Employee Relations Report: NHS, Conflict Resolution and Negotiation

This report provides a comprehensive overview of employee relations within the National Health Service (NHS). It begins by discussing unitary and pluralistic frames of reference, highlighting their impact on conflict resolution. The report then explores the influence of changes in unionism and the role...Read More

EMPLOYEE RELATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Discussion upon unitary and pluralistic frames. ..................................................................1
1.2 Major impact of changes in unionism on employee relation. ..............................................2
1.3 Role of major players in context of employee relation.........................................................2
LO2..................................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Procedures that must be followed in order to deal with conflicts within the organisation.. .3
2.2 Major features of employee relation.....................................................................................4
2.3 Effectiveness of procedure in the selected conflict situation................................................4
LO3..................................................................................................................................................5
3.1 Major role of negotiation in context of collective bargaining...............................................5
3.2 Major impact of negotiation strategy. ..................................................................................6
LO4..................................................................................................................................................7
4.1 Influence of European union on the industrial democracy in context of U.K. ....................7
4.2 Comparison of methods used to increase the employee participation in decision making...8
4.3 Major impact of human resource management on employee relations. ...............................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
.......................................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
It is not always possible to effectively manage all the functions of an organisation and
thus it is very important for any company to ensure the ways by which business operations can
be successfully achieved (Adair, Brett and Lytle, A., 2010). Employee relation in this context is
one of the major concept by which a company can maintain a good and healthy relationship
between the employees of different job profiles and the employers. That is why, this concept
plays a major role in order to ensure the best outcomes from the company. If workers are feeling
motivated with their other colleagues at work place, that means they will work to their best and
the result so obtained will be effective and efficient. National health services also stands for NHS
is one of the major healthcare system of England. It is totally a public funded organisation which
mainly aims to prove best possible health services to the people. This report mainly focuses upon
the major players of employee relations and the important procedure that a company follows in
order to deal with conflicts resolution.
LO1
1.1 Discussion upon unitary and pluralistic frames.
In order to understand the exact meaning of unitary and pluralistic references in context
of employee relation , then it is must to know the basic idea behind these two concept.
Unitary- In this kind of frame of references, employees are having same values and
beliefs. They holds common interest. Thus, in this kind of situation, it will be somewhat easy to
resolve the conflict if arises between any two employees. This can be solved by presenting the
entire situation in front of manager or top management. That is why, most of the organisation
wants to adopt this technique in their working place, so that conflicts can be avoided.
Pluralistic- This is just opposite to unitary. Employees under this head are not having a
common interest. They are having a totally different values and belief (Cho and Park, 2011).
Thus, it is quite obvious that the number of fights or conflicts within the organisation will be
higher. A management needs to give proper concern to this in order to deal with all possible
stress between the employees. This will lead to create a more stable condition in which the
company can grow rapidly in the market.
NHS in context to the above mentioned technique have used Unitary references. This is
because by adopting this techniques, company can avoid unnecessary grievances at work place
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and the chances of damage to entire functions will get reduced. Human resource management
plays a vital role in order to ensure a good relationship between employees. NHS is not basically
supporting the trade union but using excellent policies in order to deal with all such conflicts in
the organisation.
1.2 Major impact of changes in unionism on employee relation.
Unionism can be defined as those policies or procedures which can directly affect the
rights of workers at their work place. Trade union is made in order to protect all possible rights
of an employee. Therefore, any kind of change in this will surely affect the employee relation.
Trade union came into picture in 1824 (estimated). Main purpose of this concept is to provide
best working conditions and fair wages and salary to the employees. Leader of trade union is
liable for representing all the major issues of the group of employee in front of higher authority
(Cox and Dunlop, 2010). That is why, it becomes very important to implement the concept of
trade union in all working places. But with the passage of time there are different changes that
can be seen in the legislation and policies of labour unionism with reference to NHS. Given
below are the major factors that are responsible for these changes
1.3 Role of major players in context of employee relation.
From the above, it can be very well evaluated that employee relation is very important in
order to maintain a healthy working condition at workplace. This will lead to produce best
possible outcomes for the company. That is why, it also essential to know the key players who
are liable for maintain a good employee relation in the organisation. NHS as stated above is
having best players who can work for maintaining employee relation. Given below are the
important factors that can directly affect the employee relation.
Role of manager
Manger is so far the most higher authority of any particular department. They are liable
for ensuring all those actions which will definitely produce best outcomes for the company.
NHS is having a tremendous management plan and thus they are working best to improve
employee relation in the organisation (Golden, Ruttenberg and Pierson, 2010). Given below are
the most crucial role and responsibilities that are associated with manger or a leader of NHS.
1. They act like a complete role model for rest of the people in the organisation- This
directly gives an overview of the ways by which a manger is liable for treating each and every
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single worker of their office with equality. They can not discriminate workers on the basis of any
factors such as cast, gender, religion etc.
2. They are also responsible for clearing all the doubts from the mind of employee- Workers
will be free from any kind of confusion and thus they can fully focus towards the main objective
of the organisation.
Role of trade unisons-
Given below are the major roles of trade union:
They are liable for representing the issues and queries of the the employees to the
employers or in front of higher authority.
They take decisions in favour of employees. This will definitely improves the condition
of workers as trade union will take forward the issue to the top management in order to get best
solution for the issue.
LO2
2.1 Procedures that must be followed in order to deal with conflicts within the organisation.
It is very important fro every organisation to solve all the conflicts that are arising
between employees. For this purpose, they are liable for using those methods with the help of
which they can solve the disputes among employees (Katz, 2010). Management first of all needs
to solve these grievances at their level. If they are not able to solve the conflict within the
organisation then given below are the basic principals that can be used for the same.
Conciliation- This can be defined as when the third party mutually listen to both the
conflicting parties and then give their decision.
Arbitration- In this principle, third party do not basically ask to the party to agree with
the decision but they directly company their decision on them.
Meditation- This is basically when the third part gives their views or recommendation to
the parities in order to solve the issue.
NHS is using best strategies with the help of which they can solve their issues such as:
Formal procedure- As its name suggests, NHS can seek to arbitration in order to solve
the dispute among employees.
Informal procedure- They can solve the problem within the organisation with the help
of representatives.
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Given above are the major ways by which NHS can seek for providing solution to
different disputes between their employees at work place.
2.2 Major features of employee relation.
There are basically some common features that can be seen in context of employee
relation when it comes to solve any conflict within the organisation (Livernash, 2010). In context
of NHS, there is basically a dispute arises between two of the employee in respect of their task,
roles and responsibility for particular condition. Given below are the major features that will be
shown by the employee relation in terms of mentioned dispute situation.
The are liable for evaluating the reason behind conflicts- One of the major feature of
employee relation can be seen by this fact that in case of above mentioned conflicts between two
employee at NHS, Employee relation will be responsible for evaluating entire cause of dispute.
In this way without the interference of the third part, company can solve the grievances. This will
improve the effectiveness of the organisation in the market.
Will provide best solution the the present issue- Employee relation will finally gives a
best solution to the present issue. It will clear the confusion among employee by describing their
actual responsibly towards their task (Lewicki, Saunders and Lewicki, 2011). This is so far the
bet feature of employee relation in respect of above mentioned conflict situation. If there will be
less number of dispute among employee, thus all the energy of workers will be used in delivering
best services to the people who are suffering from any kind of health issue.
The conflict can be resolved within a shorter period of time- Employee relation refers
to the idea where a company realise the need of maintaining a good relationship between the
employer and the employees. If employers are having a positive and good relationship with the
employees, that means there ill be a good flow of communication between them. The chances of
solving issues and disputes within a shorter span of time will also increased.
Thus, it can be concluded that employee relation plays a major role in order to solve any
dispute among employees of NHS. This will maintain the proficiency of the company in the
market.
2.3 Effectiveness of procedure in the selected conflict situation.
As per the above mentioned conflict situation, NHS needs to develop those steps with the
help of which they can take immediate action in respond to the conflict situation. Effectiveness
of the procedure that have been used to solve the mentioned dispute situation are as follows:
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Immediately providing solution to the mentioned conflict- NHS has immediately
giving best possible solution to the conflict mentioned above. The dispute was basically holds
the idea where two employee has some grievances due to the task responsibility assigned to
them. Management listen to both the parties and then after evaluating and understanding the
entire condition, they make both the party understand that they had some misinterpretation in
order to know their roles.
Improving the result of the operations- As soon as the conflicts get resolved, the
effectiveness of all the task performed by the company also get increased (Poole, 2010). They
can deliver the best medical and health services to the common people. Now they can
successfully make their brand in the market in context of providing fastest health services to the
people of the country. The core objective of any company lies behind the idea of improving the
overall outcome by the company and thus NHS will be able to do so.
From the above points, a conclusion can be drawn that is effectiveness of procedure in
respect of providing solution to a particular issue can only be estimated by its after effects. If
there will be no negative impact after resolving the conflict that means the company can now
expect best result from their employees.
LO3
3.1 Major role of negotiation in context of collective bargaining.
It is not always necessary that the employee will be satisfied with the organisation thus,
the management adopt the strategies like negotiation and bargaining in order to make an
agreement with the employees in context of salaries and other incentive issues (Rahwan,
McBurney and Sonenberg, 2011). Collective bargaining can be defined as the way by which a
group of employee aims to make an agreement with the employer in order to alter the salaries,
wages, incentives and other working aspects. Trade union in this context, plays a major role in
order to establish whatever is being asked by the employees from the management.
Negotiation can be defined as the way by which employees put their points in front of
employers and they take their stand in order to make the management understand their point.
Negotiation involves a basic agreement upon which both the parties have to agree and in this
way, a common conclusion can be drawn. Given below are the major role of negotiation.
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Both the employer and employee will be agree upon a same conclusion- This is so far the
best role of negotiating. In this the employer as well as the employee will find a solution upon
which both of them can rely. This will not create any distress in the mind of the employer as well
as employee.
From the above points, it can be concluded that collective bargaining is one of the key
factor with the help of which employees can seek for favourable working condition for them.
They can ensure adequate salary and incentives for them.
3.2 Major impact of negotiation strategy.
From the above discussion , it is clear that collective bargaining plays a major role in
order to ensure the needs of the employees through an agreement which is free from any kind of
complex method. In other word, this concept states that the company can find solution to all their
issues which can directly protect the rights of employees as well as employers. In this regard, it
is essential for NHS to have appropriate bargaining strategy with the help of which they can
solve various issues of their organisation. Given below are the impact of major negotiation
strategies:
Problem solving: In this method, both the conflicting parties discuss the issue closely
and finally enter into a long term agreement (Rhenman, 2010). Its impact will be positive on both
the parties. They can full express their views and feelings and also get full consideration. This is
one of the major negotiation strategy with the help of which both he parties can get postive
satisfaction.
Compromising- This is again one of the most effective strategy of negotiation. In this,
both the parties agrees upon a mutual point upon which both of them can rely. This will not
create any distress in mind of any of the parties. Its impact can be seen by the ways they will
work together after settling the dispute among them. As its name suggest, both the parties
compromise with each other on the basis of the selection of one common solution which can be
accepted by both the parties.
Inaction- This type of negotiation basically takes more time. This is because more
information would be gathered and then the company will decide its next tactics. Its impact can
be positive as well as negative. Taking more time in order to take a decision sometimes create
more trouble.
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The chosen strategy will purely depends upon the person with whose the company is
negotiating. A part from negotiation strategies, there are also some concepts related to the same.
These are also adopted by the organisation as per their needs.
LO4
4.1 Influence of European union on the industrial democracy in context of U.K.
EU can be defined as the group of 28 member states which is solely a political and
economic union. These are located in Europe (Schnabel, Zagelmeyer and Kohaut, 2010).
European policies meant for ensuring the free movement of goods, services, people and capital
within the range of internal market. They are responsible for maintaining common policies and
legislation on trade. Industrial democracy on the other hand can be defined as the involvement of
employees in the wider context of running all the operations under industry or a company. In
context of U.K it has been very well evaluated that EU is responsible for maintaining all the
policies related to trade union (Welch, 2011). That is why, there is direct influence of EU on
industrial democracy which is supported by the following given points:
EU will ensure the rights of employees in the decision making criteria- One of the
major impact of EU on industrial democracy can be seen from the point of view where the rights
of employees to take part in the decision making criteria of the company can be ensures.
Employees will also feel that they are also a major part of the company and their suggestions
holds a good place in the organisation. In this way, they will work with full dedication and
motivation.
Best possible plan can be made- One of the direct impact of EU on industrial
democracy is that employee can participate in various activities of the company. Their
suggestions have been considered by the company. This will surely help the mentioned company
to make an appropriate plan and also the employees will feel valuable. It is very important for a
company to use those strategies with the help of which they can attain growth in the market and
simultaneously their objective can also be achieved. This can only be possible when European
union will be successfully implemented on industrial democracy.
Company can achieve maximum number of market shares- With the help of various
suggestion from the side of employees in respect of decision making criteria, company can
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surely choose one of the best plan for their company and with the help of which they can shine in
the market. When affect of EU can be seen upon industrial democracy.
4.2 Comparison of methods used to increase the employee participation in decision making.
It is very important for any organisation to make sure that employees are taking full
participation in the decision making process of the company. It is important because by sharing
idea within the organisation, a sound strategy can be made. This will also ensure a good
employee relation.
There can be various ways by which involvement of workers can be increased in the
decision making criteria of the mentioned company (Blyton and Turnbull, 2011). Given below
are some of the points for the same:-
Organising common meetings- It has to be ensured by the company to arrange some
common meetings where all the employees as well as employers can get a platform to interact
with each other. They will be able to share their feelings and thus, workers can participate in the
decision making criteria by the company.
By motivating them with the help of incentives and rewards- In order to ensure the
participation of the employees in the decision making criteria of the organisation, management
needs to ensure that the workers get motivated with the help of some incentives as well as
rewards. This will make them feel more valuable in the organisation and hence they would be
able to provide best possible recommendation to the company.
By maintaining the employee relation- This is a very important factors by which the
participation of the employees in the decision making criteria of the company can be ensured. If
there would be a healthy relationship between the employees and employers, then workers will
feel free to communicate well with their employers (Blyton and Turnbull, 2011). In this way,
they can give their suggestions to the organisation in various decision making process.
Now there are various methods that can be used in order maximize the employees
participation in the decision making criteria. Given below is the brief comparison:
Participation at the board
level
When employees are
represented at board level then
Participation at ownership
Other way by which the
participation of employees can
Participation through
collective bargaining
This can be considered as the
way by which employees
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this technique is known as
industrial democracy. This is
an important step in order to
ensure the interest of the
employees. Representative can
collect all the issues of the
employees and then present it
in front of the board. They can
ask the board to invest in the
benefit schemes for
employees.
be seen in the selection making
criteria by considered them as
shareholders. Company can
ask them to buy equity and
advancing loans. By providing
financial assistance is some of
the ways by which the
participation of workers can be
ensured in decision making
process.
participate in decision making
process with the help of
collective agreement and by
following certain set of rules
and regulations. This is so far
the most importan method by
which the company can ensure
the participation of employees
in the decision making
process.
4.3 Major impact of human resource management on employee relations.
Human resource management is one of the core branch of any organisation. Its role and
responsibility plays a major role in order to maintain the various functions of the organisation.
HRM basically manages the work force in such a way that the company can best utilise the
efficiency of the employees as well as workers will also get safe and healthy working
environment to work (Blyton and Turnbull, 2011). The impact of human resource management
on employee relation is very vital. This can be evaluated from the given following points-
HRM will organise different activities to make employees and employers interact-
This is one of the major role of human resource management to organise different activities
where both the employers as well as employees can share a common platform. In this way,
employers will get to know about the thoughts of the employees and workers will also get to
know about the aim and intention of the management towards the core objective and mission of
the company.
They ensures a healthy working environment- HRM make sure that each and every
employees get equal opportunity to work in the most safer atmosphere. For this purpose, they
even asked to the employees to give their valuable suggestion in order to provide them a healthy
working environment.
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Employee Satisfaction will increase- One of the major affect of human resource
management on employee relation can be seen from the fact that the employees will feel satisfied
with their work (Cully, 2010). This surely direct them to make a good impression of
management. There would not be any stress in the mind of workers related with to the top
management. All the workers will be satisfied with their job and hence a good relationship can
be maintained between the employees and employers.
Efficiency of employees will maximize by having coordination with employers- Once
the employees will start felling a sense of satisfaction with their job, their overall efficiency will
also increased. They will be able to performed in the best possible manner. This can only be
possible once the effort of human resource management will lead to create a good coordination
between employees and employers. This will maintain a good relationship between them and
hence there would not be any confusion in the role and responsibility of various authorised
people in the organisation.
Employee retention- If employees and employers are sharing a good bond that means
the percentage of employees leaving job will also decreased. In other words, the employee
retention can be achieved in context of the mentioned company (Timo and Davidson, 2010). As
human resource is the most crucial part of any organisation thus, their maintenance is also
required by the company. Employee retention have been possible only because of good
employee relation. Management has make sure that workers will get all sort of facilities in order
to increase their work efficiency.
Proper flow of communication between employees and employers- Once human
resource management will covered all possible area where employees satisfaction can be
measured, next is the step to develop a good communication between the employers and the
employees. This can only be possible when the HRM will perform all the major action by which
the employee satisfaction can be increased. This will lead to create a good flow of messages
between the top management and the workers.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above report it can be concluded that employee relation is one of the
major aspect of any organisation./ it is essential to maintain a good and healthy relationship
between the management and employees in such a manner that the complexity of work in the
organisation can be reduced. This will surely increase the efficiency of workers and thus the
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mentioned company will be able to achieve its target in the most effective manner. There are
some major players in the employee relations and its importance can be clearly seen in the
organisation.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Adair, W., Brett, J and Lytle, A., 2004. Culture and negotiation strategy. Negotiation Journal
20(1). pp. 87-111.
Blyton, P. and Turnbull, P., 2011. The dynamics of employee relations. Palgrave Macmillan.
Cho, Y.J. and Park, H., 2011. Exploring the relationships among trust, employee satisfaction, and
organizational commitment. Public Management Review, 13(4). pp. 551-573.
Cox, A. and Dunlop, J.T., 1950. Regulation of collective bargaining by the National Labor
Relations Board. Harvard Law Review, 63(3). pp. 389-432.
Cully, M., 2010. Britain at work: As depicted by the 1998 workplace employee relations survey.
Psychology Press.
Golden, C.S., Ruttenberg, H.J. and Pierson, F.C., 1942. The dynamics of industrial democracy.
Katz, H.C., 2010. The decentralization of collective bargaining: a literature review and
comparative analysis. ILR Review, 47(1). pp. 3-22.
Lewicki, R.J., Saunders, D.M and Lewicki, N., 2011. Essentials of negotiation. Boston, MA:
McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Livernash, E.R., 2010. The relation of power to the structure and process of collective
bargaining. The Journal of Law and Economics, 6. pp. 10-40.
Poole, M., 2010. Towards a new industrial democracy: Workers’ participation in industry.
London New York․ .
Rahwan, I., McBurney, P. and Sonenberg, L., 2011, March. Towards a theory of negotiation
strategy (a preliminary report). In Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on Game Theoretic
and Decision Theoretic Agents (GTDT-2003) (pp. 73-80).
Rhenman, E., 2010. Industrial democracy and industrial management (p. 136). London:
Tavistock.
Schnabel, C., Zagelmeyer, S. and Kohaut, S., 2010. Collective bargaining structure and its
determinants: An empirical analysis with British and German establishment data.
European Journal of Industrial Relations, 12(2). pp. 165-188.
Timo, N. and Davidson, M., 2010. A survey of employee relations practices and demographics
of MNC chain and domestic luxury hotels in Australia. Employee Relations, 27(2). pp.
175-192.
Welch, M., 2011. The evolution of the employee engagement concept: communication
implications. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 16(4). pp. 328-
346.
Online
Strategies for negotiating. 2017. [online]. Available through <Market essentails. 2016. [online].
Available through <https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-
sales/managing-relationships/negotiating/strategies>. [Accessed on 24th August 2017].
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