4.Employer-Employee Relations Notes-1

EMPLOYER- EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
When an employer hires a new employee, he is not just bringing a new member of the
workforce aboard; he is also starting a new relationship. Because employers and employees
often work in close quarters, they necessarily develop relationships. Managing these
relationships is vital to business success, as strong relationships can lead to greater employee
happiness and even increased productivity.
Employee and employer relations describe the relationship between workers and employers
in business. It is the same relationship that he or she shares with every single one of their
employees, and it is this relationship that will determine the success and impact of that
employee’s time at the company. An employer’s relationship with their employees has to be
nurtured and taken care of in order to be beneficial for both individuals; their co-workers, and
the company as a whole. It has long been noted that strong employer-employee relationships
often lead to greater employee happiness and significantly improved productivity.
Many typical employer-employee relationships will vary on the scale of closeness and
familiarity, but it is essential that all employer-employee relationships involve at least these
five major characteristics.
1. Mutual respect
It’s perfectly fine to instigate a closer relationship with your employees to the point of
socializing with them outside of work. (This is particularly common in smaller businesses
and start-ups).
But even in a relaxed workplace, it is crucial to retain the traditional hierarchal structure and
encourage awareness of this in your employees. As a leader, you need to be ready to give
your team honest and frank feedback, whether this is about projects, employee appraisals, or
constructive criticism.
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2. Mutual reliance
There should be a balanced amount of reliance on both employer and employee. The
employer relies on the employee to do his or her job well for the benefit of the business; the
employee relies on the employer to treat them fairly and pay them equitably.
When this mutual reliance becomes imbalanced or one-way, problems will inevitably occur.
The employer may start to feel that the employee’s efforts are no longer instrumental to the
company and view them as disposable, while the employee may no longer value their job and
start to become disengaged. When either of these things happens, it’s time for the employer
to reevaluate the employee’s role at the company – whether a new agreement can be reached,
or whether it’s time to part ways.
3. Openness & communication
Any healthy working environment involves openness and transparency.
Employers can help create a forum of openness and honesty by asking employees candidly
about their lives, families, and interests. Employees can, in return, contribute to this setting
by being forthcoming about their lives outside of work.
Openness and communication is even more important for situations sensitive to the company,
or that require an otherwise serious approach.
Meanwhile, employers should keep their employees in the loop about business matters and
seek their input in important company decisions. Not allowing your employees to have an
active role in the growth of the company not only wastes valuable insight and energy, but
may also encourage them to become disengaged.
4. Support (and nurturing)
Employers should want their employees to reach their full potential and recognize when their
capabilities exceed their current role. Leaving natural abilities to stagnate will cause boredom
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and frustration to grow in the employee, and as mentioned earlier, waste valuable energy that
could better help the team.
Supporting employees even extends as far as helping them spread their wings and fly away to
a new job when the time comes. Employers ought to be invested in their employees’ success
as a whole and understand that they may not be at the company forever.
On the other hand, employees should be willing to show support for the company’s welfare
and progress, which may mean making sacrifices from time to time. Whether it’s working
late to fix an unexpected problem, or covering somebody else’s duties as well as their own,
employees need to be ready to show that they are invested in the success of the company.
5. Gratitude
Gratitude should exist on both sides of the relationship, but it is probably a larger
responsibility of the employer to recognize and appreciate exceptional effort from their
employees.
Maintaining a strong employer and employee relationship can be the key to the ultimate
success of an organisation, the results are advantageous. It is known that if a strong
relationship is in place employees will be more productive, more efficient, create less conflict
and will be more loyal. Taking this into consideration, is your company operating at its peak
performance? Is this because you lack a strong relationship with your employees?
The Benefits of Strong Employer-Employee relations
A strong employer and employee relationship is important for a company’s long-term

success. When a strong relationship is in place, employees are more productive and more
efficient. Some of the benefits are explained as follows:
Productivity
Strong employment relations create a pleasant atmosphere within the work environment; it
increases employee motivation. Companies that have invested into employee relations
programs have experienced increases in the productivity, and therefore the increased
productivity leads to increases in profits for the business.
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Employee Loyalty
A strong employee and employer relationship can have a drastic effect on an employee’s
loyalty, resulting in improved workforce retention. Having such a workforce improves
employee retention, in doing so the cost of recruitment, hiring and training is cut drastically.
For most businesses the high cost of employee turnover outweighs the cost of the employee
relations program that they have in place. Another benefit is that when the employee turnover
is low it ensures that the employer has a trained and skilled set of employees.
Conflict Reduction
Strong employer and employee relationships can result in a more efficient work environment,
reducing conflict within the workplace, and allowing employees to better focus on the tasks
at hand.
Quality Improvement
Company efforts to improve employee relations can improve the overall quality of the work.
Just as high employee morale encourages increases in productivity, it also encourages quality
work. Employee relations programs that encourage loyalty and reduce employee turnover can
improve the quality of the work the company produces. A lower employee turnover creates
an experienced and trained workforce, which produces higher quality work than new hires or
untrained employees.
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EMPLOYER- EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

3. Openness & communication

Any healthy working environment involves openness and transparency.

4. Support (and nurturing)

The Benefits of Strong Employer-Employee relations

A strong employer and employee relationship is important for a company’s long-term

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