MGTO 231 Human Resources Management Employee 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 ComponentsTechniques Employee recognition programs

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 department  To 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 ComponentsTechniques Employee recognition programs

The communications process within an organization Communication Channel Sender (Encodes Message) Receiver (Decodes Message) Noise Feedback Source: Managing Human Resources, 4th Edition, p.438

Communications process within an organization Sender  who has a message to send to the receiver  Must 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 ComponentsTechniques Employee recognition programs

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 dissemination  The process of making information available to decision makers, wherever they are located  Employees 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 handbook  Sets 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 communications  Memos  Financial statements  Newsletters  Bulletin boards

Audiovisual communications  To disseminate information that goes beyond the printed words  Teleconferencing: 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 communications   Voice mail  ICQ, MSN  Problems 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 survey  A formal anonymous survey designed to measure employee likes and dislikes of various aspects of their jobs Appeals procedure  A procedure that allows employees to voice their reactions to management practices and to challenge management decisions

Common management actions appealed by employees  Allocation of overtime work  Safety rule violations  Performance evaluations  Merit pay increases  Specification 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 employee  Self-identification  Supervisor identification Step 2: EAP counseling  Referral to an EAP counselor Step 3: Treatment Step 4: problem solved or employee is terminated

Outline Some basic concepts Effective communications ComponentsTechniques Employee recognition programs

A program that rewards employees for their ideas and contributions  Monetary 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) system  Remove noise  Ensure the availability of the feedback channel