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1. BASICS OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

An organization can’t perform only with the help of chairs, tables, fans or other non-living entities. It needs human beings who work together and perform to achieve the
goals and objectives of the organization.

The human beings working together towards a common goal at a common place (organization) are called employees. Infact the employees are the major assets of an
organization.

The success and failure of any organization is directly proportional to the labor put by each and every employee.

The employees must share a good rapport with each other and strive hard to realize the goal of the organization. They should complement each other and work together
as a single unit. For the employees, the organization must come first and all their personal interests should take a back seat.

Definition of Employee Relations

The definition of employee relations refers to an organization’s efforts to create and maintain a positive relationship with its employees. By maintaining positive,
constructive employee relations, organizations hope to keep employees loyal and more engaged in their work. Typically, an organization’s human resources department
manages employee relations efforts; however, some organizations may have a dedicated employee relations manager role. Typical responsibilities of an employee
relations manager include acting as a liaison or intermediary between employees and managers, and either creating or advising on the creation of policies around
employee issues like fair compensation, useful benefits, proper work-life balance, reasonable working hours, and others. When it comes to employee relations, an HR
department has two primary functions. First, HR helps prevent and resolve problems or disputes between employees and management. Second, they assist in creating
and enforcing policies that are fair and consistent for everyone in the workplace.

To maintain positive employee relations, an organization must first view employees as stakeholders and contributors in the company rather than simply as paid laborers.
This perspective encourages those in management and executive roles to seek employee feedback, to value their input more highly, and to consider the employee
experience when making decisions that affect the entire company.

What is Employee Relations?

Every individual shares a certain relationship with his colleagues at the workplace. The relationship is
either warm, so-so or bad. The relationship can be between anyone in the organization - between
coworkers, between an employee and his superior, between two members in the management and so
on. It is important that the employees share a healthy relationship with each other to deliver their best
performances.

An individual spends his maximum time at the workplace and his fellow workers are the ones with whom
he spends the maximum hours in a day. No way can he afford to fight with his colleagues. Conflicts and
misunderstandings only add to tensions and in turn decrease the productivity of the individual. One
needs to discuss so many things at work and needs the advice and suggestions of all to reach to a
solution which would benefit the individual as well as the organization.

No individual can work alone. He needs the support and guidance of his fellow workers to come out with a brilliant idea and deliver his level best.

Employee relations refer to the relationship shared among the employees in an organization. The employees must be comfortable with each other for a healthy
environment at work. It is the prime duty of the superiors and team leaders to discourage conflicts in the team and encourage a healthy relationship among employees.

Life is really short and it is important that one enjoys each and every moment of it.Remember in an organization you are paid for your hard work and not for cribbing or
fighting with each other. Don’t assume that the person sitting next to you is your enemy or will do any harm to you. Who says you can’t make friends at work, infact one can
make the best of friends in the office. There is so much more to life than fighting with each other.

Observation says that a healthy relation among the employees goes a long way in motivating the employees and increasing their confidence and morale. One starts
enjoying his office and does not take his work as a burden. He feels charged and fresh the whole day and takes each day at work as a new challenge. If you have a good
relation with your team members you feel going to office daily. Go out with your team members for a get together once in a while or have your lunch together. These
activities help in strengthening the bond among the employees and improve the relations among them.

An employee must try his level best to adjust with each other and compromise to his best extent possible. If you do not agree to any of your fellow worker’s ideas, there are
several other ways to convince him. Sit with him and probably discuss with him where he is going wrong and needs a correction. This way he would definitely look up to
you for your advice and guidance in future. He would trust you and would definitely come to your help whenever you need him. One should never spoil his relations with his
colleagues because you never know when you need the other person.

Avoid using foul words or derogatory sentences against anyone. Don’t depend on lose talk in office as it spoils the ambience of the place and also the relation among the
employees. Blame games are a strict no in office.

One needs to enter his office with a positive frame of mind and should not unnecessarily make issues out of small things. It is natural that every human being cannot think
the way you think, or behave the way you behave. If you also behave in the similar way the other person is behaving, there is hardly any difference between you and him.
Counsel the other person and correct him wherever he is wrong.

It is of utmost importance that employees behave with each other in a cultured way, respect each other and learn to trust each other. An individual however hardworking he
is, cannot do wonders alone. It is essential that all the employees share a cordial relation with each other, understand each other’s needs and expectations and work
together to accomplish the goals and targets of the organization.

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Video 1: What is Employee Relations?

Types of Employees Relations

Positive employee relations can result in great productivity and creativity in an organization. Here, we will discuss six types of employee relations that you should focus
on for the success of your company.

1. Employer branding – It includes creating an effective image as an employer. Here, you have to work on your brand values and knowledge. Shortly, we can say that
you have to optimize your personality as a successful employer.

2. Recruiting- Here, you have to focus on the mindset of the candidate applying for a job in your company. Test their communication skills, their ideas and their approach
towards the post they are applying for. Keep the recruiting process enjoyable, fair, easy but professional. The candidates will be comfortable and therefore, they are
present their best.

3. Onboarding – When a new candidate joins your company, you should treat them well. You should introduce the candidate to other members of your staff. You also
organize a welcome lunch or a small party for the new candidates who join the company.

Basically what you have to do is to provide comfort to the new employees initially. This way, the new employees will be able to communicate with other staff members.

They will be able to work with the other employees and form a healthy employee relation. But, you should always keep an eye on the employee engagement activities.

4. Leadership- As appears from the term itself, it is an important responsibility. The right kind of leadership can take the company towards the path of success. The
person doing leadership should be generous, well behaved, honest and professional. The whole staff of the company has so many expectations from the person doing
leadership.

Therefore while choosing a person for leadership in your company, check the way he or she deals with different problems related to employees and the company.

5. Maintaining public relationships- It is described as the management of the relations between all the staff members. When you decide to release any information or
news regarding your company in public, you should always consult with all staff members.

You may hold a meeting in your company or any small gathering where you can present your thoughts to other staff members. Due to this, your staff members will think
that you value their opinion.

6. Management of performance- We have discussed many points regarding the employees but the most important thing in the management of his or her performance.
You should keep an eye on the performance of your employees.

You may compare the performance of an employee in 2-3 months. If there is any problem with the performance of any employee, you may frankly discuss it with them and
help them to improve.

Importance of Employees Relations

The ultimate goal of maintaining a healthy employee relationship is to make the company successful. That’s why every company or industry should focus on building good
employee relationships between the staff. Some benefits of maintaining a healthy relationship are discussed below.

Loyal employees – Since there will be good communication between you and your employees, they will frankly talk to you. Whenever, they will face any problem
regarding work, salary or any other staff member’s behaviour, they will discuss it with you.

Instead of leaving their job, they will choose to talk to their boss. Once they discuss their issues with you, you can take the necessary steps to solve them.

Motivated employees- Everyone feels good when someone appreciates them or their work. When you will appreciate your staff members for their work and
behaviour they will feel like you respect them and their work. This will motivate them to increase their performance.

Every day, they will try to work more efficiently for the success of the company. As a result, your company will reach new heights of success.

Reduced conflicts between employees- Many times employees start arguments in the workplace which create a negative impact on other employees also. If there
will be better communication between you and your staff members, any employee will choose to talk about the problem instead of augmenting.

They will choose discussion over fights. The staff members will form a bond where they will listen to each others problems. As a result, there will be fewer or no
conflicts between the staff members.

Forming a bond of trust – Trust is the base of anything. For example, will you hire a maid for housekeeping if you feel she can’t be trusted? Surely, you will never
hire her. Similarly, any employee will not be able to work if he or she thinks their boss cannot be trusted.

Therefore, build a relationship of trust with your employees. Always try to be honest with them. If an employee will trust their boss and fellow staff members, he or she
will feel more comfortable. Your employees will also maintain the bond of trust.

Balance between work and personal life- These days, companies force their employees to work so much that the employees feel depressed. Due to the unwanted
workload, they aren’t able to keep a balance between work and life.

They don’t get time for their family, personal chores etc. Due to this, their performance decreases. A healthy employee relationship means you give them enough
time for their personal life. You respect your employee’s needs.

Professional workplace- The good communication skills of your employees will let them focus on the work. They will not disturb other employees by initiating useless
discussions. Every employee will focus on completing the work on time. This will create a fully professional atmosphere in the workplace.

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Video 2: Developing Good Employee Relations

Objective of Employees Relations

Since now, we have discussed so many things related to the importance of employee relations, you might think of the objective for building employee relations.

Yes there are many objectives of creating this kind of healthy relationship between the employees.

A better employee relationship will let the laborers be a part of the company’s management. The managers will treat the laborers respectfully.

Since both the laborers and the managers will accept each other. There will be no chance of any conflict between laborers and managers.

Both will work together peacefully. When laborers will face any problem, they will prefer talking to the manager instead of doing protest. The laborers will not make unions
for protesting against the managers and the company.

The company will be more successful since its employees will work together and productivity will increase. The company will become more reputed since there will be no
news of conflicts or protests between laborers and managers.

Instead, there will discussions about the great communication skills between the staff members of the company.

Overall, building a healthy employee relationship is necessary nowadays. Since, every day we hear about conflicts between laborers and management in a company, the
protests etc.

Both the laborers and managers must respect each other work. They should build a professional but healthy relationship. When they will trust each other, there will be no
conflicts between them. They will always solve the problem through discussion.

When there will be no conflicts, every member of the company will be able to work and give their best. As a result of this healthy relationship between the employees, the
company will be more successful.

2. WHAT IS EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT?

Employee relationship management is a process that companies use to effectively manage all interactions with employees, ultimately to achieve the goals of the
organization. For larger companies, a human resources department helps with training and coaching supervisors how to effectively manage relationships with employees.
Small-business owners should also have employee training, management and monitoring activities to keep things running smoothly.

Employee relationship management can mean many things to different people. It starts with giving employees detailed job descriptions. It continues with training new hires.
Businesses must also monitor the performance of employees to ensure they are doing their jobs correctly.

A relationship is a two-way street, so you must make sure employees at all level can communicate back and forth. Finally, employees should receive feedback on how they
are doing, often done by annual reviews. During reviews, employees should be able to tell how they feel about the employer, as well. Good relationships with employees
helps you spot and resolve problems early, according to the National Business Research Institute.

Video 3: Employee Relationship Management

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Determining Employee Needs

It is not enough to assume that a company knows what is important to employees for them to remain happy and not look to leave. Needs vary greatly depending on
employee characteristics, such as age, gender, income level, as well as the type of job being performed. It is a good idea to find out directly from employees what their
needs are.

You can do this in one-on-one conversations that take place informally throughout the year, during formal employee evaluation meetings and through surveys that provide
a quantitative indication of employee needs. For example, younger employees might be more interested in learning new skills and advancement, while older employees
want stability and benefits like retirement contributions and health insurance.

Balancing Work and Life Needs

Effective employee relationship management requires consideration of the whole employee, not just the on-site worker. That means taking steps to ensure that the
employee's work-life needs are well balanced. This can occur through creative staffing that might involve part-time, flextime or even off-site work assignments.

Monthly employee birthday parties, company outings, day care stipends, gym memberships, wellness programs, charity events and other non-work related activities can
help make work less stressful and working for a particular company more fulfilling.

Open, Honest Communication

Communication is critical to establishing strong employee relationships. Managers must be committed to communicating regularly and honestly with employees about the
issues that affect their work. The more open organizations can be, the more likely they are to establish strong relationships that lead to increased loyalty and productivity
among employees and decreased turnover and dissatisfaction.

Look at the way your company's managers and supervisors communicate with staff members, and the communications channels your staff members have to communicate
upward to see if you are doing everything you can to manage your employee relationships.

Measuring and Monitoring Results

Effective employee relationship management requires tracking not only worker performance, but also satisfaction, according to corporate education provider Management
Study Guide. Managers should be alert for signs of discontent, which can be subjective, as well as carefully monitoring the results of more formal assessments.

Tardiness, missed deadlines, excessive sick and personal days, formal complaints filed, disciplinary actions and employee morale should all be tracked. The results should
also be shared with employees. Too often employees are asked to complete surveys and are not informed of the results or told what was done with the results and the
outcomes.

"People Skills" are Critical

Ultimately, employee relationship management requires the same skills and processes required to manage any relationship. A clear understanding of employees' needs
and a desire to meet those needs is foundational. Steps must be taken to interact effectively with employees through a variety of communication channels, both
interpersonal and formal (e.g., intranet site, employee newsletters, etc.). Finally, measurement of the effectiveness of these efforts should be frequent and ongoing, with
improvements and adjustments made when results are not showing continual improvement or satisfactory levels of performance.

3. ROLE OF HR IN EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Human resource management can play an important role in building strong employee relationships. They can conduct activities that allow employees to work with each
other as well as managers.

Between Coworkers
Peer relationships, if cultivated properly, can significantly improve your company’s culture. A good
relationship builds camaraderie and boosts morale. When teams work together, employees can learn
new skills, motivate each other and collaborate. Such a healthy environment encourages employees to
perform and achieve their goals.

Here’s how you can improve peer relationships-

1. Build Cross-Functional Teams (CFT)

Cross-functional teams span across organizational boundaries. CFTs allow employees from different
departments to combine their skills and work towards a common goal.

Building such teams can allow people from diverse departments who have never worked together to get
to know each other. Moreover, when people with different skills work on a project together, problem-
solving becomes efficient. When you club together people who are experts in different domains, new
and innovative ideas will emerge.

When people work together, they can let go of their presumptions and understand each other’s perspectives. It allows them to see how their team members arrive at a
conclusion and their thought process. It makes them more understanding and accepting of each other.

2. Encourage Social Interactions

The best way to get people to interact with each other is through food. At Vantage Circle, we celebrate all major company milestones with mandatory team lunches.

If you think about it, it’s extraordinary that employees come to work every day, work at the same space but rarely talk to each other. At large corporations, people usually
keep to themselves. Even during lunch breaks, they eat at their respective desks, scrolling through their phones, watching videos, etc.

To ensure that employees don’t remain as strangers, you can organize team lunches and potlucks. These events can be great opportunities for people to network with
people from other groups. A relaxed environment of this kind can even give rise to friendships and strong bonds.

3. Conduct Team Building Activities

The benefits of conducting team building activities are endless. It makes communication among employees more frequent, improves problem-solving and decision-making
skills.

Most importantly, team building activities build and strengthen relationships. When teams collaborate, it paves the way for trust to be built, exchange ideas and opinions.
Mostly, it is about sharing and combining knowledge and experience to reach goals.

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4. Equip them with Communication Tools

For relationships to form and sustain, employees need to communicate with each other. Lack of communication can cause misunderstandings and as a result, give rise to
conflicts.

With the influence and immediacy of technology in the present age, the need to always stay connected is paramount. Workplaces too need to equip themselves similarly.

Empowering employees with communication tools is a great way to ensure that employees can always share important information with each other. Cloud-based
messaging tools like Skype, Slack allow people to share messages, pictures and files from anywhere around the world at any time. Therefore, with new-age
communication tools, you can effectively strengthen relationships between your remote workers too.

Between the Manager and the Employee

Employees often hesitate before sharing information with their managers because they’re always worried about how it’s going to reflect on their performance review. But
managers who can merge the gap between them and their employees without being too friendly or too authoritative will build lasting relationships with their employees.

1) Hold 1:1 Meetings

Different from a feedback or appraisal meeting, a 1-1 meeting is a face-to-face interaction between the manager and the employee. These meetings are pre-decided and
held with every individual in the organization. In these meetings, the employee can discuss anything- new ideas, issues, concerns- with the manager.

Managers play a crucial role when it comes to conducting these meetings. Once you have made time in your calendar to hold a 1-1 with an employee, how your
relationship progresses from there depends a lot on you.

First, they must create an environment where employees feel comfortable enough to share their concerns and issues with them.

Secondly, once the employee starts sharing his concerns, the manager must be rational and open-minded while listening and trying to resolve the situation. When the
employee sees that you were accepting of their ideas or concerns, they’ll want to come back to you to share. This will build trust and deepen your bond with your
employees.

2) Conduct Surveys to Understand how Employees Feel

Working in this industry, we often hear executives and CEOs complaining about how their employees aren’t engaged, their turnover is too high and so on. But instead of
trying to find out why the employees aren’t satisfied, companies try to load them with meaningless, etc.

You might be providing employees with great insurance plans but maybe what they really want is a work from home policy. The only way to know this is by conducting
surveys.

Surveys like engagement surveys, 360-degree surveys enable the organization to understand the needs of the organization. Once you know where you are lacking, you
can work on rectifying and providing feasible solutions to your employees.

The result of holding these surveys will be that your workforce will feel that you genuinely care about their needs and requirements. This will build trust, loyalty, improve
your branding and strengthen the overall relationship you have with your employees.

3) Transparency and Involvement Must go Hand-in-Hand

One of the worst things you can do as a manager is keeping your employees in the dark. Just like your partner, your employees will never have a trusting relationship with
you if they feel you are hiding things from them. Therefore, always be clear and transparent with your actions and the decisions you make. Let everyone know what’s going
on in the company, what changes have been adopted, how much the company makes and so on.

Another very important pointer for your employee relationship management is involving employees. When you favor a handful of employees, share information only with
them and try to include them in all decision-making processes, others take notice. And it’s only natural that they feel offended by it.

Therefore, to maintain a fair and unbiased work environment, include everyone in your discussions. Give everyone the opportunity to share their ideas and express their
opinions.

Employee Relations Tools

The responsibilities of an employee relations specialist include everything from determining whether the company’s performance management system is appropriate for the
workplace size and employee occupations to planning an employee recognition banquet. Specialized tools allow the employee relations specialists to stay up to date on
the latest staff viewpoints and workforce trends.

Employee Opinion Surveys

One of the most valuable tools for employee relations specialists is an employee opinion survey. These surveys have two functions: They measure the workplace climate in
terms of employee satisfaction and they serve as a tool to create action plans for managers in modifying work conditions to improve overall job satisfaction. Questions
examine employee opinion in specific areas such as compensation and benefits; general employee opinion survey questions ask for feedback from employees on a variety
of workplace issues, such as leadership, performance, pay and overall work attitudes.

Training Aids
Supervisors and managers frequently consult employee relations specialists for advice on how to determine when to administer employee discipline or when to consider
termination. Before effecting decisions concerning the employment relationship, leadership training may be in order. The benefits of leadership training are improved
relationships between supervisors and their employees as well as more effective workforce management skills. When employee relations specialists are called on to help
improve supervisor and manager performance, they general use one-on-one guidance based on their expertise supplemented by materials such as tapes and books.

Legal Resources
Employee relations specialists keep current on labor and employment laws, as well as legislation that can potentially affect the work environment. Therefore, legal
resources available for researching labor and employment laws are an oft-used employee relations tool. Legal resources include subscription-based services as well as
publicly available resources such as legislative summaries and news feeds. In addition, knowledge of labor and employment laws permits employee relations specialists to
perform the basic duty for which they are hired: protect the interests of the employer while maintaining a productive employer-employee relationship. Although legal
counsel is another resource for employee relations specialists, too-frequent dependence on legal counsel can drive up employer costs.

Human Resource Information Systems

Human resources information systems are tools employee relations specialists use regularly. HRIS generate employee census reports and assist employee relations
specialists in analyzing workforce trends, compensation structure, pay practices and recruitment and selection processes. Annual reports to federal agencies such as the
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are based on data compiled and
stored via complex HRIS.

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Departmental Expertise
Employee relations specialists are usually human resources generalists with a broad knowledge base. Nevertheless, despite their exceptionally broad understanding of
topics such as compensation, safety, recruitment and employee development, they rely heavily on the expertise of HR department employees who handle employee issues
in these areas day in and day out. An employee relations tool, therefore, is the expertise of colleagues who lend additional expertise and knowledge whenever required.

Strategies to Improve Employee Relations

For the organization to perform better it is important that the employees are comfortable with each other, share a good rapport and work in close coordination towards a
common objective. People feel responsible and motivated to do good work and enjoy their work rather than taking it as a burden.

It is important that the management promotes healthy employee relations at workplace to extract the best out of each individual. Competition is essential but it should not
promote negativity or any kind of enmity among the employees.

Let us go through some steps and strategies for a healthy employee relationship in the organization.

Involve your team members: They should feel important and indispensable for the organization. An individual must be assigned responsibilities according to their
interests and responsibilities. Don’t impose work on them. Let them willingly accept challenges. They must enjoy whatever they do otherwise they would end up
fighting with their superiors and fellow workers.

Encourage individuals to share their work with each other: This way people tend to talk with each other more, discuss things among themselves and thus the comfort
level increases. Let them work together and take decisions on their own. A team leader should intervene only in extreme cases of conflicts and severe
misunderstandings.

Assign them targets and ask all your team members to contribute equally and achieve the target within the desired time frame. Motivate them to work in groups. This
way employees have no other choice than to trust their fellow workers and take each other’s help as well. An employee must have the liberty to express his ideas and
all of them should sit together to decide on something which would be beneficial to all.

One should try his level best that all the employees must have their lunch together at the same time. Half an hour to fourty five minutes must be dedicated to lunch
and one should not discuss work during lunch time. There are other topics as well. Discuss movies, sports, shopping or any other thing under the sun. There will be no
harm if the employees go out together once in a while for get togethers, picnics or shopping. Ask them to bring their family members as well.

Encourage effective communication among the team members. It has been observed that poor communication leads to confusions and misunderstandings. The
communication has to be precise and relevant. One should not play with words and be very specific about his expectations from his fellow workers as well as the
organization. If you are not very happy with your colleague’s proposal, don’t keep things to yourself. Voice your opinion and do express your displeasure. It will
definitely prevent a conflict among employees later and improve the relations among them. Be straightforward. Don’t pretend things just to please your boss. If you
find anything unacceptable, discuss with your superior but in a polite way.

Written modes of communication must be promoted among the employees for better transparency. Verbal communication is not as reliable as written communication.
The agendas, minutes of the meeting, important issues must be circulated among all through emails. Make sure that all the related employees are in the loop. Don’t
communicate individually with any of the employees as the other one might feel neglected and left out.

Morning meeting is another effective way to improve the relation among the employees. Let everyone come together on a common platform and discuss whatever
issues they have. The meetings must not be too formal. Allow the team members to bring their cups of coffee. Start your day with a positive mind. Greet everyone with
a warm smile. Exchange greetings and compliments. If any of your team member is not in a pleasant mood, do take the initiative and ask what is wrong with him. Try
your level best to provide him a solution.

Organize birthday parties, Christmas parties, New Year parties etc. at the workplace. These small initiatives actually go a long way in strengthening the bond among
the employees. Ask all of them to decorate the office, their work stations and make all the necessary arrangements themselves. You will actually be surprised to find
out that everyone would be ready with some thing or the other. Employees would actually take the initiative and organize things on their own. Let them enjoy with each
other and have fun.

Praise the individual if he has done something exceptionally well. Reward him suitably. The names of the top performers must be displayed on the notice boards for others
to draw inspiration from them. Encourage everyone to perform well to live up to the expectations of the superiors as well as the management.

A healthy relation among employees promotes a positive ambience at the work place and employees feel happy and satisfied at work. They look forward to going to office
daily and also work hard to realize their team’s as well as organization’s goals.

Role of Communication in Employee Relationship

A healthy employee relationship ensures a positive environment at work and also helps the employees to achieve their targets at a much faster rate. People are more
focused, can concentrate better in their assignments and hence the output increases. Employees are not engaged in constant fights, are eager to help each other and do
not take work as a burden. They enjoy each and every moment at work and do not take leaves often.

Communication is not only important in our daily lives but also plays a crucial role at workplace. It is one of the most important factors which either improves or spoils the
relationship among employees.
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The communication has to be transparent and precise for a warm relationship among employees. Clarity in thoughts is important. Don’t assume that the other person will
come to know on his own what is going on in your mind. The thoughts must be converted sensibly into relevant words such that the other person is able to understand you
well.

The employees must be very clear about what is being expected from them. Their key responsibility areas, roles and responsibilities must be communicated to them in the
desired form for them to perform their level best. Don’t play with words. Be straightforward and precise in what you expect from your team members. Don’t blame them
later. Haphazard thoughts and abstract ideas only lead to confusions and spoil the relationship among the employees.

Video 4: Communication Skills at Work

Let us go through the below example:

Janet was working as a key accounts manager with a leading advertising firm. First she wanted Ted to prepare a report on marketing and sales strategies undertaken by
her organization, then she wanted him to prepare a report on the branding techniques and finally she asked him to also include the promotion strategies. She herself was
not very clear about her expectations. Poor Ted was so confused that he submitted an incomplete report to Janet. She was not at all happy with Ted’s performance and
always side-lined him in future.

In the above example, Janet was not very clear about the content of the report and also confused Ted. One needs to express his ideas clearly for the other person to
understand it correctly. Poor communication in this case spoiled the relation between Janet and Ted who were once good friends.

Had Janet told Ted to prepare an exhaustive report on Marketing, sales, branding as well as the promotion techniques undertaken by the organization, things would been
crystal clear and Ted would not have made any mistakes. One should be first very clear about his needs, expectations and then only communicate it to the other person.

Don’t change statements quite often. Be firm. One should not tamper any data or manipulate truth. You would never gain anything out of it. Be honest and pass on
information in its desired form. If your boss has asked you to download some information to your fellow team members, please do pass it on as it is. Don’t try to add or
delete words as it would earn you a bad name. No one would trust you in future or come to your help whenever required. Remember honesty always pays in the long run.

Think twice before you speak. Avoid using foul words against anyone at the workplace as it spoils the ambience of the office and leads to several disputes among
individuals. Don’t say anything which would hurt anyone. Avoid lose talks. It is okay to enjoy at work but one should never cross his limit. If you do not agree to anyone’s
ideas, it is better to discuss things with him rather being rude or harsh. Whatever you communicate has to be crisp, relevant and should make sense. Don’t utter non sense
at work. Be a little professional in your approach.

Important information should be passed on in the presence of each and every employee for better clarity. Every employee should have the liberty to express his views and
ideas. Don’t expect you would clear your doubts later on, ask questions then and there. No one would feel bad, rather appreciate your interest and attentiveness but do not
jump in between. Do wait for your turn to speak. Don’t meet anyone separately as the other person might feel neglected or left out resulting in major displeasure and
conflict among the team members. Do take care of your pitch and tone. It should not be too loud.

Depend more on written modes of communication as they are more reliable as compared to verbal communication. An individual might back out if the information is passed
on to him verbally as there are no records, but it never happens in written modes of communication. Prefer passing on information through Emails. All the related team
members must be marked a carbon copy so that everyone knows what is being communicated to his fellow member. One should master the art of writing emails.
Remember an email is nothing but a mirror image of one’s thoughts. Make sure that your mail is self-explanatory and everyone is clear about your ideas and opinions.

An employee needs to be constantly motivated to avoid a dip in his performance. If someone has performed exceptionally well, do not hesitate to praise him. Words like
“Well done”,“Bravo”,“Great Performance” go a long way in making the individual happy. If you are satisfied with your team member’s performance, do communicate your
feelings to him.

Communicate effectively with your fellow team members and you would never have a problem with anyone. People would respect you and work would be fun for you.

Qualities in a Professional for Better Relationship with Co Workers

An individual must share a warm relationship with his fellow workers to remain happy and satisfied at work. Don’t fight with your colleagues and spoil the decorum of the
office. You need people around to talk to, discuss several issues, evaluate the pros and cons of your ideas and finally come to a solution which would be fruitful to you as
well as others.

An individual must have certain qualities for a better relationship with his fellow workers:

One needs to be sensible enough to understand that every organization has a set of policies and it is mandatory for everyone to abide by the rules and
regulations. One can’t go against the policies no matter whether he likes them or not. One can’t get all the comforts at his office just like home. You can’t be too fussy
at work. If your organization is paying you; they would also expect work from you. At work you cannot always take leaves whenever you like. There would be times
when you wish to be with your friends, but if your organization needs you, you have to be there at any cost. Excuses don’t work in such a scenario. Professional
commitments are far more important than personal pleasures. Don’t give your management an opportunity to raise a finger against you.

Stay positive and motivated. Nothing works better than self motivation. Look for reasons to stay motivated. Remember happiness lies within you. Enter your office
with a smiling face. Don’t work out of any compulsion. If your job is getting stagnant, it is always better to move on. Don’t stick to it and crib. One must understand that

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every organization would have some or the other problem, you can’t leave all of them. You need to adjust somewhere so why not in your present company? Be a little
adjusting and try to be friendly with your team members. Don’t spread rumours or pull anyone into controversies.

Avoid pretending to be good in front of your boss. Such a habit might earn you a bad name in your team and your fellow workers might ignore you when you need
them. Your work speaks and nothing apart from that really matters. Don’t try to play politics against anyone just for a promotion or mere appreciation from your boss.
One should never manipulate truth and pass on the information as it is. Never backstab anyone. Honesty always pays in the long run.

An employee has to be a good communicator for an effective employee relationship. Be transparent in your communication. Never play with words with an
intention to confuse others. If you do not agree to anyone, don’t simply say a yes. Sit with him and discuss in a way to convince the other party.

One needs to be firm on his statements. Don’t change your mind quite often. It leads to misunderstandings and confusions among others.

Be patient and never be rude to anyone. One should speak what is acceptable at the workplace. Don’t use foul words against anyone. Learn to keep a control on
your tongue. Avoid being hyper at work. It is always better to ignore minor issues rather than fighting with others.

One needs to be disciplined at work. Follow your organization’s policies. Never be late to work. If your office timing is 9.30 AM, make sure you are there sharp at
9.28 AM. Work for yourself, not for others. Your boss cannot always sit on your head. If your superior is not there in the office, it does not mean you will roam here and
there. Sit at your workstation, concentrate on your work and leave on time. Don’t unnecessarily irritate people. If you are not disciplined; no one would appreciate you.

One should respect his superiors as well as his colleagues. Relationships would never improve unless and until you respect others. Treat all as one.

One should give his team member his desired space. Respect each other’s privacy. Too much of interference in each other’s work is bad. Avoid staring at
anyone’s computer screens or try overhearing anyone else’s conversation. Don’t open couriers or notepads not meant for you. It might contain something confidential
and the other person may not like it.

One should always keep his superiors in the loop in every communication. If you are sending an email to an external party make sure a cc is marked to your
boss and he is aware of the entire development. Any information meant for all team members should be downloaded to them in the correct way.

Avoid being jealous at work. If your colleague has done well, do appreciate him.

4. REFERENCES
1. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/types-employee-relations-38466.html

2. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-relations-tools-10886.html

3. https://www.bamboohr.com/hr-glossary/employee-
relations/#:~:text=The%20definition%20of%20employee%20relations%20refers%20to%20an%20organization's%20efforts,more%20engaged%20in%20their%20work.

4. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/what-is-employee-relations.htm

5. https://blog.vantagecircle.com/employee-relationship-
management/#:~:text=Employee%20Relationship%20Management%20or%20ERM,allows%20them%20to%20be%20creative.

6. https://www.workforcehub.com/blog/7-strategies-to-improve-employee-relations-for-a-phenomenal-workplace/

7. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-relationship-management-709.html

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