Labour-management relationship is significant for higher productivity
Higher productivity is one of the most essential factors to consider in organisational achievements. In these days of a competitive business world, the lively element between productivity and labour-management relations is critically essential for a company’s existence.
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It is indeed always imperative for management and labour to identify the latest issues in industrial relations and productivity-based wage structures and identify practical strategies to improve upon the labour and management relations so as to increase productivity and competitiveness for the enterprise.
Rightly, a cooperative culture between labour and management can guarantee enterprise attractiveness in an increasingly harsh and competitive business environment. This cooperative culture depends on the foundation of openness, commitment, trust and communication, which in turn permits labour and management to share information and knowledge to tackle internal or external challenges that may arise. The labour and management relation is a deliberate, mutual and intended process. And so, the role of labour and management is to maintain a sound industrial relations environment and also dare to create the necessary machineries or platforms to facilitate the collaboration and the relationship.
Far significantly, the labour-management relationship from any perspective hinges on competent, experienced and fair dealing by management with their employees, and this is essential for the establishment and maintenance of sound and cordial industrial relations.
For labour, this should saturate through the whole hierarchy of management from the low-level supervisors to top level directorate. So without a doubt, in seeming to find an established better relationship between labour and management, it is significant for one to know that in every organisation, activities spin around two major groups and that is between the employer and the employee. Hence, the co-operation between the two is necessary if the organisation would want to realise its corporate objectives.
Both labour and management must be concerned with the people at work and their relationships within the enterprise. The aim must then be to bring together and develop into an effective organisation the men and women who make up the business, having concern for the well-being of the individuals and of the working groups, while enabling them to make their best contributions to the organisation’s success.
Responsibilities of the employer in the relationship
Consequently, the presence of an employer brings to bare the company of employees. This creates industrial relations, or employer-employee relations or worker-management relations. By practice, this relationship is run by collective agreements, labour laws, customs, regulations, conventions, references and traditions. To be able to have peaceful and smooth labour-management relations, both parties and their organisations must be acquainted with the labour laws of the country and try to be conversant and abide by them.
Undeniably, the employer is the person who has been charged to be in the helm of affairs of a particular business or enterprise. He necessarily needs not to be the owner or a shareholder in the company but would very much be a manager or part of the management team. Amongst others, his functions may include employing and engaging employees, either directly or indirectly.
It would also involve bringing together resources such as men, money, machines, materials and markets in such a way that the company’s goods and services would be produced with extreme efficiency. Again, the employer is supposed to pay the agreed wage or salary at the period agreed on in the employment contract or collective agreement. The employer must finally ensure that the worker employed is protected from any injury or damage to health during the course of engagement.
It would also involve bringing together resources such as men, money, machines, materials and markets in such a way that the company’s goods and services would be produced with extreme efficiency. Again, the employer is supposed to pay the agreed wage or salary at the period agreed on in the employment contract or collective agreement. The employer must finally ensure that the worker employed is protected from any injury or damage to health during the course of engagement.
Suffice to say, it is the duty of the employer to run a business or enterprise proficiently, make it succeed and make profit. Therefore, since higher productivity concerns are the most expectations commonly expected and worked towards in enterprises, a fruitful labour-management discourse is key to the success of the organisation’s goals.
Duties of the employee in the relationship
Diligently in a lawful manner, workers in any contract of employment or collective agreement must work and increase productivity by obeying lawful instructions while exercising great care in the execution of their assignments. Pursuant to Section 11 of the Labour Act 2003, Act 651, without prejudice to the provisions of the act, the duties of the worker will include reporting to work regularly and punctually as they work conscientiously in the lawfully chosen occupation.
Among other things, the worker must also take all reasonable care for the safety and health of their fellow workers and take proper care of the property of the employer entrusted to him or under his immediate control.
Indications of poor labour-management relations
Most management practices have shown that paying particular attention to employees in their organisation is as vital as any attention paid to the technical side of their plans, if not more momentous. However, certain signs should tell management to pay heed to the relationship that exists between them and their workforce and find ways to make it cordial and positive towards higher productivity.
These among other negative indicators include numerous workers’ grievances and disciplinary proceedings, poor employee performance and low labour output. Again, there is the issue of widespread absenteeism and high labour turnover.
Greatly, these elements tend to halt any progress being made and, thus, affect the relationship that flourishes between labour and management. Morale is inevitably affected and the bottom line is that productivity and output target suffer in the long run.
It is, therefore, imperatively prudent that the social cohorts (management and employees) work together towards the realisation of pleasant working relations at the workplace at all cost. This indeed is to bring about productivity and prosperity.
Better approach to labour-management relations
It is always for the good of the organisation’s intents that management and workers adopt a win-win situation and avoid win-lose methods anywhere possible. In their relationships, especially during negotiations, both management and the union must focus on the situation and not take stands.
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Truly, both the unions and management must avoid reliance on power and control whenever possible. They must, as a matter of course, give emphasis to persuasion in terms of communication and education and convince employees to accept the real situations on the ground.
Management will do an in-depth job if accomplishing its responsibilities to employees they communicate and inform the employees about the real business substances.
Furthermore, management must work with the union executives since they are the bargaining agents of the larger workforce while showing care about the employees and letting them know they care. Last but not least, management in its relationship with labour must establish the culture of mutually setting high-performance standards through output target setting and appraisals in such a way that staff can be held accountable for and as such seal the relationship at hand.
Conclusion
Both employees and management ought to appreciate the fact that they both play vital roles in the organisation. They must understand and see each other as crucial in the realisation of the organisational goals and objectives when it comes to productivity and company targeted outputs. This can only be achieved by adopting a better relationship and creating an atmosphere that would always welcome such a culture. Factually, an employer-management relationship cannot exist without any laid-down regulations. So in the nutshell, the relationship between management and the employee must be jealously guided by the agreements that bind them together than anything else…..A cue for both labour and management.
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