F) Styles and Skills in Employee Relations

Question 1

1. Employee Relations and Management Styles

Answer 1

Human Resource managers can utilise a number of different management styles, depending on the task they are undertaking.

• In the case of negotiating a collective agreement on behalf of the organisation, HRMs may find that the consultative style is most appropriate.

 The consultative style is appropriate as it takes into consideration the needs and wants of workers.

 Then the HRM would put forward an offer as part of the bargaining process.

• An autocratic style is not appropriate as bargaining is necessary. A participative style would take too long, and allowing workers to make decisions may impact on areas that senior management consider to be ‘not negotiable’.

Question 2

2. Employee Relations and Management Skills

Answer 2

There would also be some specific skills that a HRM would find essential in this aspect of their position.
• They would need communication, people, negotiation and problem solving skills when enterprise bargaining.

• At the implementation stage, HRMs would need good time management, communication and perhaps delegation skills.
• If there is an industrial relations dispute, the HRM would again need communication, people, negotiation and problem solving skills.

There are many other skills that would be useful to the human resource manager. These would vary according to the individual situation they are dealing with.

Question 3

Management Skills: OVERVIEW HEHEHE!?!?

Answer 3

■ Communication
Related to the capacity of the manager to communicate effectively—to get the intended message across to the receiver.

■ Negotiation
In negotiations, a combination of discussion and bargaining among the negotiating parties aims to produce an outcome satisfactory to all involved

■ Delegation
Delegation takes place when significant tasks are handed over by management to an employee in the organisation.

■ Decision making and Problem Solving
Decision making involves making choices among possible courses of action. Decision making is indeed central to the many activities of management. Top management has to make decisions about matters such as the expansion of the corporation, overall financial strategy and the mix of products to be marketed. Problem solving consists of making a series of decisions.

Question 4

3. Good Employee Relations

Answer 4

It is very important for an LSO to develop good employee relations.
• This will help the LSO in a number of ways
• Helps achieve LSO’s objectives
• Increases: Profit, productivity—Level of output per unit of labour input, market share—proportion of the total sales commanded by a certain business within a given industry
• Decreased: Staff Turnover
• Become an Employer of Choice
• Safety Goals, workplace safety
• Achieve higher morale, loyalty—increases worker productivity, and Less absenteeism—reducing costs of labour.