Contemporary HRM & Employment Relations: A Comparative Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Human Resource Management (HRM) and employment relations, focusing on a comparative study between the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany. It delves into the core concepts of HRM and employment relations, exploring how they impact organizational productivity and employee loyalty. The report examines the distinct employment landscapes of both countries, highlighting the roles of unions, government regulations, and market economies. It uses a media report narrative to illustrate real-world examples, such as the practices of companies like Aldi and Tesco, to showcase how these factors influence productivity. The analysis covers the development of key issues, including compliance with regulations and traceability of products, and examines the approaches adopted by each country to address these issues, focusing on the factors that contribute to and hinder productivity. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and implications of the comparative analysis.

Running head: CONTEMPORARY HRM & EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Contemporary HRM & Employment Relations
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Concept of human resource management and employment relations........................................2
Media report narrative................................................................................................................3
Rationale for selecting the two countries...............................................................................3
Overview of the development of the issue.............................................................................7
Analysing the issue...............................................................................................................11
Analysing approaches adopted in relation to the issue.........................................................13
Conclusion................................................................................................................................15
Bibliograohy.............................................................................................................................16

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Introduction
Human relationship management is one of the most important aspects that need to be
undertaken by every organisation. According to Cascio (2018), maintaining a proper
relationship with the employees is necessary so that the loyalty and productivity of the
organisations are maintained. The assignment focuses on the narrative that focuses on the
human relationship management and the employment relations that need to be maintained in
organisations. The focus is on two countries and comparison is made between both countries
to identify the aspects that deal with the contemporary issues related to human resource
management. For the purpose of the assignment, two countries have been taken into
consideration. The countries in focus include UK and Germany, two of the most developed
countries in the modern world. The issue in focus is the productivity of the organisations
functioning in these two countries and the development that have led to the occurrence of the
issue. The lack of productivity in either of the countries is the focus of the research. The
approaches adopted by both the countries so that the issue can be resolved.
Concept of human resource management and employment relations
Albrecht et al. (2015) stated that employment relations refer to the study that covers
up all the aspects related to the people at work. The aspects that consist of the job regulation
include motivating the employees, managing the safety and health of the employees as well
as maintaining the loyalty of the employees. The relationship between the employees and the
employers are scrutinized in this process and based on the relationship the productivity and
success of an organisation is determined. The interaction between the employees and the
employers signify the extent to which the powers and interests of both the parties can help an
oragnisation to continue its productivity.

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At the same time, employment relationship is also concerned with the manner in
which the representative bodies such as the trade union perceive the relationship between
employer and employee (Reiche et al., 2016). Productivity can be hampered due to the
ineffective relationship between the employees and the employers. Hence, it is for this reason
that every organisation focuses on building good relationship with the employees so that the
productivity may increase. At the same time, it is also necessary that every employee respond
to the employers in a clear manner so that no misunderstanding takes place. Other problem
that may lead to the loss of productivity is the fact that lack of availability of finance and
materials. This may hamper the productivity, as without these resources, it can be difficult for
the organisations to continue with the development and expansion of resources.
According to Brewster et al. (2016), human resource management focuses on the level
that the organisations achieve so that it can comply itself with the basic issues that are related
to the human resource management. The issues that are normally in focus include
recruitment, selection, payment, productivity, employee performance and development of
human resources. The lack of productivity may play a major role in the development of an
organisation. Bratton and Gold (2017) stated that the lack of productivity can be due to the
lack of motivation of the employees among other things that exist in a human resource
management. The unavailability of finances and resources also account for the lack of
productivity in an organisation.
Media report narrative
Rationale for selecting the two countries
Germany is characterised by a highly competitive, coordinated and regulated market
economy. The traditional aspect of Germany is that it has a well-organised union and
association of employers that help in regulating the working conditions. As stated by

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Marchington et al. (2016) one of the key attributes that are encouraged by Germany is the
industry wide collective bargaining of the employees. Every organisation in the country
believes that the employees need to be concerned during the decision-making activity. This
provides an opportunity for the proper interaction with the employees and due to this it can
said that the German organisations provide more value to the thought process of the people.
An example can be provided that highlights the manner in which productivity an
employment relations are considered as important in the country. As reported by Brewster,
Chung and Sparrow (2016) in a company like Aldi the focus is to ensure that the customer
satisfaction is maintained. However, with the excess demand of goods and the increased
popularity of the organisations, the demand for products as well as services provided became
the utmost priority factor for the company. Thereby, the managers of the company kept up
with the tradition of ensuring high productivity of the organisation by adding value to the
contributions made by the employees. This led to an increase in the wages received by the
employees and development of skills that help them to remain productive and render good
quality service.
The reason behind the switch in the satisfaction of the employees is that without
proper employee strength it can be difficult for Aldi to continue with maintaining the loyalty
of the customers. As stated by Stokes, Bryson and Bewley (2017) a stable political system
helps the managers of the German organisations to ensure that open trade practises are
maintained with different countries. At the same time, it also denotes the fact that interference
in the affairs of the organisations is not conducted and the involvement of any representative
body is not included in the decision-making activity of Aldi. One of the chief characteristics
of the country is that despite having a federal system, the employment relationship policy is
stable across the country and employees working in different parts of the same organisations
do not have to worry about any interference or mistreatment of the occupational stature.

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Reports from Kim and Bae (2017) suggest that three federations at the peak of its
success govern the organisations in Germany. These federations include German Trade
Union Federation (DGB), Confederation of Christian Unions (CGB) and German Civil
Association (DBB). These federations are mainly responsible for the political activities that
are governed in the country and each of the federations are organised in the private as well as
the public organisations of the country. According to Jorgenson, Gollop and Fraumeni
(2016), every federation focuses on different types of industries and focus on the growth of
the organisations. For example, the German Civil Association focuses of the growth of the
civil servants and ensure that the relationship between the civil servants and the employers
remain intact.
Having analysed the employment relations in Germany, the focus can now be shifted
towards a country that is different from Germany in terms of work culture and managing
employment relations. The focus is on England one of the most developed and richest
countries in the world. As stated by Oswald, Proto and Sgroi (2015) one of the characteristics
of England is that the number of organisations present in the country enriches the economy
with the type of productivity level that is expected from the employees. For example,
existence of organisations like Tesco, Bank of Britain, Hamleys and so on provide the
economy of the country with the necessary lift for its stability. At the same time, the
existence of reputed universities such as Harvard Business School, University of Oxford and
others enrich the economy with revenue from outside the country (Bratton & Gold, 2017).
Godard (2014) reported that the relationship with the EU has helped Britain to incur
growth in the foreign direct investment and employment practise such as increase in the
productivity. In a company like Tesco, the productivity depends upon the contributions of the
low wage earners. Britain is noted for encouraging migrants and providing them with an
opportunity to improve the level of life standard by being employed in the organisations

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(Brewster, Chung & Sparrow, 2016). This has helped the company to reduce the
unemployment rate to 7% and the voluntarist title provided to the countries has been slowly
eradicated. As observed by Guest (2016) unionism in the UK is perhaps the oldest form of
trading as the country is characterised by developing the initial union movement.
One of the significant observations that can be made in the analysis of both the
countries is that prior to the Second World War, the unionism and employment relations in
the UK have fluctuated considerably. In fact as observed McDonald and Thompson (2016) by
after every major war, the economy of UK have fluctuated and consequently increases in the
relationship between the employers and employees have developed. However, in the case of
Germany the country was termed to have an eco miracle after the end of the Second World
War. This is because with the reign of an important ruler, the country witnessed a surge the
economy by a great deal that remain inflected even after the Second World War (Greene &
Kirton, 2015).
Therefore, it can be said that the current issue related to the human resource
management or employment relations can add significance to both countries as without
proper productivity, it can be difficult to maintain the economic activity. As stated by
Williams, Abbott and Heery (2017) the manner in which every organisation in Germany and
UK focus on increasing the profitability suggests that the employment relations are build
based on increasing the productivity of the organisations. It can be considered as an important
aspect solely because the economy of the countries can increase in a manner that may help in
the effective maintenance of trade unions and Government policies. It has been seen that the
productivity in the UK is always more by 0.50% than in Germany. This provides an
opportunity for the UK people to expand its horizons in the international market.

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Overview of the development of the issue
Gattorna (2015) is of the opinion that the emphasis on production has led many
organisations to develop its reputation in the business. Therefore, the development of the
issues relating to production can be analysed by keeping in mind the legal and regulatory
framework that exists in both countries of Germany and UK. Therefore, it can be said that the
development of issues in the production can be in line with the policies that are involved in
the development of the trade union practises and the manner in which the employment
relations exist in both countries. Some of the issues related to the development of production
problems in an organisation that can be common in both countries include:
Compliance with regulation and the traceability of the products: It has been seen
that most of the organisations faces legal constraints while selling its products or providing
services. In a country like Germany, the interference of the Government is not one of the
factors that affect the working of the organisations. Therefore, it needs to be kept in mind that
the compliance of the regulatory framework can affect the production process in
organisations. For example, in a company like Lidl, the regulatory stature imposed by the
Government may have a significant benefit for the customers. However, it needs to be kept in
mind that a visibility of the supply chain management can be brought about within the
organisations that provides for the increase in the productivity (Dalton, 2017).

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Figure 1: Productivity graph of Germany
(Source: Goleman, 2017)
On the other hand, in a country like UK, the Government is more concerned about the
economy of the country and the manner in which products and services of companies can be
developed. Therefore, the interference from the Government of UK provides the products
with a competitive regulation that needs to be followed (Abbott, 2016). In this regard, it can
be said that sometimes the Government regulation is seen more in the case of Universities as
the type of education that is provided in the Universities need to abide by the Educational
laws set out by the state. Therefore, the education provided can be considered as a product
that needs to be developed by the Universities.
Maintaining the relevancy of the products: This particular issue relating to products
can be attributed more towards the satisfaction of the customers. Customer satisfaction is one
of the most important factors that need to be maintained for the success of an organisation. In
Germany, the production of the goods is attributed to the relations that are maintained by the

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employer with the employees that in turn reflect on the behaviours made by the employees to
the customers. In this case, it can be said that the relevancy of the products need to be
accounted to the culture of the organisations (Brewster, Mayrhofer & Morley, 2016).
Therefore, it can be said that employees need to comply with the culture of the organisations
so that it can manufacture products that are relevant with the reputation that precedes it.
Figure 2: Productivity comparsion of UK
(Source: Goleman, 2017)
At the same time, the interference of the trade unions in the companies of UK
suggests that the relevancy of the products is directed more towards the vocal of the unions.
The unions ensure that the manufacturing of the products are within the competency of the
employees and the manner in which the managers develop the relationship with the
employees is solely based on the competency and the skills of the employees. According to
Storey (2014), in UK, the unionism has declined relatively mainly due to the shift in focus of
building the economy of the country. Therefore, with less strikes in the organisations the

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focus on productivity can be maintained in a manner that highlights the growth of the
organisations.
Aging workforce: The employee and employment relationships depend upon the level
of capability that is provided. In the case of the companies in Germany such as Aldi or Lidl,
the aging workforce becomes one of the main problems for maintaining the proper quality of
work. As stated by Purce (2014) the aging workforce in the organisations is considered as a
threat as the productivity decrease relatively. In Germany, the trade unions do not have much
of an effect on the ageing employees, as the focus is more on satisfying the youth so that the
demands made by the young employees can be met.
On the other hand, a different scenario is seen in the case of UK. The Government in
the country takes care of the employees irrespective of the old or new. This is because the
Government maintains equality and the every employee are provided with an opportunity to
remain loyal to the organisation and participate in its success. The trade unions of the country
provide proper care of the aging employees so that the productivity of the organisations can
take place. In a company like Tesco, the company allows the aged employees to act as
trainers to the young employees so that they can be of use to the success of the organisation.
Therefore, it can be said that the employment relations in the companies in UK and
Germany can provide the employees with an opportunity to remain competitive in the
organisations. In companies like Aldi or Tesco, two companies that manufacture and sale
similar products the difference can be seen with relevance to the manner in which the
employees are treated. Knies et al. (2015) stated that the production issues of the companies
provide an analysis of the legal and regulatory framework of both the countries and the
manner in which these regulatory frameworks can help companies to remain competitive and
maintain proper employment relations.

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Analysing the issue
In the current scenario, both UK and Germany adopt different approaches that can
help the organisations to continue with the current path of employee relations that exist
within the industry (Jackson, Schuler & Jiang, 2014). It is for this reason it is important to
analyse the production process and the manner in which any similarity or divergent may
affect the organisational culture of employee relations in the countries.
According to Wilton (2016), the production process consists of three main stages that
are essential for the proper manufacturing of products. These stages include pre-production,
production and post-production. Each of the production processes that takes place in
organisations comprise of these stages so that it can be easy for organisations to maintain
proper quality of products. In the case of organisations in UK and Germany, these stages
involve understanding the relations that exist between the employee and employer after each
stage of the process. Nel et al. (2016) have inferred that most of the times it is seen that the
relation between the employee and the employers tend to decline once the production moves
towards the end stags. This is mainly the case of the contractual workers that are employed
on a part-time basis in an organisation.
Such contractual workers are rare in reputed companies in UK and Germany.
However, in the small-scale organisations, the law related to the employment of contractual
workers does not abide and it becomes difficult for trade unions to enter into negotiation deal
that may benefit the organisations as well as the employees (Edwards & Tofan, 2016). This
can be considered as a similar aspect that lies between the two countries and the manner in
which the union of both the countries try to maintain the employee relations that need to exist
within organisations. At the same time, the legal laws binding labour contracts need to be
analysed properly so that the organisations can ensure safety and longevity of the employees.