MGN410 Case Study: Survival Strategies at Work for Advance Energy

This report analyzes the employment relations challenges faced by Advance Energy, a multinational electricity and energy utilities company in Australia. The company, experiencing rapid growth, struggles with increasing work pressure on employees, a flat organizational structure, gender and cultural diversity issues, and an outdated enterprise agreement. The report examines these issues within the context of various employment relationship theories, including Unitarist, Pluralist, and Radical perspectives. It identifies internal factors such as company policies and anti-harassment measures. The report recommends strategies to improve employee well-being and productivity, including enhanced HR functions, employee involvement, transformational leadership, diversity management initiatives, improved training, and consideration of different theoretical viewpoints. The report emphasizes the need for effective policy implementation, skilled staff, and engagement with the ASU to address these challenges and foster a positive work environment. It concludes with the importance of strategic outlooks to solve the problems being faced by the company.

Running head: SURVIVAL STRATEGIES AT WORK
SURVIVAL STRATEGIES AT WORK
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

This blog is focused on developing better understanding of employee relations and the
various factors that affect it in organizational contexts. Advance Energy, is a multinational
organization operating in the electricity and energy utilities sector in central and far western
NSW. The company was formed in the year 1995. The company became of the top three
electricity suppliers in Australia in the year 2001. Presently, the organization faces a significant
employment relation issue that may lead to larger issues into the future that can ultimately lead to
failure in operations. As a result of the huge growth witnessed by the organization in the recent
past, there has been rising work pressure for the employees. It is important to note that the
organization has a flat organizational structure that is meant to simplify operations. However, the
employee relationship functions are being hurt due to the mounting pressures on the workers that
can have significant health and welfare implications. Moreover, there is a gender gap that is
present between the management and the staffs of the organization. At the same time there are a
growing number of employees from the indigenous or aboriginal communities. This creates an
environment that can lead to cultural diversity issues and even racial discrimination. The matter
becomes more significant as the enterprise agreement is out of date, having the potential for
creating more employee issues in the future. All the issues that are currently being faced by the
organization as they can have direct impact on the productivity of the operations. The
multifaceted nature of the issues make the formation of survival strategies very difficult.
Additionally, The ASU can intervene into this matter in order to bring reforms. This can possibly
have either positive or negative implications on the productivity of the organization.
Survival strategies at work are important both at the micro and the macro levels of any
organization. It helps the employees to bear with the tremendous work pressures that they can
sometimes can face. Organizations need to intervene in these strategies to keep their employees
motivated (Albarracin, 2019). Hence, they need to ensure that the productivity levels of the
employees are not hampered. The various employment relationship theories can be used in this
case to evaluate the situation and find the necessary solutions. According to the Unitarist theory,
there is a co-dependency between the employees and the employers. In terms of the theory, the
organizations ideally are integrated, friendly and collaborative. Trade unions do not have any
major role to play in regard to this theory (Gambeta, Koka & Hoskisson, 2019). The Pluralist
theory emphasises on collective bargaining that takes place between the trade unions and the
management. According to this theory, the organizations need to communicate and interact with
the employees. Demand and control are replaced with persuasion. The radical theory proposes
that organization generally do not have any regard for the employees working under them. They
are only bound by legal factors. The theories are important as they can help to understand the
various factors that are at play in Advance Energy.
Some of the internal factors that are present in the organization can help to understand the
employment environment. As per the policies of the organization, a positive work environment is
the focus of the organization. The organization tends to respect the staffs and focuses on
supporting them effectively. According to the policies the organization is committed to
1. Honest and open communication
2. High professional standards
3. Establishing equity among the employees and respecting different points of view
4. Consultative processes

5. Compromising when it is appropriate
6. Organizing social events through their social clubs that help to build positive team culture
Moreover, the organization has anti-harassment policies that is focused in discouraging
any form of harassment, discrimination or prejudice. The organization also creates a safe and
secure working environment for its employees. As much as possible, the organization also
focuses on providing flexible working conditions for the employees. This include provision of
flexible work arrangements, paid leaves, and paid maternity leaves, the opportunity to buy extra
annual leaves and extra leaves without pay. It is also important to note that the organization
provides enough opportunities to their employees for the development of their leadership skills
as per the policies. Moreover, that the organization’s policies are focused on helping the
employees survive the tremendous work pressures.
In view of the policies, it can be said that Advance Energy has good policies that are
focused towards the work survival of their employees. However, the main issues that it can face
are in regards to the implementation process of these policies. The company is greatly affected
by imbalances in their management system (Graham, Dust & Ziegert, 2018). Moreover, the
HRM functions of the organization are not effective enough the tackle the issues that can arise
due to the prevalent situations. In view of the same, some important recommendations can be
given to the management of the organization.
Advance energy needs to work in coordination with their employees to ensure the
workplace survival of the employees. The organization has to work effectively with the HR
department to ensure a safe and secure working environment for the employees. Initially, it
becomes much important that the current employee grievances are known. This can help to form
strategies that can help to manage the functional effectiveness of the organization. The present
grievances need to be managed first. In turn this can help to form more effective strategies for
the future development of the employee relationships. It is important that the voices of the
employees are given much importance. This can ensue the formation of better survival strategies
at work. The strategies need to be well aligned with the future employee relations goals of the
organization.
The organizational structure need to be changed in accordance with the leadership factors
that are much required to enhance the motivated performance capabilities of the employees. In
line with the same transformational leadership can be utilized to create a stronger management
systems. There is a significant need for devising better diversity management strategies
(Skogstad, Nielsen & Einarsen, 2017). Moreover, there needs to be a dedicated department for
the investigation of any form of racial discrimination. At the same time there need to be better
mentorship programs for the people of the indigenous communities. This would ensure a safer
and motivating work environment for them. Altogether better training and development facilities
need to be provided to all the employees in order to improve their functional effectiveness. This
is especially important in view of the various functions that the employees need to manage in
order to address the development opportunities present before the organization. The Unitarist,
Pluralist and the Radical views should be considered while developing the employee engagement
plans. The policies need to be implemented far more effectively. At this time it becomes
important for Advance Energy that more skilled people are employed to reduce the work
pressure on the existing workforce. It is argued that the strategic elements of the employee
relationship management systems cannot be complete without the active engagement of the

employees. Hence, employee empowerment needs to be valued by the organizations. Work
survival strategies have been successful in the past due to the active engagement of employees.
Ultimately, it also becomes important that ASU is also engaged in order to seek better insights
into the engagement of employees. Collective bargaining can help to understand the point of
views of the employees. In conclusion, it can be said that the problems being faced are important
and need important strategic outlooks for being solved.

References
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