chapter 1 Introduction overview earning outcomes The key themes that underpin this book are that: an empoyment reations system consists of actors, their institutions, and government agencies, and is set within its own economic, ega, socia and technoogica environmenta context changes in this corporate environment impact on the baance of bargaining power between the empoyers and empoyees and on the empoyment reations poicies adopted as a resut by an organisation Europe and European institutions, and increasingy goba pressures, infuence the empoyment reationship, and that there is a need for practitioners to be aware of, and understand, these infuences there is a need to understand and appreciate the reevance of empoyment reations within both unionised and non-union environments if empoyers are to engage their empoyees and improve organisationa performance, management approaches to empoyment reations need to refect and promote fairness, equity and trust negotiation, communication, consutation, istening, persuasion and presentation are a key empoyment reations skis ine managers in particuar need support in deveoping peope management skis there is a growing imperative to devise coherent strategies and practices for managing workpace confict. In the ast three decades, empoyment reations has undergone significant change. Union membership has decined rapidy, coective bargaining has contracted and there has been a significant and seemingy permanent reduction in the incidence of strikes and other forms of industria action. At the same time, the deveopment of human resource management has put an emphasis on communication, empoyee engagement and business performance. In this context, students sometimes question the reevance of empoyment reations for the contemporary HR practitioner. To this end, in this opening chapter we set out the case for acquiring the knowedge, skis and insight that underpin empoyment reations. 1.1 the reevance of empoyment reations First, empoyment reations is not ony reevant to the management of peope in unionised organisations. On the contrary, its fundamenta objective is to understand and, therefore,
2 Managing Empoyment Reations more effectivey manage the empoyment reationship between empoyer and empoyee, irrespective of whether or not that individua beongs to a trade union. Furthermore, despite the increasingy individuaised nature of empoyment reations, coective reationships sti exist in a organisations which require appropriate channes of voice through, for exampe, coective bargaining, empoyee councis or joint consutative committees. Simiary, in both unionised and non-unionised environments, empoyee grievances have to be resoved, discipinary matters processed, procedures devised, impemented, operated, reviewed and monitored. Second, the study of empoyment reations provides practitioners with insights that are argey missing in other management discipines. A core objective of this book is to broaden our readers understanding of the management of power and confict in the workpace. The interests of different parties within any organisation do not aways aign. This book is designed to hep you to identify the causes of confict and to deveop responses and strategies to the benefit of both the organisation and its empoyees. For instance, a fundamenta empoyment reations concept is the reative baance of bargaining power between the buyers and seers of abour services. If certain knowedge and skis are scarce in the abour market, or unions are strong in a particuar sector, empoyees are more ikey to be abe to negotiate improved terms and conditions. Conversey, if abour is cheap and easiy repaceabe, or unions are ess strong or absent from a workpace, the empoyer is more ikey to be abe to set the agenda for any discussion on the terms and conditions of empoyment for its workforce. Third, the context within which organisations operate is centra to the study and practice of empoyment reations. Bargaining power is shaped by the externa environment and therefore changes in product and abour markets, government economic poicy or empoyment egisation fundamentay shift the terms on which empoyers and empoyees interact. Good exampes are the changes in representationa rights in grievance and discipinary procedures and the statutory recognition procedures contained in the Empoyment Reations Act (1999), which provided an opportunity for trade unions to gain a foothod in organisations that were hostie to their invovement. In contrast, the financia crash and subsequent recession of 2008 radicay reduced the bargaining power of abour, and growing empoyment insecurity meant that workers accepted deteriorating terms and conditions in order to stay in work. At the time of writing, the Empoyment Bi (2015) proposes new restrictions on the abiity of trade unions to take industria action, which wi strengthen the hand of managers when negotiating with trade unions. We investigate the merits and imitations of such aws ater in the book, but, cruciay, the professiona empoyment reations manager has to be capabe of offering advice on how their organisation might dea with such situations that stem from decisions over which they have no direct contro. This book is designed to hep in this regard. Fourth, changes in the corporate environment hep to expain the dynamic nature of empoyment reations. In the ate 1960s and eary 1970s, in the context of rising prices, ow unempoyment and with the pay of most empoyees decided by coective bargaining, trade union membership grew steadiy, strike action was more frequent, and higher wage increases were obtained by empoyees from their empoyers. Today, trade union membership has faen, strike action is reativey rare and most empoyers are abe to decide uniateray on the rues and reguations that govern empoyment and, courtesy of ow infation, wage increases are much smaer. Empoyment reations professionas require an understanding of the impact of such changes so that they can deveop an effective and reaistic empoyment reations strategy. Fifth, in conducting their empoyee reations activities, professiona managers shoud behave in a fair and reasonabe manner and seek to persuade their management coeagues to behave simiary. This means acting with just cause and conducting a stages of empoyment reations procedures in a way that is compatibe with the standards of natura justice. For exampe, as we expain in Chapter 12, when handing a discipinary matter, it
Introduction 3 is crucia that: the empoyee concerned is aware of the detai of aegation against them; they are given the opportunity to respond to this; they are provided with the opportunity to be accompanied to a discipinary hearing; and they can appea against any decision that is made. However, practitioners must aso appreciate why such good practice is essentia to protecting and advancing the interests of the organisation namey, the avoidance of costy and damaging itigation but aso, and perhaps more importanty, estabishing a degree of workpace justice which can in turn secure the trust and engagement of empoyees. In short, good empoyment reations practice aso heps to underpin high eves of productivity and performance. Finay, it is crucia to acknowedge that the effective management of change and innovation in empoyment reations poicies and practices is essentia in a modern economy. This invoves being abe to anayse the suitabiity of new processes and practices, and anticipating any probems with impementation, and, in particuar the wider impications for reationships with key stakehoders. However, this aso requires empoyment reations professionas to be abe to identify the different negotiating situations in which managers may find themseves, appreciate the different stages through which negotiation may proceed, and be famiiar with the skis required. More broady, a fundamenta objective of this book is to equip our readers with the key knowedge, skis and insight to successfuy satisfy the requirements of the CIPD professiona standards. We understand that many students who study empoyment reations have very itte prior knowedge or understanding of the subject and have often graduated in other discipines or perhaps come to study through their manageria experience. For this reason, we try to provide the necessary basic knowedge to understand empoyment reations and aso the perspectives to aow for a more critica and nuanced anaysis of the subject. refective activity 1.1 What are your initia thoughts on the study and practice of empoyment reations? Which areas have you had experience of aready in your professiona work? Which areas appear chaenging and why? What strategy might you adopt to overcome these chaenges in your study and practice? 1.2 the cipd hr profession map In the ast two decades or more there has been a shift in the focus of the HR profession. It is now increasingy charged with improving the performance of the organisation by buiding sustainabe organisationa capabiity not just deivering on the day-to-day peope management roe, athough that remains important. In ight of this trend, the CIPD decided that a radica re-visioning was necessary to equip the profession for the chaenge ahead. So, in 2008, it commissioned one of the most comprehensive surveys of the HR community yet undertaken. Around 4,500 peope answered detaied questions about their job, their professiona needs and their aspirations. The resuts showed that: increasing numbers of HR peope go beyond their traditiona roe and are now required to understand what drives business performance and to bring into focus the empoyee capabiities their organisations wi need in the future whereas 50% of participants saw themseves as HR generaists, 50% saw themseves as speciaists for exampe, in the areas of reward, earning and deveopment and
4 Managing Empoyment Reations empoyment reations but aso in roes such as that of business partner. They wanted to go narrower and deeper in their basic and subsequent training 30% had an internationa dimension to their job 29% were studying. This incuded recent entrants studying to become CIPD-quaified but aso peope doing MBAs and other master s degree programmes. The survey demonstrated that members of the HR community were ooking for more structured earning and accreditation as they progressed in their careers. The key messages from the survey were: 1 There is a greater need for HR practitioners to know the organisation inside out. They are increasingy required to demonstrate an understanding of business strategy and an abiity to appy that understanding whie working in partnership with senior peope to contribute to organisationa performance. 2 The profession has become broader in reach, with greater depth in its expertise and a greater number of critica speciaisms. 3 HR professionas rey on a combination of technica knowedge (what you need to know), practica appication (what you need to do) and behaviours (how you need to do it). The research showed ceary that what defines HR professionas is practica appication. A major feature of this book is that it is based on a critica anaysis and understanding of the key concepts and context of empoyment reations, in order for students to subsequenty be abe to successfuy appy that knowedge in a practica way in the workpace. This approach is grounded in the recognition that the key chaenge facing HR professionas is to move from a primary focus on supporting ine managers to ensuring that the organisation has the sustainabe capabiity it needs to deiver its aims both today and in the future. The CIPD HR Profession Map has been informed by an extensive and ongoing programme of consutation with senior HR professionas and their eaders in business, the pubic services and management education. The cear message is that in order to deiver sustainabe capabiity, HR practitioners need to: know their organisation and understand the drivers of sustainabe business performance and the barriers to achieving it know the main ways in which HR expertise can make an impact and contribute beyond the confines of the traditiona roe have the behavioura skis to turn knowedge into effective action. The current version (2014) of The CIPD Profession Map: Our Professiona Standards can be found on the CIPD website. It charts the profession across three main dimensions functiona speciaisms, eves of competence and key behaviours. The map contains ten different HR speciaisms, which are referred to as the professiona areas. These are: strategy, insights and soutions eading and managing the function organisation design resourcing and taent panning organisationa deveopment earning and taent deveopment performance and reward empoyment reations empoyee engagement information and service deivery.
Introduction 5 Each speciaist area has four bands of competence moving from what might reasonaby be expected of an entry-eve practitioner (Band 1) through to what is essentia expertise for a board-eve HR director (Band 4). Exampes of an activity at four eves of competence might be: Band 4 (HR director) Leads processes to identify, articuate and reinforce the organisation s core vaues and behavioura expectations, and infuences eadership at a eves to behave in a manner that is consistent with them. Band 3 Deveops ongoing communications and management pans to ensure that empoyees and other stakehoders understand and respect the organisation s vaues and behavioura expectations and act in accordance with them. Band 2 Ensures that the vaues and behavioura expectations permeate through the organisation s processes, poicies, intranet and other iterature. Band 1 (entry-eve) Advises staff and managers about the organisation s vaues and behavioura expectations. For exampe, in Empoyment reations, practitioners in their first job are required to deveop their understanding of the organisation s goas in empoyment reations and how activity in this area contributes to deivering them. They are expected to feed ideas and observations to senior coeagues, to ook for ways to support ine managers more effectivey, and to evauate the impact of their work. In addition to the ten professiona areas and four eves of professiona competence, the HR Profession Map sets out eight behaviours corresponding to what HR practitioners need in order to be effective. These behaviours are divided into three custers: Insights and infuence Curious Decisive thinker Skied infuencer Operationa exceence Driven to deiver Coaborative Personay credibe Stewardship Courage to chaenge Roe mode Let us take the exampe of Courage to chaenge. In broad terms, someone exhibiting this behaviour shows courage and confidence to speak up and chaenge others, even when confronted with resistance or unfamiiar circumstances. This behaviour wi then be used and demonstrated in different ways depending on the seniority of the roe or in Map terms, the Band. For instance, one component of Courage to chaenge deveops in this way: Band 4 (HR director) Acts as a mirror to coeagues chaenging actions which are inconsistent with expressed vaues, beiefs and promises. Band 3 Hods own position determinedy and with courage when it is the right thing to do, even when those in power have divergent views. Band 2 Observes, istens, questions and chaenges to ensure fu discussion. Band 1 (entry-eve) Uses questions to expore and understand others viewpoints, taking these into account. An individua with the CIPD Associate Membership quaification shoud be capabe of adding vaue to their organisation. They cannot do this on their own they need to coaborate with others both within and outside the organisation. These outcomes are not
6 Managing Empoyment Reations necessariy what an academic woud emphasise in a master s degree programme. Here, students woud be expected to be aware of the puraity of perspectives on empoyment reations issues and themes, and be abe to criticay evauate competing theories and perspectives. Skis deveopment to sove empoyment reations probems woud have much ess emphasis. In this version of the book, we have sought to integrate the rigour of critica anaysis of competing theories and concepts of empoyment reations but, cruciay, aso the tangibe appication of that knowedge in the day-to-day practice of the discipine. refective activity 1.2 Refecting on the requirements to attain the professiona standards, through our discussion so far and by visiting the CIPD website, how might you begin to pan the achievement of the empoyment reations eements of the Profession Map? In what way wi you utiise the book to this end? 1.3 the infuentia manager It is cear from the discussion so far that if HR practitioners, at any eve of seniority, are to be proactive and to have infuence in an organisation, they must demonstrate certain abiities (see Figure 1.1). First, they require a successfu record of professiona competence in the HRM fied, which is recognised by their manageria coeagues both within and outside the HR function. Second, they must demonstrate an understanding of the HR function as a whoe and how its separate components integrate. Third, they must understand the interests of the organisation. Fourth, they must deveop a network of contacts with managers, both within and outside the HR function, in their own organisation and with managers in other organisations, incuding empoyers associations and professiona bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Personne and Deveopment (CIPD) and the British Institute of Management (BIM). Fifth, they aso need to buid fruitfu reationships with their superiors and to possess exceent interpersona skis, particuary with respect to communications and team-buiding. Each of these five abiities is a necessary condition for an effective and infuentia personne/hrm professiona practitioner and each is insufficient on its own. Figure 1.1 The abiities required of an HR practitioner
Introduction 7 A peope managers, regardess of their seniority, need to understand the nature of business in the organisation in which they manage in terms of its mission, objectives, strategies and poicies. In the private sector, effective and infuentia HR practitioners wi understand the bottom ine for the business and be abe to contribute constructivey, at the appropriate eve of decision-making, to discussions on how the business might be deveoped and expanded. In the pubic sector, the effective and infuentia HR practitioner wi understand how empoyment reations are inked to the quaity of service deivery, efficiency and vaue for money. The effective HR practitioner can aso expain how the various components of resourcing, deveopment, reward and reations contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the HR function. This means that he or she must fuy understand how the strategies and poicies of the components of the HR function ink together to achieve the goas of the function. The discussion in the book aso centres on the growing trend in many organisations to devove responsibiity for HR across management teams. Devoution often means that the services of an HR practitioner with a speciaism wi not aways be required. However, the activities of the empoyment reations function must nevertheess be deivered to the management team. Generaist HR practitioners with empoyment reations skis are essentia to any management team. This book therefore aims to provide the generaist HR practitioner and cruciay any other managers who have to manage peope with the appropriate empoyment reations knowedge and skis necessary to successfuy sove peope management probems. 1.4 the structure of the book To summarise our discussion so far, the CIPD empoyment reations speciaism centres on understanding, anaysing and criticay evauating: different theories and perspectives on empoyment reations the impact of oca, nationa and goba contexts in shaping empoyment reations the roes and functions of the different parties in the contro and management of the empoyment reationship the strategic integration of empoyment reations processes and how they impact on key peope management poicy, practice and organisationa outcomes such as empoyee engagement and empoyee performance the strategic importance of invoving empoyees in decision-making through empoyee voice mechanisms such as communications, consutation and coective negotiation the need to deveop and deiver coherent poicies, practices and procedures for effectivey managing a eements of confict in the workpace. To faciitate the acquisition of the key knowedge and skis set out in the Profession Map, and to refect the emergence of new issues and arguments in the fied of empoyment reations, the structure of the book has been substantiay revised for this sixth edition. Foowing this introductory chapter, the book is set out in three interinked sections. In section 1, encompassing Chapters 2 to 5, we aim to equip the reader with knowedge and understanding of the main concepts and modes of empoyment reations needed to criticay anayse the themes and debates deveoped in the book and, cruciay, to be abe then to appy that understanding in practica situations. This section aso covers in detai the context, or environment, in which empoyment reations are payed out in the modern workpace and the chaenges this presents for a HR practitioners. The discussion considers the impact, for instance, of changes of government on empoyment poicy and practice in the UK, the impact of empoyment egisation on organisations and aso the environmenta impact on business of EU membership and the continuing growth in gobaisation.
8 Managing Empoyment Reations Section 2 commences with Chapter 6 and a review of the roe of strategy. As we have noted in reation to the Profession Map, much weight is accorded to the notion of empoyee engagement, in order to gain the commitment of the workforce. It is a key eement of empoyment reations strategy and practice and is considered in depth in Chapter 7. The discussion in this section highights the centraity of effective eadership, which is expored in Chapter 8 in reation to the roe of the ine manager, which, given the devoution of peope management, is increasingy important in shaping empoyment reations. Simiary, the theory and practice of empoyee voice underpins effective workforce engagement. Therefore in Chapter 9 we criticay review the deveopment of empoyee representation in UK workpaces before examining the nature and impact of processes designed to faciitate empoyee invovement and participation in Chapter 10. Section 2 coses with a mode that incorporates a the key concepts covered in the first two sections and acts as a bridge to the discussions in the fina section. Chapter 11 offers a conceptua framework for understanding the notion of workpace confict and aso contextuaising the debates that take pace in the subsequent chapters. This fina section of the book refects the growing recognition by both practitioners and writers of the need for the HR professiona, and indeed a managers, to strategicay address, through poicy and practice, the causes and consequences of confict in the workpace. To this end, Chapters 11 to 15 cover in detai each of the key areas of confict management: discipine and performance management, responding to empoyee grievances, managing redundancies and, a more contemporary deveopment, workpace mediation. In this way, this text is designed to fuy support the CIPD-accredited empoyment reations speciaist modue by aso covering the skis required by an empoyment reations professiona practitioner in handing empoyee compaints against management behaviour (commony referred to as grievances), in handing discipinary proceedings, in managing a redundancy situation and in managing heath and safety. It additionay covers the management skis, knowedge and understanding required in devising, reviewing and monitoring procedura arrangements, and negotiation (coective and individua). Given the fundamenta importance of equaity and diversity to a aspects of organisationa ife and, therefore, the study and practice of empoyment reations, this key eement of managing peope is integrated into a chapters as appropriate. The book coses with a concuding chapter, which revisits in summary the key themes and issues raised in the previous discussions and refects aso on the future nature of empoyment reations, the opportunities and chaenges this may present to organisations and, specificay, the HR practitioner and ine manager. We hope you enjoy reading this book. If you can acquire and deveop a deep understanding and appreciation of its contents, you wi have an exceent chance of reaching the CIPD practitioner Professiona Standards in Empoyment Reations. Tony Bennett, Richard Saundry and Graham Judge
Introduction 9 CIPD (2014) The CIPD profession map: our professiona standards v2.4. further reading