E-lecture 6: Employment Relationship

Question 1

What five factors influence the employment relationship?

Answer 1

1. Legislation
2. Expectations of the other party
3. Power balance between parties
4. Behaviour towards other parties
5. Emotions and attitudes

Question 2

What three factors is employee behaviour/attitudes influenced by?

Answer 2

1. Community
2. Trade unions/reps
3. Friends and families

Question 3

By what three factors are employers influenced?

Answer 3

1. Managers (or not)
2. Shareholders or trustees
3. Customers

Question 4

What are the three perspectives on the employment relationship?

Answer 4

1. Unitarist
2. Pluralist
3. Marxist

Question 5

Waht is the unitarist view on the employment relationship?

Answer 5

• Shared goals
• Keeping employees happy benefits all
• Conflict is just because of personality clashes and communication issues

Question 6

What is the pluralist view on the employment relationship?

Answer 6

• Conflict is inevitable  opposing interests
• Management has to balance conflicting interests
• Trade unions are seen as necessary and valuable

Question 7

What is the Marxist view on the employment relationship?

Answer 7

• Conflict necessary for workers to further their interests
• Reducing conflict only benefits management.

Question 8

How can the shift from pluralism to unitarism be seen?

Answer 8

1. Overall trend of decline in trade union memberships
2. Shift towards favouring employer in legislation protecting against dismissal.

Question 9

What perspectives on the employment relationship are important in the west and why?

Answer 9

In western world, Marxist view not important. Unitarist and pluralist views are important because they shape our perspective on the nature of employment relationships, the role of unions, and managers in HR practices.

Question 10

What are mutual gains?

Answer 10

happy worker is productive worker. Wellbeing-improving HR practices increase productivity and commitment. Are more likely when HR practices are perceived to create a positive employment relations climate and when they are more focused on encouraging employee commitment than controlling behavior. Unitarist view

Question 10

What are conflicting outcomes?

Answer 10

Pluralist view believes in conflicting outcomes: HR practices are for management benefit, and these practices are not in interest of employees.

Question 11

What is the happy-productive worker hypothesis?

Answer 11

job satisfaction positively relates to job performance and emotional exhaustion negatively relates to it.

Question 11

What is evidence for conflicting outcomes?

Answer 11

HR practices positively related to affective commitment and innovative behaviors, but HR practices are positively related to higher demands and therefore higher levels of stress.

Question 12

What is employee disciplining?

Answer 12

Employee disciplining: actions imposed by organizations on employees for not following organization’s rules, procedures etc. Can be both corrective and preventive.

Question 13

What are the goals of employee discipline?

Answer 13

1. Legal requirements
2. Performance improvement
3. Workplace harmony.

Question 14

How should a progressive disciplinary approach be communicated?

Answer 14

1. Be specific
2. Focus on behaviour
3. Create awareness of misconduct
4. Create understanding what needs to change

Question 15

Name four pieces of advice for terminating employees?

Answer 15

1. Who: direct manager should fire employee
2. When: pick a day that is not followed by at least one consecutive workday
3. Where: Neutral place that you can exit afterwards
4. How: Face-to-face and short (max 15 minutes to inform, explain and advise)

Question 16

What are the four voice mechanisms in the workplace?

Answer 16

1. Colleagues: might make you feel better but there will probably not be any feasible solutions
2. Manager: Have more power than you; could make changes and offer solutions.
3. HR-department: specific expertise of helping students. Can act as intermediaries.
4. Union reps: Gives collective voice to your employee group.

Question 17

What is employee voice?

Answer 17

how employees raise concerns, express their interests, solve problems and contribute to workplace decision-making.

Question 18

What is indirect voice?

Answer 18

focuses on strategic issues; collective concerns. It is done through representatives or intermediaries

Decline in indirect voice as organizations move from pluralist to unitarist view.

Question 19

What is direct voice?

Answer 19

involvement in day-to-day decisions; individual concerns

Question 20

What are the pros of voice?

Answer 20

1. Voice promotes self-expression, visibility and increased transparency of workplace practices

Question 21

What are the cons of voice?

Answer 21

1. Can lead to disillusion, frustration and dissatisfaction if managed improperly

Question 22

Why is digital voice becoming more important?

Answer 22

Digital voice can enable employees to voice their concerns publicly and anonymously. Alse enables collaborative problems solving between workers

Question 23

What are the three challenges of digital voice?

Answer 23

1. Only focus on narrow, predefined issues
2. Restrict two-way dialogue
3. Voices are easier to silence or ignore