MGTO 231Human Resources ManagementEmployee relations

Dr. Kin Fai Ellick WONG

Prologue

You may neglect all US specific cases.

You may often hear that both employers and employees want to improve their relations

You may also often hear that employers are not satisfied with their employees and employees are not satisfied with their employers

Paradoxical? What leads to these lose-lose outcomes? Any way for improvements?

Outline

Some basic concepts

Effective communications

Employee

recognition programs

Components Techniques

What are good employee relations?

Fair and consistent treatment to all employees Employees are treated as stakeholders

Stakeholders: people who have an interest in a company’s or organizational affairs.

Respect for the individuals Bi-directional communications

Employee relations representative Employee relations policy

Bi-directional Communications

Employee relations representative:A member of the HR departmentTo ensure that company policies are followed To consult with both supervisors and

employees on specific employee relations program

Bi-directional Communications

Employee relations policy It is designed to communicate management’s

thinking and practices concerning employee-related matters

Prevent problems in the workplace from becoming more serious

Types of information in communications Facts

Information that can be objectively measured or described

E.g., the cost of computer, salaries Feelings

Employee’s emotional responses to the decisions made or actions taken by managers or other employees

Rumors Information that cannot be easily verified and may be

widely distributed among employees

Outline

Some basic concepts

Effective communications

Employee

recognition programs

Components Techniques

The communications process within an organization

CommunicationChannel

Sender(Encodes Message)

Receiver(Decodes Message)

Noise

Noise

Feedback

Source: Managing Human Resources, 4th Edition, p.438

Communications process within an organization Sender

who has a message to send to the receiverMust encode the message and select a

communication channel Words and numbers for facts Body language or tone of voice for feelings

Receiver Decodes the message and understands its true

meaning from sender Effective communications depending on whether the

receiver can decode the message

Feedback Information sent from receiver back to the sender

Noise Any irrelevant information

Bi-directional communications

Senders and Receivers can be at higher or lower levels

Downward communication Communication that allows managers to implement

their decisions and to influence employees lower in the organizational hierarchy

Upward communication Communication that allows employees at lower levels

to communicate their ideas and feelings to higher-level decision makers

Outline

Some basic concepts

Effective communications

Employee

recognition programs

Components Techniques

How to foster bi-directional communications?

Three types of programs for better communications Information dissemination programs

Top-down

Employee feedback programs Bottom up

Employee assistance programs Bi-direction

Information dissemination programs

Information disseminationThe process of making information available

to decision makers, wherever they are locatedEmployees who have access to abundant

information are more likely to feel empowered and are better able to participate in decision making

Methods of disseminating information

Employee handbookSets the tone for the company’s overall

employee relations philosophy Informing both employees and supervisors

about company employment policies and procedures and communicating employees’ rights and responsibilities

Written communicationsMemosFinancial statementsNewslettersBulletin boards

Audiovisual communicationsTo disseminate information that goes beyond

the printed wordsTeleconferencing: the use of audio and video

equipment to allow people to participate in meetings even when they are a great distance away from the conference location or one another

Electronic communicationsEmailVoice mail ICQ, MSNProblems of being abused by the employees

Informal communications Information exchanges without a planned

agenda that occur informally among employees

Management by walking around (MBWA) A technique in which managers walk around and

talk to employees informally to monitor informal communications, listen to employee grievances and suggestions, and build rapport and morale

Other methods

Meetings Retreats

An extended meeting in which company takes employees to a relaxing location

Employee feedback programs

Giving employees a voice in making decision on policy formulation (procedural justice)

Making sure that employees receive due process on any complaints they lodge against managers

Two ways to collect the feedback Employee attitude surveys Appeals procedures

Employee attitude surveyA formal anonymous survey designed to

measure employee likes and dislikes of various aspects of their jobs

Appeals procedureA procedure that allows employees to voice

their reactions to management practices and to challenge management decisions

Common management actions appealed by employeesAllocation of overtime workSafety rule violationsPerformance evaluationsMerit pay increasesSpecification of job duties

Employee assistance program

A company-sponsored program that helps employee cope with personal problems that are interfering with their job performance

Common problems include: alcohol or drug abuse, compulsive gambling, eating disorder

It involves four steps

Step 1:identify troubled employeeSelf-identificationSupervisor identification

Step 2: EAP counselingReferral to an EAP counselor

Step 3: Treatment Step 4: problem solved or employee is

terminated

Outline

Some basic concepts

Effective communications

Employee

recognition programs

Components Techniques

A program that rewards employees for their ideas and contributionsMonetary rewards, awards, vacation, etc.

To understand some difficulties of using a recognition system, complete the in-class exercise

Conclusion

What leads to these lose-lose outcomes?Communication matters!!!!

Any way for improvements? Same coding system (encoding-decoding)

systemRemove noiseEnsure the availability of the feedback channel