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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
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