Ever wonder why some organizations are super-performers and some cannot even reach a sustainable level? If you are thinking that the "super-successful" organizations excel because of their technological competence or financial soundness, think again! In the recent decades, organizations have witnessed the erosion of traditional tall organizational structures and hierarchies, and various practices have also become obsolete.
The main feature of the workforce after globalization is the complexity in nature and diversity of culture. It is in fact a befitting job to motivate and accommodate the total workforce under one umbrella because they all have come from different backgrounds, different cultures, different languages, and different professions. Hence, the modern HR Manager needs to be a Soul Management Manager rather than a "Compensation Manager". This involves a level of understanding and sophistication so far not practiced.
The issue faced in dealing with Employee Relations(ER) as part of the wider HR plan is that it is possible to include almost every aspect of HR as part of the ER proposition. The ER aspect of the plan can thus become too generalized. It is critical to have objectives for the ER plan that are specific and unique to ER. Otherwise, a critical success factor within organizationsnamely, how people are treated in their day-to-day relationship will be lost in a morass of generalizations.
In today's professional environment, it is necessary to find what creates or reinforces the "need" for employees to motivate them as per organizational requirement. It has been found in most of the cases that the business strategy is decided and implemented in a way that does not take into account the needs or the views of employees. Moreover, it is far from customer satisfaction also. In the modern organization, the employee expects to be consulted before the management reaches any decision, so that its implementation becomes easy.
The second aspect of the employee relations plan concerns industrial relations and the associated implications. Those who have worked in HR for the past few years will be only too aware of the significant changes that have taken place in this area. The overall thrust towards modernization has been going on for a long time. The current industrial relations environment is very different from the one that pitched IR professionals against the massed ranks of militant unionism, where strikes have almost been banned. |
