Employee Relations High-Performance Workplace

Question: Describe about the Employee Relations for High-Performance Workplace. Answer: Introduction Wollongong Yard is a top trucking company with a reputation of high-performance workplace. It has a strong market position, but the employee relations are not in harmony. The Harvard Framework Model was adopted to revamp the company in which there were many workplace changes within the business. The first and foremost change were to replace the manager, introduction of the computer system, staff uniforms, training and development for the workers, mainly for the drivers. The resources which led the company to success are the new manager as well as George the union delegate. Their contributions along with risks are critically analyzed. Introduction of new workplace practices Human resource management technique is used by the organizations to manage carefully, source and allocated the important source human capital. The management of HR in the trucking company was in its transition stage. The Wollongong yard was very much popular and was considered as a high performer in the area, but handling the manager was not possible by the staff. The company was getting appreciation within the region and was considered as the contributor because of its high performance and union delegate Mr. George Psaros. He is the witness of the transition phase of the business and gave his full support to the management and the union workers (Barclay, 2001). The company was quite reputed because of its work but at the same time working here was a cumbersome task because the manager was very demanding with autocratic style of leadership and at the same time was very dominating. The management was also not ready to invest in the infrastructure, and it was finally acquired by a nat ional transport group. The company faced many challenges under the old management - managers commanding attitude, unwillingness to accept others opinion; the drivers became reluctant due to lack of the participation of administration. But after the acquisition of the company the management changed. The new management brought several changes in the workplace practices. The new management implemented the Harvard Framework model according to which the prime focus was given to the workers, and several amendments in the workplace were done to make it a productive environment (Wright, Snell, Dyer, 2005). This model puts forward that the manager has to accept work apart from his responsibilities for ensuring the synchronization of policies and strategies. The policies are framed to govern the growth of personals, and its implementation focuses that they are aligned with the objectives of the organization. This model creates the basis of four important human resource policies i.e. the recruitment, selecting the right candidate, terminating the non performers and appraisal or promotion of personals inside the organization. The system of work looks after designing as well as managing the work flow within the people. In doing this, the biggest obstacle was the line manager. He was autocratic as well as unwilling to believe in the analysis. Therefore, the ne w management not only changed the line manager but also brought several changes which are outlined below: Appointment of the new Line Manager: A new manager was appointed by the management who was aware of the past behavior as well as about the conflicts going on between the previous management and the union. The new manager was open minded and was also ready to listen to the new ideas and perspective of the workers. He was selected keeping in mind the capabilities he possesses such as to tackle the irritated union personnel and delegate George Psaros who was quite old in the system (Eastern, 2012). If anyone complains to him about other personnel rather than taking immediate action like the old manager he used to investigate the whole matter and then take steps to resolve the complaint instead of blaming others. The responsibilities were further delegated by the manager depending on the capabilities of the workers. Infrastructure Changes: The new management was ready to invest capital in the infrastructure, unlike the previous management. The new trucks were brought which was one of the major issues emphasized by the drivers in the discussion held with the recent manager. New uniforms were also purchased for all the drivers. Besides this new computer system was installed in the yards warehouse. Although all these amendments were initially unacceptable to the staff members but later on when they saw the benefits of all these things they welcomed the changes. Training and development: Training and development which is an important part were missing. Thus, to nurture the talent of the workers and enhance their knowledge as well as skills necessary for the new system the training program was started. The training was not only limited to the technical part but was also catering to the customer service segment (Bhurtel, 2015). Health and safety: The manager was continuously working for the improvement of the health and safety to get the support as well as the confidence of the staff. A lot of time and money was spent to clean the dock yard area to create clean working environment for the workers (Mann, 2004). Risks involved in sustaining changes Human Resource Department also focuses on the career growth and financial upliftment of the individuals in the organization (Rana, 2015). The personnels can move upward in the career ladder with their sheer hard work. The new manager as well as the union delegate have shown their capabilities and brought tremendous changes for the betterment of the business. Therefore, the challenging task was to sustain the changes if the manager or union delegate moves to another company or to another level in the current organization. Not only this there was need to retain the key resources who are behind the success of the company - the new manager who has been able to achieve the assigned tasks and George who was in the system from very early stages without any promotions. Loss of any of these resources can hamper the contribution as well as the performance within the organization. The risks involved in such a decision are as follows: The risk of unfinished task: If the companys essential resources are moved then there is the risk of unfinished tasks that were initiated by the manager and George for the betterment of the business. Both of them are settled as of now in the system, and movement of any one of them in future can disturb the entire course of action. The sense of insecurity: The new manager gave a lot of time and energy to win the assurance of the staff. If he is moved then, the workers will develop a sense of insecurity because their previous experience with the old manager was not good. Apart from this, their future growth prospects will be in a big question as well as the flow of operations will be hampered between the management and the staff. Lack of confidence. The union delegate George has high respect as well as assurance among the staff over the period. He was in the system since old management his movement can result in unresolved issues and disturbance in the communication channel which is quite smooth (Finegan, 2000). Unbiased Communication: The new manager shares the information about the performance of the yard with the drivers; this was a new concept which has enhanced the co-ordination as well as the performance of the staff (Brajer-Marczak, 2014). His communication was unbiased and clear for all the staff members (Imus Loftin, 2013). Employment relationsare the connecting link between the employers andthe employees, the existing power dynamics and the guidelines of therelationship. The element of poweris not essentially on the employer side; though, recent legislation has privileged them by giving the preference for workplace agreements above collective bargaining.It starts when the individual perform employment under certain circumstances in return for salary. The relationships have evolved over the period from a master/servant to the manager/managed in developed states because of the industrial revolution that resulted in the move from service as an issue ofstatus to service as a factor of contract. These relations have given the emphasis to the employees to the greater extent which in turn results in the efforts of retaining the best talent arises within the organization. Employment retention another important aspect of the Human Resource Management which focuses on retaining the best talent within the organization as introducing the new incumbent requires a lot of time and cost in recruitment, training (Lee, 2001). There are ample reasons for the individual to move out or to opt for going forward to a higher level within the company. Some of these reasons are remuneration, the opportunity of working on another challenging task or project, the dissatisfaction of the employee with current profile and moving up on the ladder of the career, etc. (Glowacka, 2016). Keeping all these reasons in mind employee retention policy is framed within the organization. Adaptability of changes in the workplace The Human Resource Management literature portrays that the truck workers are adaptive to the amendments in the workplace as compared to the Public Sector. The blue collar union is the union of personnel who are working as drivers in the companies, shop floor staff, fire fighters, etc. All these workers have a privilege of greater support from the union as compared to the people who are working in the service sector or in the private sector. The blue collar workers are that staff who have higher manual skills and lower knowledge of academics as well as literacy rate is lower. They are paid remuneration either on the hourly basis or on daily or weekly basis depending on the structure of the work. These types of workers are more concerned about unions rather than the administration of the company for which they are working (Undy, 2015). Their demand is higher in the market as the job requires more manual as well as labor work as compared to other jobs in the private sector in which the knowledge base is considered as an important factor. In some of the countries, blue collar union workers are paid more as compared to those white collar workers. These people are mainly hired for the production work and their interaction with the management is very minimal. On their behalf, the union representative who is chosen by them negotiates and communicates with the top management. The workforce working for the service sector is regarded as professional or the skilled workers in accordance with their academic qualification as well as professional expertise. These employees have a professional degree or experience to support their remuneration and the job designated by the company. Thus, they have lesser support from the unions and their participation in the union as a member is least. Their viewpoint and level of acceptability to the changes in the workplace varies as compared to the individuals who are working or supported by the unions. For e.g. transport workers. People working in the service sector are closer to the administration as well as participate in some of the decision-making activities whereas individuals associated with unions, have no such participation (Rantakeisu Jnsson, 2003). If the management has to bring any changes in the workplace of people who are associated with unions then a consensus from the delegate is taken to the minimal extent of negotiation whereas the individuals who are working in the service sector has more say in the decision-making policy. Therefore, the adaptability of the union transport staff to the changes in the workplace is more accepting as compared to those who are working in the service or public sector (AteÃ…Å ¸, Szen, YeloÄÅ ¸lu, 2014). Recommendations Employee engagement is a crucial aspect of HR which was missing in the organization before the acquisition. The new management has taken this into consideration which in turn resulted in the performance growth. Various Hr practices which have a strong influence in maintaining the consistency among the employees were used (Uen, Chen, Chen, 2014). All these changes which have been brought in should remain for the betterment of the organization. The two key resources i.e. the manager, as well as the delegate of the union, needs to be retained within the company. Apart from this the ideas, as well as the complaints of the workers, should be heard from time to time. Conclusion: To revamp the company, The Harvard Framework Model was adopted, and several changes in the workplace were introduced within the organization. The changes which took place were replacing the line manager, introduction of computer systems, new uniforms for the drivers, improved communication channel, and training for all the workers. The key resources responsible for the success of the company are the new manager as well as the union delegate. Their contributions along with the risks associated are critically analyzed.Employee retention policy of the HR in retaining the best resource is crucial for the organization. The workers are more acceptable and adaptable to the various changes initiated by the management. Laconically, the role of human resource is extremely crucial as well as exemplary. References AteÃ…Å ¸, F., Szen, C., YeloÄÅ ¸lu, O. (2014). A Comperative Study on Perceptions and Reactions of Workers: A Research on Blue and White Collar Workers. 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