Employee Employer relations

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
EXPERTS VIEW

 A healthy mind results in better productivity at the workplace

and consulting with a professional provides an opportunity to
deal with personal or work-related challenges,

 While it may be easy to say that one should keep their

personal and professional life separate, the fact is that
whatever one experiences in one’s life outside work, does
impact how one behaves or feels at the workplace.

 Raj Raghavan, senior VP – HR, Indigo Airlines, emphasises

how valuable it is to understand the industry. He says, “It is
important to be aware of the industry which one works in, be
aware of which cycle the industry is in and learn to recognise
the trends. This will ensure one is prepared and be able to
predict the next slowdown or upturn. I have seen people
working multiple jobs to add value to their skillsets.”
 DELOITTE GLOBAL SURVEY TO MEASURE BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT
READINESS FOR THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION—OR ‘INDUSTRY 4.0.’

 The Survey that polled 1,600 C-level executives across 19 countries,

 There are two fundamental drivers that executives can consider when
trying to anticipate the changes:
 technology—robotics and cognitive/AI)—and the changing
workforce —gig economy, crowdsourcing, and so on.
 The Survey reveals that only seven per cent of executives consider
their organizations highly capable of planning for and addressing the
effects that technology-driven changes have on their organizational
structures and employees.
  The value add of the human worker will focus on essentially
enduring human skills, such as supervision, creativity and
emotional intelligence.
 61 per cent of the survey respondents anticipate that their organisations’
workforces will trend more toward contractual, temporary and/ or ad hoc
employees. This new type of worker–employer relationship will
create both opportunities and challenges to navigate.
 Ultimately, it is a culture of constant learning and adapting to the
workforce changes that will help businesses grow in such uncertain times.
 EMERGING ISSUES IN IR
 Economic Liberalization
 Labor management Co-operation through consultation
 The trade unions are expected to play a constructive role

 Demand for skilled , qualified and competitive workforce

 Unskilled & lack of commitment personnel – little to
contribute
 Technological inputs
 Manpower input for unit of output has reduced
 Problem of existing employees – displayed by technology.

 Unions face the problems of VRS or CRS

 Outsourcing and subcontracting

 BACKGROUND
 The Indian industrial relations system is rooted in British
common law.
 The IR system also reflects India’s diverse population.
 The unionization rate is low at 5% of the total workforce
due in part to large rural and informal sectors, which are
not unionized.
 Most unions are concentrated in large enterprises and
government-related sectors.
 After slow development during most of the 20th century,
economic growth has been high since the mid-1990s.
 Indian labor laws were liberalized as part of a broader
deregulation program in the 1990s, changing what was
one of the most protective labor law regimes in the world.
EMPLOYEE – EMPLOYER RELATIONS
 The term 'employee relations' refers to
a company's efforts to manage
relationships between employers and
employees.

 Thrust is on individual relationships

and there is a new emphasis on helping
line managers to establish trust-based
relationships with employees.
 EMPLOYEE EMPLOYER RELATIONSHIP
 Control of the manner in which work is to be done
 Responsibility for result only
 Terms of agreement between the parties
 The nature of the workers occupation
 The skill required for performance
 Whether one employee is engaged in a distinct
occupation or business
 Which party supplies the tools
 Whether payment is by time or by the job
 Whether the work is part of the regular business of
the employer and the right of the employer to
terminate the employment at any time. 
 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
It is multidisciplinary field that studies the employment relationship.

IR encompasses a set of phenomena, both inside and outside the

workplace, concerned with determining and regulating employment

Relationship between management & workers & the role of regulatory

mechanism in resolving any industrial dispute.

 IR is the study of governing employment

 Development of healthy labour relations
 Maintenance of industrial peace & harmony & avoidance of strikes
 Industrial Democracy
 FEATURES OF IR
 They are born out of employment relationship
 It is characterized by both conflict & cooperation
 Forms a part of large system which includes
environmental issues
 Involve the Study of conditions conducive to
labor, management co-operation
 Study of the laws , agreements, awards of court.
 Today’s problem stems from yesterday’s
decisions & its solution will ,as the environments
change, become a problem in the future.
 FACTORS AFFECTING IR
 Institutional factors- labor legislation
,collective agreement, employee federation,
social institutions like community, caste
system, system of beliefs.
 Economic factors
 Technological factors- automation ,
mechanization
 Social & cultural- race, ethnic groups
 Political factors
 MISTAKES OF IR LINE MANAGER
 1. Looking at short-term solutions to problems
 2. Acting without thinking
 3. Not having our finger on the pulse of the
employee(employer-employee disconnect)
 4. Being unaware of grey areas
 5. Meddling with union affairs
 6. Taking an “irreversible” stand
 7. Developing perceived Management Union
 8. Making helplessness evident
 9. Discouraging dialogue / negotiation
 10. Developing a vengeful attitude
 11. Concealing ground realities from seniors
 IR MANAGERS OF TODAY
 We need to prepare our IR practitioners to avoid short-cuts and dive deep into
the ground realities of human emotions.

 They should be able to understand the significance of individual capabilities,

role modelling, legalities, interpersonal skills, crisis management,
trustworthiness, communication, discipline maintenance, empathy and other
value-added softer skills, required to make optimum use of the available
workforce.

 Other than this, an understanding of the procedural skills of manpower planning,

recruitment, induction, appraisal assessment, remuneration management,
progression, training and development is also necessary.

 It is therefore clear that there are two separate goal-oriented branches of HR

study —Industrial Relations Management (IRM) and HR Development (HRD).

 People performance being key to enterprise value creation in the

service sector, the approach of HR gradually moved from
commoditisation to individualisation. As opposed to standardisation of
mass production days, individual talent became the key differentiator
to organisational success.”
GOOD INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS OFFICER
 They will help build trust, and prepare a transparent and sound IR
policy/programme based on human engineering.
 Hence, IR / ER managers have to ensure that their policies are
transparent and based on performance, thereby enhancing human value,
employee participation and satisfaction, leading to a team spirit.

 ‘Walk the talk’ demands self-discipline of mind, speech and deed

(mun, bachan, karm), along with a sense of time management.
 While the ‘mind’ is trained through conscious practices, ‘speech’ is
controlled through intellect and a ‘presence of mind’, to be developed
through knowledge and analytical thinking.
 The ‘deed’ is rationalized through working and aligning cause and effect’.

 ‘Time management’ is adhered with the delegation and speed of work.

Delegation is a matter of faith and faithfulness, which starts and
percolates down with self-demonstration, and can be encouraged through
training, loyalty and remunerative work output.
 All of these are consciously achievable through sincerity and
proactiveness.
 PROACTIVE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS PRACTICES
 Proactive approach:. The cost of conflict resolution in industry is huge. Efficient internal
communication in the organization is an important part of proactive industrial relations.

 Problem solving: Critical analysis was used as a tool to develop a proactive IR model for
future study of the discipline.

 Culture building: A powerful approach to build employee involvement and commitment is

through process-based role analysis and design, involving the employee himself along with
the boss, subordinates and concerned peers. This creates the agreed expectations from roles
and at the same time identifies the competencies required for good performance in the role.

 Developing line IR managers: There is an understanding that conflict can arise in

industrial relations and efforts should be made towards preventing conflicts and solving them
when they arise. In fact, the environment should be so built that there is no chance of
conflicts arising.

 Strict legal compliance: To be preferred employers, we should be on the right side of the
(Labour) laws applicable to the business or unit.

 In 1924, when Tata Steel had no money to pay the wages of employees, Sir Dorabji
Tata (son of Shri Jamsetji Tata) risked his personal wealth including his wife’s
jewellery, to pay the wages. This is a classic example of corporate parenting!
 FOUR DIMENSIONS
 Good IR begins around a creative core of two compatible elements coming
together—the head of the establishment/HR and the union leader
 This togetherness can only be achieved with the help of gluons, the
elementary adhesive.
 In IR , these gluons can be in the form of facilitators, behaviors,
attitudes, systems, ethics, norms, practices, technicalities, codes
of conduct, operating procedures, communication networks,
standing orders, as well as legal and administrative machinery.
 These gluons have the honesty and capability to implement togetherness.
 Length: It denotes the number of people covered and their leadership
 Width: or broadness of IR denotes the diversity and homogeneity of the
people covered. Individually, the employees may be of different
orientations, caste, creed, religion, locality, faith, education and position.
However, collectively, they are an organization
 Depth: the height or depth of IR, involves financial and social ease of the
company and its employees. This caters to the needs of the employees
(Maslow’s hierarchy), and a company culture that encourages employees
to excel in their personal and social lives.
 Time:  the concept of ‘time’, refers to its historicity and fragility. During its
entire journey, it is affected by individual mood swings as well as collective
social dynamics
 HOW TO GROOM WORKERS AT THE SHOP FLOOR?
 Authoritarian grooming .It is characterized by low levels of
warmth and responsiveness, with high levels of demand and firm
control. The focus is on undue obedience and over-monitoring. In
general, this style of grooming is associated with maladaptive and
reactive outcomes.
 Authoritative grooming It is assertive but not intrusive or
overly restrictive. It is warm, responsive, demanding, and
low in negativity and conflict.
 Permissive grooming It is characterised by high levels of
responsiveness combined with low levels of demand. These
bosses are lenient and do not necessarily require mature
behaviour. They allow for a high degree of self-regulation and
typically avoid confrontation.
 Rejection or neglect of grooming It shows low levels of
demand and responsiveness. These bosses are typically
disengaged with the subordinates, lack structure in their
grooming styles and are unsupportive. Employees in this
category are typically the least competent of all the categories.
 INDUSTRIAL UNREST
 On September 22, 2008 the CEO of Graziano Transmissioni India,
the Indian unit of an Italian auto component maker, was clubbed
to death by a group of 200 workers.

 In March 2011, a Deputy General Manager (Operations) of

Powmex Steel, a unit of Graphite India Ltd. was killed after his
vehicle was set afire by irate workers,

 in November 2010 an Assistant General Manager of Allied Nippon,

an auto parts maker, was stoned to death by angry workers,

 in September 2009 the Vice-President (HR) of Pricol was beaten to

death by agitating workers, and many more.


 CONTINUED
 HONDA- The problems in the auto-belt in Haryana date much earlier,
from 2005 in fact. On 25th July 2005, about 300 to 700 workers of
Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI) were reported injured
in a clash with Haryana police. About 3000 workers were protesting
a lockout of their factory and the dismissal of some colleagues.

 HYUNDAI: A 17-day strike starting 20th April 2009, at Hyundai

Motors India Ltd's [HMIL] Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, ended after
management and employees reached a settlement when the
management agreed to recall some of the suspended workers.

 MARUTI SUZUKI: significant strike that took place thrice (June,

September and October 2011)

 OTHER STRIKES: Toyota, Rico Auto Industries etc

 MARUTI ISSUES – TIMELINE
 Market leader Maruti Suzuki saw one of the worst industrial clashes in the sector in
2011-12, when, after months of unrest and two strikes, Human Resources Manager
Awanish Kumar Dev was killed and around 100 other executives injured in a mob
attack by workers at its Manesar plant.
 The Manesar factory, which manufactured 550,000 cars a year, was shut for a month.
It accounts for around a third of Maruti's total output. Work resumed only after
adequate security was made available.
 The riot began over a disciplinary issue with an employee. Company officials said
workers began to attack senior management during discussions, while the workers'
union said its representatives were attacked first.
 The violence lasted several hours. 1,200 policemen were called in to secure the factory
located 25 miles south of Delhi.
 The trial lasted four years. 100 management personnel and nine police officers were
injured during the clashes; most of them were hospitalized.
 A Gurgaon court sentenced 13 workers to life imprisonment for killing a senior human
resource manager in a riot at India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd in 2012.
 Four other accused were given five years in jail.
 Most of them have already spent four years since their arrest in 2012. In protest,
Maruti Suzuki Mazdoor Sangh said that workers will go on a tool-down strike on 18
March for one hour between 9pm and 10pm across six plants of the company in
Haryana.
 EXPERTS OPINION

 Experts pointed out that labour laws were compelling

companies like Maruti to rely heavily on contract
laborers, who are easy to fire and get far less in salary
and benefits than permanent workers.
 Maruti said at the time that it had been cutting
back on the number of contract workers it hired
and was prioritizing permanent jobs for them.
 The Economic Times had reported that half the
workers at Manesar were on contract, earning Rs.
6,000 a month - one third of what permanent
employees were paid.
HONDA THE STRIFE WITHIN-2016
 Honda Motor-cycle and Scooter India's (HMSI) Tapukara
plant in Rajasthan this February, days after the successful
conclusion of the biennial Auto Expo at which parent
company Honda Motor was the largest exhibitor.
 Workers clashed with police and went on strike
after four members of the nascent workers' union
had been dismissed.
 The company lost around Rs 200 crore, according to
initial estimates, as angry workers mixed chemicals in the
paint and damaged inventory.
 HMSI has perhaps the stormiest record of labour relations
among auto and two-wheeler companies in India - five
run-ins with its workers over 16 years, but it is far from
being alone.
 EMPLOYEES VIEW IR AS A VEHICLE FOR:

 Redressing grievance by one to one or

collective actions
 Securing better terms & conditions for
employment
 Growing better status for the worker in
the workplace
 Fostering democratic mode of decision
making at various levels
EMPLOYERS MUST SEE IR AS FOLLOWS
 Creating & sustaining employee
motivation
 Ensuring commitment from employees
 Achieving higher levels of efficiency
 Negotiating terms & conditions of
employment
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AFFECTS:
 Economic Performance

 Business Success

 Employees Experience of Work

 KEY PLAYERS

GOVERNMENT

INDEPENDENT 3RD PARTIES

EMPLOYEES EMPLOYERS
IR COVERS THE FOLLOWING AREAS
 Collective Bargaining
 Role of Management, unions &
Government
 Machinery for resolution of industrial
disputes
 Individual Grievances & disciplinary
Policy & practice
 Labour legislation
 IR Training
 Development of Industrial Democracy
 APPROACHES TO IR
 Dunlop’s systems approach
 Unitary Approach
 Pluralist approach
 Radical Approach or Marxian perspective
 Mahatma Gandhi’s Trusteeship
approach
 Unitary Pluralistic Marxist
Assume
 Capitalist society • Post-capitalist society • Capitalist
 integrated group • Sectional groups - coalesce • Division of labour/capital
 common values, • different values, interests, • social imbalance + inequalities -
interests, objectives objectives power, wealth etc

Nature of conflict
 one authority • competitive authority /loyalty • inherent in econ. & social systems
/loyalty (formal/informal) • disorder - precursor to change
 irrational + • inevitable, rational, structural
fractional
Conflict resolution
• compromise + agreement • change society

TU Role
 coercion • legitimate • employee response to capitalism
• internal, integral to workplace • mobilise, express class
 intrusive • accepted role in econ & consciousness
 anachronistic managerial relations • develop political awareness &
 only accepted if activity
forced
 UNITARY APPROACH
 It is grounded in mutual cooperation, individual treatment, team work
and shared goals.
 Work place conflict is seen as temporary aberration, resulting from
poor management
 Employees who do not mix well with organization culture
 Unions cooperate with the management
 Management’s right to manage is accepted because there is no ‘we
they” feeling
 Underlying assumption is that everyone benefits when the focus is on
common interest and promotion of harmony
 Based on reactive strategy.
 Direct negotiation with employees
 Participation of Govt, tribunals and unions are not sought or are seen
as being necessary for achieving harmonious employee relation
 PLURALISM
 Pluralism is belief in the existence of more than one ruling principle, giving
rise to a conflict of interests.
 The pluralist approach to IR accepts conflict between management and
workers as inevitable but containable through various institutional
arrangements ( like collective bargaining, conciliation and arbitration etc )
and is in fact considered essential for innovation and growth.
 It perceives organizations as coalitions of competing interests , where the
management’s role is to mediate among the different interest groups.
 It perceives trade unions as legitimate representative of employee interests
 It also perceives stability in IR as the product of concessions and
compromises between management and unions.
 Employees join unions to protect their interests and influence decision
making by the management.
 Unions thus balance the power between management and employees. In
pluralistic approach a strong unions is not only desirable but necessary
 MARXISTS
 They like pluralists also regard conflict as inevitable but see it as a product of
capitalistic society where as pluralist believe that the conflict is inevitable in all
organizations

 For Marxists IR has wider meaning.

 For them conflict arises not because of rift between management and workers but
because of the division in the society between those who own resources and those who
have only labor to offer.
 Marxist approach thus focuses on the type of society in which an organization functions.

 Industrial conflict is thus equated with political and social unrest

 Trade Unions are seen both as labor reaction to exploitation by capitalists, as- well-as a
weapon to bring about a revolutionary social change. Wage related disputes as
secondary

 For them all strikes are political and they regard state intervention ( via legislations and
creation of Industrial Tribunals ) as supporting management’s interests, rather than
ensuring a balance between the competing groups.
 DUNLOP’S SYSTEMS THEORY
 An industrial relations system at any one time in its development is
regarded as comprised of certain actors, certain contexts, an
ideology which binds the industrial relations system together and a
body of rules created to govern the actors at the workplace and
work community.

 IR system as a sub system of society

 IR = f (a,t,m,p,i)
 Where a= Actors , labor , govt , employees
 A hierarchy of managers & their representatives in supervision
 A hierarchy of workers
 Specialized government agencies
 T = Technological context
 M = market context
 P = power context (locus and distribution of power)
 I = ideological context that helps them to bind together
 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS /HRM
Dimension IR HRM

Psychological contract Compliance Commitment

Behavioral references Norms , custom , Values and mission

practice

Relations Low trust, pluralist High trust , Unitarist

,collective ,individual

Organization Design Formal roles of Flexible roles, flat

hierarchy, division of structure, teamwork ,
labor, managerial autonomy , self control
control
 COLLABORATIVE MODEL OF SOUND IR
 Sharing information
 Recognition of the dignity of the individual & of his
right to personal freedom & equality of
opportunity.
 Consulting each other on a regular basis
 Brainstorming together
 Bridging the gap between precept & practice
 Ensuring the support and sustenance of the top
management
 Organizing morale boosting safaris
 Focus on fairness
 IR POLICY
 Monitoring of IR
 Convening of meetings of Industrial
Tripartite committee and special
tripartite committee
 Decisions on closure , retrenchment
 Policy matters related to central public
sector undertaking on payment of
statutory dues.
 EMPLOYEE LEGISLATIONS

1. The workmen’s compensation act, 1923

2. The Industrial Disputes act ,1947

3. Industrial employment (standing orders )

Act,1946

4. The Trade union act ,1926

 PROMINENT NAMES OF WHITE COLLAR UNIONS
 The confederation of central government
employees & workers
 All India defense employees federation
 All India defense federation
 All India Railway men federation
 National federation of Indian Railway
men
 All India LIC employees federation.
 Indian federation for working journalists
 All India Bank employees Association
 MANAGEMENT RELATIONSHIP
 The management
 Job terms & conditions of employment

 Management styles & quality of relations

 Rensis Likert style

1. Exploitative authority style

2. Benevolent authority style

3. Consultative authority

4. Participative style
 The government

 Protective legislations

 Grievance handling machinery

 GOOD EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

 Fair and consistent treatment of employees

 Develop employee communications
 Communication occurs three ways
 Facilitating effective communications
 Disseminate information when needed
 Solicit employee feedback
 Employee recognition programs
 Must be sincere to have a positive effect
 EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK

 Appeals Procedure
 Open Door Program
 Speak-up Program
 Company hotlines
 Ombudsman
 Grievance Panel/Union Grievance procedures

 Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)

 Help for troubled employees
 Good faith attempt to support and retain
employee
 FACILITATING EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

 Multimedia technology
 Meetings
 Retreats
 “Grapevine”
 Cliques
 MBWA