for an organisation. Employees must ensure that work is performed in
a peaceful manner which will help in business growth.
 Employees must follow contract guidelines which are written on the employment
contract. Mark and Spencer has developed an employment contract which helps in
convincing its employees towards practices related to their employment.
Obligations to the employees
 For an organisation,employees are considered as backbone,they must follow major
policies,functions,use ethics,guidelines and contract of company in a precise manner in
order to create a systematic flow in their working (Pahuja, 2021). Employees must follow
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the guidelines which are issued by employer which helps in sustainable development in a
business. Employees should make ensure that they are precisely following all the
necessary employment instructions for organisational success and mutual benefits of
employee and employer. At Mark and Spencer most of the guidelines and policies are
followed by employees which makes company more competitive in comparison to the
other market competitors.
Mechanism for maintaining employment relationship and justified solutions with specific
organisational example
From the above stated rights and duties explanation it can be clearly said that
employment relationship is most Important task in an organisation,it includes all necessary
elements which helps in business growth. There should be a proper mechanism in an
organisation in order to perform business operations. Mechanism contains a proper format in
which rights and obligations are mentioned. Companies should prepare mechanism in advance in
order to develop business operations. Main advice to Mark and Spencer for maintaining
employment relationship is provide task allocation to employees on the basis of their ability.
Also it is a sincere advice to the company to follow employment law sincerely which will help
the company to conduct its functions legally without any restrictions by authorities. Company
should also do assessment of major aspects related to employment relationship which will help in
growth and development of employees as well as of the employer (Poon, 2019). Mark and
Spencer should compile with rules and regulations of UK government in order to have a
competitive advantage.
A stakeholder analysis for the organisation and analysis how stakeholder engagement and
contribution and can support positive employment relationships
Shareholders analysis- Shareholders are the people who provides major contribution
in capital of a company. They contribute majorly in capital arrangement of the company as they
provide monetary funding. Mark and Spencer is having good number of shareholders,who have
done great investment in a company. It is important for a company to serve its shareholders
effectively in order to attract and maximise future investment. As Mark and Spencer is a big
company it is major responsibility of it to fulfil needs and desires of its shareholders. The
contribution of shareholders for the company provides a company with several benefits.
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In order to assist and maintain a healthy relationship with stakeholders of a company a
model named power grid should be considered which contains four major categories that are
explained below
 Keep Satisfied- Shareholders should be kept satisfied by a company in various
ways so that do not get away from the company. Company should provide regular
income to shareholders in form of premium and interest (Sawithri, 2017).
Company should also increase its growth in market in order to achieve growth of
its share value in market.
 Manage closely- Company should form a bond with its shareholders in order to
gain a bond with them. An organisation should always manage all operations
related to shareholders management in a precise manner. A company should
always maintain proper accounts in order to gain attention of public towards it.
 Monitor- In order to keep healthy relationship with shareholders it is important
for a company to monitor all activities which are impacting on its performance of
share functioning in the market (Stakeholder analysis,2021). A close monitoring
should be performed in order to evaluate a healthy outcome from investment of
shareholders.
 Keep informed- It should be policy of the company to keep its shareholders up to
date with all the necessary information related to its operations. As shareholders
are partial owner of a company it is major responsibility of a company to provide
satisfactory information to its shareholders.
Benefits of stakeholder engagement
Stakeholders engagement is need of every company to run its operations in a healthy
manner and to gain organisational success. Stakeholders are major contributor to growth of
Mark and Spencer so,they are valuable assets to the company. Mark and Spencer performs
shareholder analysis very often in order to satisfy needs of its various interest holders (Skyers,
2020). Stakeholders are internal and external in a company which are
customers,government,society,investors and employees of a company. Engagement of these in a
precise manner makes a company profitable in the market. Benefits of stakeholder engagement at
Mark and Spencer are following:
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 Stakeholders at Mark and Spencer increases value of company in the market by
increasing its goodwill.
 Stakeholders engagement increases profit and earnings of a company at market place in
long run.
 Stakeholders engagement creates a dynamic environment for the company which helps
in smooth functioning of its operations.
 Stakeholders engagement develops comprehensive approach for a business to
overcome various difficulties and situations in the market.
 Stakeholders engagement also minimises risk for an entity as well as it increases quality
of the business.
 Stakeholders engagement avoids market hurdles for a company and increases
engagement of society in the business.
Associate the profitability of different stakeholders with Mark and Spencer
objective: The major objective of Mark and Spencer is to be number one global retail company
in coming years. Company wants to dominate global market with its operations so it is necessary
for the business to regularly benefit its major stakeholders (Ugoani, 2019). Mark and Spencer's
another objective is to create a global brand image in market and establish high standards,so
company keeps a high vision on stakeholders and satisfies their needs time to time.
An analysis of the impact of both positive and negative employee relations on different
stakeholders
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Stakeholder Positive impact Negative impact
1.Investors Investors can bring more capital and
monetary value at Mark and
Spencer. Mark and Spencer can take
a competitive advantage in business
if it attracts more investors. It will
automatically help company to gain
market growth.
Disinvestment from investors in a
company can lead to increase in
liabilities and create financial burden
on a company (Yadav, 2021). Mark
and Spencer never wants its investors
to feel unhappy with the company.
2.Customers Customers are the major
stakeholders in a company.
Customers can increase earnings of
a company and they also help in
survival of the company.
Negative impact or feedback from
customers can harm business of Mark
and Spencer in different ways as well
it can reduce earnings of the
company. It can also lead to minimise
level of growth of company in
market.
CONCLUSION
From the above stated report it can be concluded that employee relations management is
a crucial function of an organisation in order to maintain healthy business operations.
maintaining employee relations and stakeholders engagement in a business is an important task
for every business. It can be also concluded that stakeholders impact a business in many different
ways so it is responsibility of every business to maintain its shareholders throughout its
operations. Employee relations and stakeholders engagement are both necessary for survival of a
business at the marketplace.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
ABURA, P., 2018.Influence of employee relations strategies on employee performance in public
universities in Western Kenya(Doctoral dissertation).
Chemuturi, M. and Chemuturi, V., 2020. 7 Employee Relations.
Eid, N.L. and Dahadha, M., 2021. Bipolar Tension and Employee Relations Challenge at a
Higher Education Institution. In Cases on Critical Practices for Modern and Future
Human Resources Management(pp. 218-242). IGI Global.
Kataria.A. and et. al. 2020. Forty years of Employee Relations–The International Journal: a
bibliometric overview.Employee Relations: The International Journal.
Kimberley, J., 2019. Employee Relations and the Quaker Employers Conference of 1918: The
Cadbury Company.Quaker Studies,24(2).pp.229-249.
Pahuja, S., Chowdary, K.M. and Mittal, S., 2021. Employee Relations as a Tool of Strategic
Competitive Environment. In Critical Issues on Changing Dynamics in Employee
Relations and Workforce Diversity(pp. 45-63). IGI Global.
Poon, T.S.C., 2019. Independent workers: Growth trends, categories, and employee relations
implications in the emerging gig economy.Employee Responsibilities and Rights
Journal,31(1).pp.63-69.
Sawithri, L.D., Nishanthi, H.M. and Amarasinghe, K.G., 2017. The impact of employer-
employee relations on employee commitment: a case from Sri Lanka.Kelaniya Journal
of Human Resource Management,12(2).
Skyers, M.J., 2020.A Qualitative Exploratory Study on Communication Strategies of Leaders to
Improve Employee Relations in Organizations(Doctoral dissertation, Colorado
Technical University).
Ugoani, J., 2019. Managing Employee Relations and its Effect on Organizational
Success.International Journal of Social Sciences Perspectives,6(1).pp.1-10.
Yadav, S. and Hazarika, L., 2021. Managing Employee Relations in Multinational Firms:
Challenges and Opportunities. In Critical Issues on Changing Dynamics in Employee
Relations and Workforce Diversity(pp. 18-44). IGI Global.
Online
Employee relationship management mark and spencer.2021.[Online]Available
through:<https://www.tutorhunt.com/resource/19996/>
Stakeholder analysis.2021.[Online]Available
through:<https://www.productplan.com/glossary/stakeholder-analysis/>
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