Introduction
For any kind of business, it is very important to keep the employees happy and satisfied which can help in maintaining a good relationship between the employer and the employee of an organization. This can eventually help in the achievement of the business objectives because of the fact that when the employees have a good relationship with the organization, they will always try to give their best in the work for achieving the goals (Blyton and Turnbull, 2014). In this report, the understanding of the employee relationship against a changing background will be developed along with that of the nature of the conflicts that usually happen in the industries and its respective solutions. Additionally, an extensive discussion on the process of collective bargaining and negotiation will also be emphasized in this report.
Task 1
The employer and the employee relationship in an organization are not constant and it is varying. The relationship cannot be properly understood from any one perspective and thus for the interpretation of this relationship, the perspectives that are considered are the unitarist, pluralist or radical perspectives(Matlay, 2012). Nevertheless, in spite of these perspectives, it is necessary to understand the fact and develop its own concept and have a personal view and value realization in this regard.
The role of trade unions is to represent the employees' set of interests and in knowing the employee rights in the organizations so that they can collectively bargain and negotiate with the employers in conforming mutual advantages of them. The trade unions were very strong from the beginning of the 1900s. Tracing back to 1920 when there was a fall down in the coal mine sector, the employers decreased the amount of wages from the employees and moreover the decision regarding the increase in the working hours also gave rise to the occurrence of labor unrest and strike.
The relationship of the employers with the employees must be effectively managed with respect to decision making, solving of problems, managing the grievances of the employees, etc. In the employee relations situation, the main players like the workers, the managers, the organizations, the governmental agencies perform in different roles having both direct and indirect effects in the relationship (Deery et al, 2009). The individual roles and responsibilities of each of the main players of an employee relations situation can be discussed as follows:
Roles of workers: The workers are the most important players and are considered as a vital driving force with regard to the employee relationship management. They effectively and directly are seen to take part and contribute their opinions in the decision-making process and thus their role is considered to be very significant in the field of resolving different organizational issues.
Roles of government: The major role that the government and the associated authorities play is that it is mainly responsible in setting up of the rules and regulations as per the laws with respect to the employee relationship management and also it is very helpful in providing proper guidance about the maintenance of employee relation within the organizations.
Roles of managers: Like that of the workers, the managers are also an inevitable player in the employee relationship situation. The major power of the managers are in taking the necessary decisions about the organizations and it can either their own decision or it can also be taken with the help of the opinions of other employees.
Roles of organization: Organization also plays a major role in this regard. The relationship between the employer and the employees is largely dependent on the organizational structure and pattern and also its size. Generally, in profit organizations, the power of the trade unions in collective bargaining for the employees is immense.
Task 2
In an organization, the management of the relationship between the employer and the employees is considered to be an important aspect and it is also to be kept in mind that conflict occurrence is an inevitable part of the employee relation. The conflict may occur because of a number of reasons and also between the employer and the employee, between several employees and also with a group of employees. The organizations need to follow so that they can effectively deal with the conflict situation.
In case of dealing with the conflicts within the organization, it can follow two important processes which are the formal and the informal process.
Formal process: This is basically regarded as an ‘arbitration’ process which includes the involvement of a third party which is not originally a part of the organization. Thus, in this case, whatever decision that would be taken by the third party will be regarded to be the final decision and both the employees and the employers have to agree to that decision which would be taken.
Informal process: The informal process does not require the involvement of any third party for solving the conflict. In this process, the conflicts are resolved by the representatives of the employers and the employees.
The different steps which are needed to be followed for the conflict mitigation between the employer and the employees of NHS or even between the employees are:
Understanding the problem pattern: In order to solve the problem for which there is a situation of conflict, it is very necessary to at first understand the nature of the problem because, without the understanding of the same, it would not be possible at all to go on to the next step for the problem mitigation.
Identifying the issue for conflict: It is the duty of the NHS Employers to identify and realize that the problem has actually taken place so that the next step of problem source identification can be carried out.
Finding out the source from which the problem started: The source of the problem needs to be recognized because of the fact that it is important to solve the problem from the root level and so that the conflict which occurred as a result of the problem can be solved.
Devising plans and strategies in conflict solving: Thus, after the problem pattern, the actual problem and its source have been properly identified by the NHS employer, they should plan and develop necessary strategies so that the problem and the conflict can be resolved and all the associated employees and the employers can be highly satisfied with their interests being fulfilled thereby leading to the overall benefit of the organization.
Task 3
The overall process that includes negotiation in between the employers and the respective employee group with respect to the agreements or contracts introduced for the regulation of different employment conditions is known as collective bargaining. As per the given case study, negotiation plays an important role in the collective bargaining process and thus it can help in finding a better outcome for all the parties and they can be equally benefitted from the negotiation process.
The negotiating process can have both positive and negative effects on the parties involved in a conflicting situation. The decision taken in the process of negotiation may not be as per the demand and needs of all the parties in the conflict. But regardless of this fact, the negotiation strategy can effectively help in solving the conflicting situations between different unions of the organizations. According to Hopmann, (2012) the negotiation strategy can help in protecting the rights of the employees by bringing about a proper solution with respect to the conflict situation. The negotiation process that was done in between the BMA, NHS and government also helped in the absolute cooperation from all the parties so that they can come to an ultimate solution to the conflict over the introduction of junior doctors’ contract.
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