Employee Relations - Week 4

Employee Relations

The term Employee relations itself indicates that it is a relationship between an employer and an employee. This is a very important area in any business to succeed. Organisations need to have good relationships between the employer and the employees. An employee will spend most of his or her time in a working environment and this has to be in a satisfactory manner. People have different needs but there are basic human needs and this must be met to have a good working environment. A good employee relationship will lead to good output and good profitability.

Image 1

According to CIPD "Employee relations has replaced industrial relations as the term for defining the relationship between employers and employees. Today, employee relations is seen as focusing on both individual and collective relationships in the workplace, with an increasing emphasis on helping line managers establish trust-based relationships with employees. A positive climate of employee relations - with high levels of employee involvement, commitment and engagement - can improve business outcomes as well as contribute to employees' well-being" ( CIPD, 2018).



Relationships are based on mutual understandings. Both employer and employee has to meet the expectation and the legal obligations of each other. Employee relationships are built on effective two-way communication, understanding and clearly defined job roles. Employee relations primarily focuses on managing and maintaining employee whilst in the organisation by communicating, consulting, resolving problems, handling disciplinary and disputes.

Employee Relations Policy

Image 2

Employee relations policy is where an organisation adheres to a policy which suits the company need. Every organisation has its own policies and it reflects how employee friendly the organisation is. Organisations need to have a better policy in order to attract and retain the employees it needs. Having a clear employee relations policy will help the employees to have a better understanding of the organisation. Some companies have published their employee relations policy to the public to showcase their approach towards their employees. Following links provides us with two good examples of such occasions.

www.nestle.com
www.prudential.co.uk



There are four types of employee relations policies.

1. Adversarial - This is where the organisation dictates what it wants and it expects the employees to adhere to it.

2. Traditional - This is about "give and take", Management proposes and the employees react to it. Employees might accept the proposal or reject it.

3. Partnership - Organisation permits employees to engage in drafting and practicing company policies but the organisation retains the rights to manage

4. Power sharing - This is where employees are allowed to get involved with the board of directors in strategic and day to day decision makings.

(Armstrong, 2014) 

Giving a clear indication of the employee relations policy gives a clear idea about the organisation. It helps the employees to decide whether they want to work for the organisation or not. This even gives a clear indication to the employees that whether their concerns will be addressed or not, will negotiations be effective or not. Employee relations covers all area of work life cycle. A better employee relations policy will promote great experience, positive relationship for all the employees of the organisation. This will provide a framework for the employees to do a better job with satisfaction.












References:

Armstrong, M., 2014. Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 13th edition, London. KP.

LMU, 2017/18. MN7181 Module guide, People and organisations: Principles and Practices in Global Context.

https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/relations/employees/factsheet.

Image 1: http://zmariyam.blogspot.com/2009/11/employee-relations.html
Image 2: https://www.business2community.com/strategy/strong-employeeemployer-relationship-important-achieve-0876781

Learning and Development - Week 3

Learning and Development

Image 1

Learning and development play a major role in human life. Human feels confident when equipped with knowledge and this will help people to perform a task confidently and accurately.

Organisations require individuals who have the knowledge to perform the tasks which the organisation demands. In order to prepare the people organisations need to set up a process to train and develop these individuals. To develop these resources organisations need to train the right people and make sure these individuals are learning what is needed. By identifying the style of the learner the organisations will be able to do an effective training plan and the trainee will be able to learn accurately.

Learning helps to create a permanent change in an individual's behaviour. This change will reflect in the individual's knowledge and skills.

Learning cycle

According to David Kolb (1974), there are 4 key stages of the learning cycle and need to go through each cycle to achieve the best results. Following image illustrates the Kolb's Learning Cycle.

Image 2: Kolb's learning cycle

1. Concrete experience – This could be achieved by actually doing a task.

2. Reflective observation – This is about actively pondered on what has been done and achieved by performing the task.

3. Abstract conceptualisation – This is about generalising the idea learnt from experience and observation could put it into a concept or make it as a theory.

4. Active experimentation – This is about effectively planning and testing the concepts or the theory and deriving to conclusions.



Learning Cycle could start at any stage but should follow the sequence to achieve the maximum outcome.

Learning Style

Learning style differs for each individual. Everyone has their unique style of learning. By learning the right style learner will be able to learn more effectively and efficiently.

There are two prominent theories about Learning Styles.

Honey and Mumford learning style and VAK learning style. Each style speaks of different aspects of learning.

Honey and Mumford Style

Image 3: Honey and Mumford learning style

Activists - Prefers to learn by doing things, Believes could learn better with hand on experience and with an open mind. Would prefer to expose themselves fully to the new learning experience.

Theorist - These types of learners prefer to understand the theory behind each action, these learners have the need to know why this is happening and how.

Pragmatist - These people try to apply what they learnt into practice in a real time scenario. They prefer to experiment with new ideas and techniques.

Reflectors - These people prefer to learn by observing. They prefer to collect information from other people's experience.

(Honey and Mumford,1989) 

Video 1

VAK learning style

Image 4: VAK

VAK learning style was developed by Barbe in 1979. This style mainly focuses on the sensory learning styles. According to him, people use different senses to learn effectively. VAK stands for Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic.

Visual - These types of learners are more keen on learning through visuals. They prefer using words, pictures, shapes, graphs, charts, and demonstration.

Auditory - These types of learners are keen on listening. These people prefer to listen to recordings and discussions.

Kinesthetic - These types of people prefer hands-on learning. These learners prefer to touch and learn.

(LMU, 2017/18)

Learning style differs from one individual to another and not necessarily an individual should fit in one of the styles. There are instances where a learner might be using one or more style and identifying the learning style will help the individual to learn more effectively and achieve the desired goal. People learn for themselves or learn from others. By identifying the learning needs and training the right people, organisations will be able to achieve its goals and visions. 

References:

Armstrong, M., 2014. Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 13th edition, London. KP.

LMU. 2017/18, MN7181 Module guide, People and organisations: Principles and Practices in Global Context

Image 1: www.medicaldaily.com
Image 2: www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html
Image 3: https://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/honey-and-mumford-learning-styles-a-simple-picture
Image 4: http://thepeakperformancecenter.com/educational-learning/learning/preferences/learning-styles/vak/vak-preferences/

Video 1: fuse universal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cf-1zx58CU 

Talent Management - Week 2

Talent Management

Talent management is a very crucial area in the modern business world. Any business to run successfully, it needs a pool of talented individuals. These individuals bring the changes which the business needs to succeed in the long run. All big corporations maintain a wealth of talented people who could spearhead the company into the future. Most of the time right candidates get picked up for the talent pool but there are chances people who get picked by favoritism.

Big companies have good policies in place for talent management. These companies have a plan on how to identify, recruit, train and retain the talented people.

Image 1

What is Talent?

Talent is an ability to do a task or a process. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word talent means "(someone who has) a natural ability to be good at something, especially without being taught:"

In the business world, according to Michaels, it is defined as "the sum of a person’s abilities... his or her intrinsic gifts, skills, knowledge, experience, intelligence, judgement, attitude, character and drive. It also includes his or her ability to learn and grow"(Armstrong, 2014).

Talented individuals are required by every organisation to achieve its goal. These employees will use their abilities and bring the change the company aspires.

The process of Talent Management.

Talent Management is the process of Identifying, obtaining, keeping and developing the talented employees for the success of the business by nurturing them in the best interest of both parties. Talent management has few levels of the process, each step plays a signifiacnt role in gathering the talent pool an organisation requires. The process as follows.

•  Talent Planning - This is the basic process of identifying the talent resources an organisation requires. 

•  Resourcing - Based on the planning, the organisation has to focus on resourcing the talent it needs. Talents can be obtained within the organization or externally. 

•  Talent Identification - Talent audits can be taken into considerations when identifying the talents. Could use performance management, appraisals, and training programmes to identify the talent. 

•  Talent relationship management - Ensure that effective relationship is built between the employee and job role and providing the opportunity to grow and treat the employee fairly to achieve the goal. 

•  Talent development - This is one of the key components in talent management. Should provide the environment to learn and develop and need to monitor do they really acquire the desired learning outcome. 

•  Talent retention - With a retention plan need to ensure the talented employees remain with the organisation and engaged with the job roles provided. 

•  Career Management - This process is to ensure the employees are given the opportunity to advance in the career and develop. This will ensure that enough resources are available for the organisation when it requires it. 

•  Management succession planning - This is to make sure that the organisation has the managers it requires in the future. 

•  The talent pipeline - This is the process of planning, resourcing, development, and maintaining the resource which an organisation needs. 

•  Talent Pool - This is the talent wealth which is owned by an organisation which is gained through the talent management process. 

(Armstrong, 2014)

Image 2: Talent Management pipeline (Armstrong, 2014)

Conclusion

Talent management is a very important area in the Human Resource Management. This plays a vital role in the organisation. Any orgnisation would not want to cease trading as soon as the key person or the most important person leaves the company. All department has to run smoothly despite any sudden change. Talent management helps every organisation to plan the future.

There are flaws in this process too. There are chances that the wrong person gets picked up by the organisation or not giving the opportunity to the right person. There are many examples in the business world where pure talents are discarded and later on these discarded talents have emerged as a big power in the business world and some instance they have become a super competitor too.
Despite these flaws yet the Talent Management is a vital process in any organisation.

References: 

Armstrong, M., 2014. Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 13th edition, London. KP.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/talent

Image 1: www.gograph.com
Image 2: Talent management pipeline, Armstrong M. 2014, A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 13th edition, page 267.