Employee Relations: Negotiation and Conflict at Tesco Report

This report analyzes employee relations within Tesco, focusing on the application of unitary and pluralistic frames of reference and the impact of trade unionism. It explores how Tesco handles various conflict situations, including organizational dissatisfaction, and examines the role of negotiation in collective bargaining. The report also investigates the influence of the EU on industrial democracy and methods used to engage employees in decision-making processes. Furthermore, it assesses the impact of human resource management on employee relations, providing a comprehensive overview of the strategies and challenges involved in fostering a positive and productive work environment at Tesco. The report highlights the importance of managers, workers, and government bodies in maintaining healthy employee relations and discusses the key features of employee relations in selected scenarios such as collective disputes.

EMPLOYEE RELATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1.1 Unitary and pluralistic frames of references.........................................................................1
1.2 Changes in trade unionism affected employee relationship.................................................2
1.3 Main players role in employee relation.................................................................................3
2.1 Tesco procedures to deal in different conflict situations.....................................................4
2.2 Key features of employee relation in selected situations....................................................5
2.2 Effectiveness of procedures adopted in the selected conflicting situations..........................6
3.1 Negotiation role in collective bargaining..............................................................................7
3.2 Impact of negotiation strategy in the given situations.........................................................8
4.1 Influence of EU on industrial democracy............................................................................9
4.2 Methods used to gain employees engagement and involvement in decision making
process.........................................................................................................................................9
4.3 Assessing impact of human resource management in employee relation..........................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Employee relation is defined as the mutual agreement between employee and employer in
an industry. The understanding between both the parties in terms of their concern towards the
work culture and work environment. Apart from this to maintain a healthy relationship between
both he parties many legal rules and regulations are developed. To maintain a decent business
practices it is important for the companies to develop a healthy relationship with their
stakeholders in this competitive market conditions. In the present report, Tesco is selected to
develop a better understanding and increase the importance of developing a healthy employee
relation. It is important for the management to provide high quality services to their customer
and take care of their needs and generate better relationship to operate in this competitive retail
business. This study covers different aspects of employee relations and also states for the
characteristics of employee relation in different conflict situations and their role in negotiation
with collective bargaining. It also accounts for the human resource management impact on
employee relation.
Task 1
1.1 Unitary and pluralistic frames of references
Tesco, has adopted different methods to understand the importance and their
characteristics of employee relations that include: Unitary and Pluralistic frame of references.
Both the approaches are different in their nature and possesses different visions and thoughts, but
they are constantly focusing on developing healthy relationship between employees and
employers working for Tesco(Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg 2012). To manage the business
practices and work effectively in a reliable manner the company focus on these approaches and it
leads them to have better employee relationship.
 Unitary approach: In this approach it is stated that power and authority in business market
is in the hands of every individual who possess a position at the managerial level in the
company. Although, the decision making power and authority are the responsibilities of
the upper level employees of Tesco, and in strategic affairs employees are not included.
Moreover, the approach states that each and every member in the organisation have same
importance in the team and are with the same purpose. This shows that all the members
in the organisation from top level to lower level of management should be given similar
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objectives and combine together to achieve them. The power of decision making process
is held in the hands of an individual to maintain relation in a professional manner with the
help of this approach. This generate a better commitment and loyalty among the
employee and maintain a healthy workforce. This approach helps in clearing the conflicts
and misunderstanding among the employees and employers in Tesco and generate a
healthy employee relation(Reichheld, and Covey, 2006).
 Pluralistic approach: In this approach it states that different values, attitudes and
behaviours makes it simpler for the employees and employer to make the workplace a
much better place and develop a healthy relationship. This approach accounts that there is
more than one ruling party in the company and they are free to select their group leader
who often takes initiatives to take decisions for the staff members(Chand, M. and Katou,
A.A., 2007). With these practices the employees are motivated and their needs are
requirements are satisfied. It is necessary to implement a procedure of negotiation to
develop a healthy employee relationship which makes employee feel motivated and
important in the organisation.
Therefore, it is assumed that these two approaches are important for Tesco, so with the
involvement of upper level management can develop a healthy relation with its stakeholders and
generate progress efficiently.
1.2 Changes in trade unionism affected employee relationship
The employee relation is affected with the changing legislations and rules and regulations
in trade unions towards the organisation. Trade unions take care of the legal reforms of the
employees and are developed to make contribution in the relation of employee and employers
who work together in aspect to achieve the same aim. They also take care of providing healthy
relation among them and in favour of their interest regarding pay scale and benefits in relation to
monetary and non monetary. It started in 19th century with new union bodies being developing,
although it came into existence in 1824 and generated legislations for employees benefits and
many workers associated themselves with it for achieving fair pay for the amount of work they
complete for the organisation. With respect to it they understood the benefits from these unions
as they were working to cure different types of conflicts in favour of employees and were
focusing in providing benefits to the workers(Vakola, and Bouradas, 2005). Therefore, there are
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some changes in trade unions that has affected their relations with employees in Tesco which are
as follows:
 Economical: With continuous change in economic activities it leads the company to
enhance its production that also affects the employment schemes of the organisation and
for the people too. In situations like this the trade union of Tesco helps in protecting the
rights of its employees by generating their rights and acting as a shield and avoid being
retrenched from the job. At the cost of employee relation the economic growth and
decrease is assisted in Tesco while enhancing the business practices(Ruth Eikhof,
Warhurst, and Haunschild, 2007).
 Political and Legal: It is the most important factor for maintaining the employee relation
as this aspect directly affect their relation. To establish the business in different countries
the upper management has to adopt the rules and regulations implemented by the
government of different countries. They need to take into consideration the different
conflicts that may arise in different situations and suggest techniques to avoid them.
It is considered that trade unions are developed to maintain and protect the rights of the
employees. They also need to take care of their interest while developing different strategies' for
effective collective bargaining. Trade unions provides training and development programs for
employees that helps in enhancing their skills and abilities with considering the organisational
need and requirements(Ruel, Bondarouk, and Van der Velde, 2007). Therefore, the upper
management takes care of the needs of customers and their requirement and makes strategies to
satisfy their needs by providing employment to talented people in Tesco.
1.3 Main players role in employee relation
It is the responsibility of every member of the organisation to develop healthy employee
relationship, although there are several people responsible in the company. It is important for the
management to listen to its employees and take action to avoid their conflicts and generate a
healthy relationship in the company. Therefore, these are the following people responsible for
maintaining a healthy employee relation in Tesco:
 Managers: The managers possesses an important role in Tesco to generate and develop a
healthy relation between the employees and employers of the company. To make sure
that work is completed ethically the managers are responsible to provide a better and
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healthy work culture and environment for the employees(Forth, Bewley, and Bryson,
2006). The organisational practices are affected if there is a situation of conflict in
between the employees and employer and managers have to face criticism for the same.
The managers need to enhance different work conditions so that it gives a better
workplace to employees to carry out their activities and duties effectively(Employee
Relations: An Overview. 2017). It suggests that managers have important roles in
developing and managing employee relations.
 Worker: The desired objectives and aims of the company can be achieved, if the workers
take their responsibility and manage to complete the given task and duties effectively. As
managers, the employees also need show loyalty towards organisation and work ethically
for Tesco and complete their duties with considering the legislation activities. Therefore,
these practices helps in maintaining a healthy employee relationship.
 Government bodies: The government makes rules and regulations and it is important for
companies like Tesco to abide with those legislations in the country established their
business(Bhatnagar, 2007). To provide healthy environment in support of their
employees Tesco has implemented to intact actions such as minimum pay, health and
safety to enhance healthy environment to its employees. These legislations have helped
government bodies to make healthy employee relations with the management.
Task 2
2.1 Tesco procedures to deal in different conflict situations
In this competitive working environment, it is difficult for the companies to perform
effectively as many situations may arise that develops in conflicts such as lockouts and strikes
etc. Tesco has previously adopted many techniques through which the management can easily
deal with the different conflict situations. Strikes and lockouts are considered as the major type
of conflicts that may arise at the workplace.
Therefore, conflict situations such as delegation of work where the task is not properly
assigned or there is no systematic distribution of activities by the management, in this situation
the morale of employees is affected and situation of collective bargaining take place.
Furthermore, the employees goes against the practices and raise their voice to not to follow the
legislations and not carry out the managerial activities(Vakola, and Nikolaou, 2005). The conflict
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situation may arise if the upper level management discriminate among employees in relation to
their positions and not considering employees abilities and skills. This affects the employees
attitudes towards the management and they do not complete their work and do not deliver their
work according to their abilities, this affects the sales and profitability of the company.
Although, from this the quality services cannot be produced by the employees that result in
customer dissatisfaction. IN this situation the upper level management need to communicate
effectively and provide work culture with clear objectives and ethically. They can also motivate
employees to get effective and innovative ideas from the employees.
Another situation of conflict that may arise in Tesco is when employees start to complain
against management. So to have a healthy business practices it is important for the management
to answer those questions of employees so the business can run affectively. The complaints can
be against unfair labour practices, working conditions, unfair treatment with the employees etc.
These problems need to be solved by the management by offering solutions to those problems
with a proper practices and developing ethical work environment and commitment to employees.
Apart from this, another situation in which workplace conflict can arise is injuries at the
workplace, this can lead to conflicts in Tesco. The managers need to be careful at the workplace
heath and safety issues and provide precautions at the place of work. However, if the situation
arises it can be also from the employees misconduct at the area. It can be resolved by providing
medical assistance to the employees and giving compensations against injuries and pay for the
loss of work because of injury.
2.2 Key features of employee relation in selected situations
From the situations discussed above the selected situation for the given task is collective
dispute. The situation arises for conflict or it takes place between the employees in the
organisation in different departments because of unethical distribution of work. With this conflict
situation the management of Tesco is affected and it also makes difficulties in the activities such
a sales and profitability of the business. Conflict situations are discussed below:
 Organisational dissatisfaction: When employees are not satisfied with the
management of Tesco, it is considered as the worst situation for the company. The
overall employee relation of the company is affected by the management practices
of not giving chances to the deserving employee and focusing or prioritising the
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position first. The unethical distribution of the work in terms of employment
creates the situation of conflict(Saeed, Mukhtar, and Ahmad, 2013). The
management needs to focus on implementing ethical distribution of work and
communicate the message clearly to every employee of the organisation. They
should give chances to the deserving employees so that they will be motivated
and develop ideas and new thoughts so to generate effective solution to the
conflict situations.
 Restrain relationship among top and lower level employees in Tesco: The conflict
in this situation will affect the relationship between them and also affect the
working environment. If this situation arises in the company they tend to keep
distance from each other and avoid this condition of communication. They will
not like to work in a team and affect the quality of services and customer-oriented
satisfaction policies(Snodgrass, 2012).
2.2 Effectiveness of procedures adopted in the selected conflicting situations
It is the responsibility of management of Tesco to consider the conflict situation and give
suggestions, practices or approaches for resolving the conflict situations in an appropriate way.
The conflict situation can also be overcome if the managers consider the dispute handling
procedures and provide the best suitable place to discuss the odds and develop relation between
employees and employer. The management team of Tesco can also take into consideration the
ethical communication procedures and develop relations honestly so to make employees
understand better their responsibilities and duty against the practices in the organisation.
Moreover, the employees can be given a chance to bring or give suggestions and provide ideas
and better views, thoughts for the problems or conflicts and appropriate measures can be taken in
advance and the conflict situation can be resolved(Reichheld, and Covey, 2006). Employees
have all the right to ask any queries to the employees for the conflict situations and employers
need to answer the queries appropriately. It is easier for the management to use the informal
technique of discussion as it helps in gaining the trust of the employees and handle the conflict
between the employees and employer employed in Tesco. With this technique they can easily
interact with both of them and know the real reason behind the conflict situations. Moreover, it
will also give the management a chance to take effective step and good decision-making process
regarding the problems faced by the employees in the workforce.
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Task 3
3.1 Negotiation role in collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is the process in which employees and employer come together to
achieve a common settlement or negotiation agreement which includes negotiation related to
working hours, wages, promotions and many more problems related to employment arising at the
workplace. This process makes sure that both the parties reach to a specific disclosure or an
agreement. The business practices or the activities are carried out by a huge workforce employed
in the organisation. This process involves the techniques related to bargaining power of both the
parties and set up their views which is required in resolving the issues faced by the employees in
Tesco. These ideas are presented in the organisation with the help of union personnel to the
employer. The procedures of collective bargaining brings the condition in which the needs and
demands of the employees are met and a new situation is implemented which helps them to reach
a favourable environmental practices(Trif and Geary, 2016). The below discussed are the
negotiation roles that determine the collective bargaining effectively:
 Enhances quality of work: Helps in developing a healthy work environment which
enhances the quality of work. The demands and requirements of employees are presented
to the management in Tesco with the involvement of trade unions to achieve a healthy
negotiation process.
 Enhances effectiveness: The organisational functions can be improved with the help of
negotiation as it demands and practices are carried out with effectiveness. The
negotiation process helps in determining the problems faced by the employees in Tesco
and is resolved with the process of collective bargaining. This makes it easier for the
employees to reach to the end of solution while discussing the solution with the
management(Collective Bargaining. 2017). Apart from this it generates an effective
solution and environment for effective work culture to carry out various issues in a
systematic manner.
 Acts as support system for organisation to entertain productive conclusion: This process
adopts collective bargaining, so both the parties can negotiate and achieve a common
agreement with relation to aspect that affects the activities of employees in Tesco.
Employees have the right to select their representative who discuss the issues in the
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negotiation situation for the problems faced by the employee in Tesco. They also have
the right to give suggestions to change and improve the workplace conditions(Valsecchi,
Wise, Mueller, and Smith, 2012).
3.2 Impact of negotiation strategy in the given situations
The process that is considered in the company to resolve the conflict and dispute issues
taking place in the organisation with completing the organisational practices. It produces the best
outcome suitable for the situation. Tesco considers the issues and negotiates with the employees
for the issues faced by them in the workplace environment and enhance their performance
affected by the issue. The process of negotiation strategies makes it possible to identify the
situations that affects its work culture and helps in developing the best working environment in
Tesco. These strategies are best in identifying the suitable ideas that help to overcome the
problems. Some strategies are discussed below:
 Competing strategies: This strategy is the image of the competition that the company has
to face in the competitive market. As compared the retail business is huge and so the
competition as well. Tesco choose this strategy as it is very clear because the competitors
in the business are either winners or losers. Because they also operate in other countries,
it is important for then to analyse every activities to be performed by the company as it
hinders positive effect on its work cultures and helps in getting success in a short
span(Yang, Huang, and Wei, 2015). The strategy provides a huge benefit in return so the
employees involves in this function.
 Accommodative strategies: The issues that are creating problems and affecting the
performance of Tesco are resolved with the help of this strategy. This practice is the best
suitable to overcome the problems and makes sure to get away from the financial issues
by overcoming the condition of bigger turnover and termination. The employees are
provided with more beneficial offers to retain in the organisation.
 Avoiding strategies: The employees and employers both adopt the same strategy to
overcome the problems arising in Tesco. Important issues are also taken care of by the
management that are raised by the employees against their work contribution. They try to
figure out ideas if they are not able to modify their working criteria which are regulated
by the management(Dimitriades, 2007).
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 Compromising strategies: Employees position and negotiation process in Tesco
encourages selecting the aforesaid strategy. Moreover, in such times when employees
performance is affected due to unwanted work environment and the position they hold in
Tesco.
Task 4
4.1 Influence of EU on industrial democracy
The organisational practices are affected in the industrial democracy by the means of
direct contact through EU. It also makes the current possible practices in the environment where
the organisational designs are framed. Tesco follows the same policies and procedures tom
perform the operations effectively.
United-Kingdoms industrial democracy is directly affected as different places possesses
different work cultures industrial aspects are also determined by these policies. The employee's
participation in the decision-making process of the company affects the working condition as EU
involves important practices for Tesco and determines different levels of industrial activities
which relates to effective participation of employees. The quality of works standards of the
employees are enhanced by these practices. The efficiency of the employees in Tesco is
enhanced as they share their ideas related to work culture(Bolton, and Houlihan, 2009).
These policies state the standards as per the requirement of the job, the terms and condition of
the workplace environment that implements a great impact on the issues that affects their
working ability. The effective and most suitable work environment can be determined by these
policies.
4.2 Methods used to gain employees engagement and involvement in decision making process
The business objectives and practices can be improved by taking into consideration the
various methods of employee engagement and their involvement in business operations that
results in determining the business objectives of the organisation.
Tesco takes into consideration the consultation methods which helps them in effectively
developing the ideas that impacts on the work environment and workforce conditions. Through
these practices they are able to develop the interest of employee engagement and improving their
satisfaction and make them feel important by involving them in the business practices of
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Tesco(Bergman, and Gardiner, 2007). To effectively accomplish the new trends and standard for
the employees in the organisation they consider the suggestion schemes and effectively make
decisions to accomplish their objectives. This benefits Tesco as it makes it easier for them to
effectively account their practices in the business environment. Some methods are as follows:
 Consultation method: It is the best method as this method makes it easier for the
employees to motivate and generate new ideas for the company(Roberts, 2007). This
method is implemented by Tesco to attract employees and contribute new suggestions
and ideas for the organisation. It also helps in retaining employees effectively and make
their work life easier in the company. The employer implements this idea as this helps in
motivating employees and make them feel satisfied and generating a healthy employee
relation in Tesco.
 Suggestion schemes: This scheme is important from the view of management as it helps
in developing new ideas and creating healthy relationship among them. Beneficial for
both the employees and employers as they give ideas for improvement and their decision
helps in motivating through these schemes and in return generate new ideas, views and
techniques against problems arising from the organisation(Abbott, 2006).
4.3 Assessing impact of human resource management in employee relation
Human Resource Management is one of the most important function that has a huge
impact and a big role in the managerial practices and relation for the operations to be carried out
in the company effectively. To completing the managerial functions effectively Tesco has
adopted many management strategies to efficiently carry out the business activities. They focus
on retaining the employees for a long run in the business and develop strategies in the most
effective manner. They also implement training and development strategies in the company to
enhance the performance of the employees and to achieve the appropriate outcomes. These
practices have helped in increasing the motivation of the employees and increased their potential
to work and deliver their practices in effective manner(Watson, Maxwell, and Farquharson,
2006). It has also directly impacted on the techniques of employee retention and also can provide
a healthy working culture and develop employee welfare as well. Therefore, from these practices
it has made an impact on rules and regulations developed by human resource department of
Tesco and made an impact on employee and employer relations. The workplace improvement
can also bring a change in the relation of employee and employer in the organisation and
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