2.6 HL add on Flashcards
There could be different sources of conflicts between employers and employees, what are they?
Change – change normally causes stress for the employees, especially if they cannot adapt to it.
Different interests – each Stakeholder has its own interests, and they focus on their personal goals. The manager’s interest won’t be the same as the employees.
Different values – the employees might have different values than the managers and vice versa.
External factors – changes in the economy, demographic changes (migration), new laws, culture clashes, etc.
Insufficient resources – not every organizations has full resources; sometimes the employees find themselves fighting for the available resources and that creates conflict.
Poor communication – lack of communication often crates misunderstandings. These can also occur when they have tried to communicate but the message was not correctly received.
Poor performance – when some employees don’t perform properly; this will not only affect the manager but also their peers and ultimately the organization. Conflict is also created when the employee is fired for the effect this has in the environment.
what is industrial action?
Industrial action is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees.
Industrial action is usually organized by trade unions or other organized labour.
Approaches to conflict used by employees?
Collective bargain – employees need to be in a good position to negotiate so they do it collectively. Normally in the form of a Union. The Union will represent all the employees in the bargaining process.
Work-to-rule – employees “do the minimum” required by the rules and regulations of the organization and nothing more (i.e., not answering the phone during lunch break). Again, employers can’t sanction employees since they are following all the rules. Obviously, the productivity is lower.
Strike action – employees collectively refuse to work. Since this is an extreme case, a strike should be backed up by all members of the Union to be considered official. Strikes proved to be a powerful tool used by employees to get their demands. However, now a days Governments and organizations are usually protected against this actions.
what are the 4 Harvard Principles of negotiation:
The Harvard Principle to negotiations suggests 4 principles:
Separate the person from the issue.
Negotiate not position-focused, but interest-oriented.
Develop criteria that a solution must fulfil.
You should have different options to choose from.
what are some approaches to conflict used by employers?
Threats of redundancies – aim to intimidate the employees with the threat of losing their jobs. However, this doesn’t mean employers can’t just fire employees since they are protected by law.
Changes of contract – legally change the terms of employee’s contracts to avoid future conflicts. However, the employers risk the fact that the employee might not sign the new contract.
Closure – rather extreme but could be a good way to end a strike action. The employers simply close the business. This means that employees will not receive any wages or worst employees are made redundant. This ultimatum might be enough to negotiate.
Lock-outs – when the employers temporarily stop the employees from working during the dispute. This is the opposite of a strike since is the employer who’s telling the employee NOT to work. Obviously, the employee won’t get paid and that might be enough to start negotiating. Additionally, this action may divide the Union.
what are the four ways to resolve conflict at work?
Conciliation and arbitration – when a third party represents the interests of the employees and the managers. Normally, this third party is external to the organization. Both parties present their demands, and a decision is made based on all the information.
Employee participation and industrial democracy – refers to partial or complete participation of the employees in running the organization. It can take extreme forms like “total control of the organization” (cooperative) or less extreme like nominating Union representatives that will participate in decisions. Collective bargaining and consultation also lie in this category.
No-strike agreement – this occurs when the trade Union agrees NOT to undertake strike actions unless the relevant steps are first taken. This agreement can be reached if the employer sets the rules and conditions in advanced. Hence, if the employer fulfils these conditions no industrial action will be taken (i.e. pay rises due to inflation).
Single-union agreement - there could be many Unions representing the same organization. However, the organization can ONLY recognize ONE Union to represent the employees. This saves the organization the difficulties of negotiating with several Unions and will lead to make a quicker decision.
