BUSS3037 Managing Employment: Approaches to Interests Essay

This essay critically discusses the unitarist, pluralist, and radical approaches to the concept of 'interests' in the employment relationship. It examines how each approach views the alignment or conflict of interests between employers and employees. The unitarist approach assumes shared interests and mutual cooperation, while the pluralist approach acknowledges diverse interests and the potential for conflict. The radical approach views the employment relationship as inherently conflictual due to power imbalances. The essay also touches upon employee voice mechanisms and the role of the state in Australia in guaranteeing minimum employment rights, referencing the Fair Work Act 2009. Furthermore, it evaluates internal and external factors, such as culture and economic conditions, that shape management's approach to employment relations. The document concludes that developing an effective approach to improve employment relations is essential for organizational success.

Employment
relationship

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
Critically discuss how the unitarist, pluralist and radical approaches treat the concept of
“interests” in the employment relationship............................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Employment relationship is related to the legal relationship between the employee and the
employees. It is one of the important contract which is made between the employer and the
employees working in their organisation. The employee has provided their services to the
employer and the consideration of these services is the salary or the wage provided by the
employer to their employee. Employment relationship is one of the important and valuable
concept which is required to be present between the parties. It helps to protect the happening of
any conflict between the employees and the employer. The presence of conflict has played
negative role in the management of the organisation as it reduces the productivity and
competitiveness of the organisation. It is the duty of both the parties that they have done their
responsibilities towards each other with honesty such as the employees should have work with
their great accuracy and the employee should provide considerable pay for the services provided
by the employees in the organisation. This report provides brief discussion related to the
different approaches of employment relationship. It also provides brief discussion related to the
employee right and condition in the country of Australia.
TASK
Critically discuss how the unitarist, pluralist and radical approaches treat the concept of
“interests” in the employment relationship.
There are different types of approaches are present in the market which can be followed
in the management of the organisation. These approaches are based on the approach of
management towards the interest of the employees of the organisation. All these approaches has
separate dimensions and assumption which is very important to be analyse because the
successful implementation of these approaches are based on the effective understanding of these
approaches. The brief discussion related to the these approaches are given below:
In unitarist approach of the employee relation are based on the concept that all the member of the
organisation are sharing of same interest and they becomes homogeneous in the organisation. In
this type of approach, the role of third part between the employee and the employer becomes
irrelevant because the feeling of mutual cooperation are developed between employee and the
employer (Tomlinson, 2018). In the unitarist approach of the management both the employees and
the management are having similar goals and objectives and all the efforts made by these parties

are for the achievement of these goals and objectives in the organisation. There are many
companies are present in the market which has used this approach of the employment
relationship and the first requirement to use this approach in the organisation is that the
management has to develop strong mutual cooperation between the employee and the employer
of the organisation. It is the duty of the management of the organisation that they allow their
employees to focus on their primary aims and objectives which helps to build strong relationship
between the parties of the relationship. There are different types of conflicts are present in the
market in relation to this ideology. These conflicts states that Unitarist ideology are not real as
they restrict the legitimacy (Erikson, 2021). There are many companies are present in the market
which has used this ideology in their management but they have to face poor communication and
misunderstanding between the employee and the employer in the organisation. This ideology of
the management has restrict teb growth and the strength of the company in the organisation.
The pluralism approach of the management has focus on the diversified group of person in the
organisation. This approach of the relationship states that that the interest of the employees are
categorised on different sub groups. This theory mainly focuses on compromising on the interest
on the organisation. The chances of conflicts has very high in this ideology of the organisation
because the interest of different groups are separate and all are working for the achievement of
these interests. It is very important for those organisation which wants to practise this type of
ideology in their management that they have developed effective and valuable negotiation
framework in the organisation which helps to solve different conflicts arises between the
employer and the employee of the organisation. It becomes the duty of this framework that they
treat both employer and the employee equal at the time of conflicts. There are some negative
aspects are present in this approach and the most important is the power and control that the
managers hold by using this approach. In this approach, the delegation of the power are not done
in effective power as significant imbalance of power are held in the organisation which
minimised the performance of the employees in the organisation. The managers of the power to
take all the decision at the time when the negotiating authority are not able to provide their
judgement on any topic or the area. It becomes the reason for the frustration of the employees in
the organisation.
The radical approach of the employment relation are based on establishing control in the
organisation which helps to protect the organisation from the negative impacts of conflicts. This

approach of the employment relationship states that the relation of the employer and the
employee are bound to have conflicts them. The organisation which are using this approach in
their management has included different types of trade unions which helps to safeguard the rights
of the workers in the organisation and also enables the workers to improve their performance in
the organisation (Harsh and Prasad, 2021). There are different drawbacks are present in this
concept which makes them ineffective for the management of the organisation and the important
drawback is that the power are divided in ineffective manner which disable many employees to
enjoy the equality of power in the organisation. This settlement of the power has provide
negative impacts on the productivity and motivation in the organisation. This approach of the
employment relationship are both positive and negative aspect. It depends upon the management
of the organisation that how they apply the approach in the organisation.
Employee voice is the medium due to which the employees of the organisation has communicate
their ideas, suggestion and views to their employer and affect the matter of the organisation. The
effective framework of the employee voice helps to develop effective and trusting relationship
with the employee and the employer of the organisation. The framework of the employee voice
provided many opportunities to participate in the discussion of the organisation and provided
their views on the policies and regulations made by the managers in the organisation. There are
different two types of employee voice are present in the organisation such as formal and
informal. In formal for of employee voice, the employee of the organisation has used effective
and structured form of communication. There are some ways which helps to implement
employee voice in the organisation and the brief discussion related to the same are given below:
Encourage more employee centred leadership :- it is one of the important and valuable
approach of the management that they have use those leadership framework in the organisation
which has promote the rights and benefits of the employees. The leadership approch of the
organisation should provide opportunities to employee that they provide their suggestions and
views in the organisation.
Develop effective culture in the organisation :- If the management of the organisation wants
to improve the employee voice in the organisation than it becomes important for them that they
have develop effective and attractive culture in the organisation (Isaksson, 2020). It is very
important for the management that they have develop those culture which promotes employee
engagement and communication in the organisation.

There are different types of rules and regulations are made by the government of the
Australia so that the rights and benefits of the workers becomes safe. The workers of the country
has played important role for the development of the nation. The income and efforts made by the
workers of the company has played important role in the economic figures of the country so it
becomes necessary for the government of the country to focus on the condition of workers in the
country. All the rules and regulations made by government has to promote the rights and duties
of the workers in the country.
The government of Australia has developed one of the effective and valuable act in the year of
2009 which is called Fair work act 2009. the main aim of the government behind the
development of this act is to improve the working condition of the worker by giving them legal
existence. There are different points are made in this act in relation to the timing of work, code of
conduct in the organisation and compensation of the worker. All the employers of the country
has to follow the regulation of this act and the brief discussion related to the summary of the act
are given below:
Flexible working arrangements :- Under this pointer of the act the government of the country
states that the companies has arranged flexible working condition for their workers. There are
different types of person in relation to their age so it is important to take the work the work
according to their strength.
Fix working hours :- As per this act the employer has to follow the fix working hours regulation
which is set by the government for different aged person.
There are different types of internal and external factors are present which impacts the
approach of the management towards the employee relationship in the organisation. It is one of
the important function of the managers of the organisation that they evaluate these factors and try
to develop counter strategies to deal with these issues in the organisation (Moorman, 2020). It is
one of the important and valuable function of the management which has great advantage if they
have developed effective framework in the organisation. The brief discussion related to the same
are given below:
Culture
It is related to the belief or the tradition and tradition followed by the management in the
organisation. The culture present in the organisation has serious impact on the employee
relationship in the organisation. If the policies and regulations of the business becomes

favourable for the employee rights and benefits then it helps to improve employee relationship in
the organisation. It is the duty of the managers of the organisation that they have provide
considerable communication opportunities to the employees which helps to develop mutual trust
in the organisation.
Economic factors
The economic factor has played important role in the concept of employee engagement in the
organisation as it included different types of economic factors such as unemployment rate and
many more. The economy of the many countries are badly impacted with the negative aspect of
the covid pandemic which has provided many negative returns to the company. The condition of
the employee engagement due to the happening of this events.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from this report that the development of effective approach in the organisation
which improves employment relations are concluded in this report. This report concludes brief
discussion related to the different approaches such as pluralist, unitarist and radical. This report
also concluded the description related to the rule for workers in the state of Australia.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Tomlinson, M., 2018. Competences, capabilities and capitals: Conceptual paradigms in the educational-
employment relationship. In Essays on Employer Engagement in Education (pp. 53-67). Routledge.
Cavico, F.J., Mujtaba, B.G. and Muffler, S., 2018. The duty of loyalty in the employment relationship: legal analysis
and recommendations for employers and workers. Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues, 21(3),
pp.1-27.
Erikson, M., 2021. Introducing the autonomous employee category: The chance to create a flexible and secure
employment relationship?. European Labour Law Journal, 12(3), pp.387-398.
Hamouche, S. and Chabani, Z., 2021. COVID-19 and the new forms of employment relationship: implications and
insights for human resource development. Industrial and Commercial Training.
Harsh and Prasad, A., 2021. Employment relationship and organisation capability: a conceptual
framework. International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 24(3), pp.397-416.
Isaksson, K., 2020. Psychological Contracts and the Employment Relationship. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of
Psychology.
Leighton, P. and McKeown, T., 2020. Work in challenging and uncertain times: The changing employment
relationship. Routledge.
Moorman, A.M., 2020. The Employment Relationship: Creation and Termination of Employment. In Sport Law (pp.
41-76). Routledge.
Moras, M., 2021. The requirement of employment under an employment relationship in public procurement and the
protective function of the labour law. Studia z Zakresu Prawa Pracy i Polityki Społecznej, 28(4).
Van Hoek, A.A., 2018. Re-embedding the transnational employment relationship: A tale about the limitations of
(EU) law?. Common Market Law Review, 55(2).