Practical Guide to Employee Relations

Effective employee relations benefit organisational culture, morale and performance.

Employee relations are the relationships between employers and employees. These relationships determine how you handle certain situations, for example, issues with pay and benefits, managing conflict and providing a healthy work-life balance. Organisations which effectively manage staff relations are more likely to achieve employee engagement, which ultimately improves the bottom line of an organisation.

 

What are the key principles of employee relations?

 

The primary aim of employee relations is to improve collaboration and relationships within the workplace by focusing on:

 

• Employee safety and working conditions
• Pay and benefits
• Work-life balance
• Rewards and recognition
• Conflict in the workplace

 

 

Benefits of nurturing employee relations

 

For employers, there is value in investing in building and nurturing positive employee relations. Businesses with a proactive approach to employee relations can derive value across the organisation:

 

• Employee satisfaction: Employee satisfaction tends to go hand in glove with employee engagement. Less engaged employees tend to be less satisfied and poor employee relations can be one of the primary culprits.
• Employee productivity: Employee engagement and satisfaction boost an employee’s productivity. Businesses with well thought out employee relations typically boast higher revenues, productivity, and profits. If employees know their goals and are given regular feedback, they are much more likely to work harder towards achieving their goals.
• Employee retention: Employee turnover is arguably one of the biggest issues businesses face. The cost of an employee leaving a company is significant. Employees who feel frustrated and isolated, and do not know what is going on within a company, can feel insecure and this, more often than not, forces them to consider new job opportunities.
• Employee advocacy: The ability to reach employees’ connections and use the business’s social capital to its full potential can have a tremendous impact on brand awareness, visibility, and productivity. To achieve employee advocacy, employers should be ready to share important content with employees and keep them in the loop as far as is practicable.
• Employee experience: This provides the biggest evidence of a healthy workplace culture. In order to deliver a good employee experience, employers need to be ready to improve communication with their staff. Open and transparent communication makes employees feel involved, which, in turn, leads to greater degrees of employee engagement. By way of contrast, poor employee communications, leads to lack of engagement and honesty, and promotes a feeling of insecurity.
• Employee empowerment: Involving the workforce in as many aspects of the business as possible gives employees autonomy and responsibility to manage their own work and encourages them to make decisions to achieve their own goals. For employees to feel empowered, they need to clearly understand the business mission and vision and understand how their role contributes to the overall success of the business.
• Employee trust: Trust is crucial for successful empowerment of the workforce. Managers and business owners who trust their employees and communicate their strategy and goals regularly often have little issue giving more power to their workforce.
• Employee engagement: It has been proven that businesses with better workforce communications have superior rates of engagement amongst their employees. Better employee engagement can include:
  • Update, share, and review employee expectations
  • Identifying obstacles and issues encourages open communication
  • Do not neglect consistent recognition and feedback
  • Encourage sharing of thoughts and discussion

 

 

How businesses damage employee relations

 

Part of being proactive in managing employee relations, employers should also be mindful of avoiding or deterring certain behaviours and conduct which could undermine efforts to nurture positive relations.

 

• Micromanaging: when people are micromanaged, they tend to become disengaged, which in turn adversely affects their work, leading to greater micromanagement. Avoid it where possible.
• Being unclear: employees need to know and clearly understand their roles and what is expected of them. This allows both employers and employees to work together to meet those mutual expectations.
• Failing to invite ideas: asking employees to submit their ideas helps them to feel they are part of the team, and part of the decision-making process.
• Failing to share the vision: employees need to feel what they are doing is important and part of something bigger. Sharing long-term vision for the business with employees fosters greater commitment and engagement.
• Failure to manage disputes properly: there will always be situations when people with diverse lives are thrown together in a working environment and friction is caused. Action must be taken swiftly and fairly to resolve any issues as and when they arise.
• Failing to ensure a safe working environment: part of effective employee relations involves regular reviews of workplace safety policies and processes, together with ensuring all employees know and understand any updates. If an accident does happen on work premises, it is essential for safety guidelines to be followed. It should be remembered that demonstrating empathy for the injured party is vital.

 

 

Symptoms of poor employment relations

 

Assessing the current landscape of the workplace will allow you to set priorities for improving employment relations. The following symptoms of poor employment relations can give you a starting point for your strategy.

 

Absenteeism

 

Staff that feel burned by poor employment relations can have a higher rate of absenteeism. This may be because they’re not motivated to come to work or have mental health issues that are exacerbated by the culture of the workplace. On an organisational level, a trend of absenteeism can be indicative of a wider issue. This could be that staff are demotivated or that managers don’t have clearly defined absence policies that they can exercise.

 

Poor performance

 

A demotivated, disgruntled workforce won’t be putting forward their best work. They may feel resentful due to uninvestigated complaints, poor interpersonal relationships or badly handled changes within the workforce.

This overarching issue can take a lot of investigation and improvement to remedy. Each employee will have had a different relationship with the employer, with managers and changes affecting each differently.

Diagnosing the reasoning behind poor performance is time consuming, but overall improvements to employment relations policies can improve productivity. Improving the culture and perception of the employer can drive better performance.

 

High staff turnover

 

Staff departing in droves as a result of unpopular changes or deteriorating employment relations is harmful for a business. This shows that employees are not being involved with these decisions, which forces them into an ultimatum.

 

Legal disputes

 

Litigation or tribunal is a clear red flag about the organisation’s employee relations policies. While you may think the claim is spurious, it shows that the communication between parties has broken down to the point of no return. This may be an isolated incident or part of a wider trend, either way HR have to tackle it head on.

 

Unionisation

 

A long-standing, established union may not be cause for concern within most workplaces. However, smaller unions that are being established currently may spell out the fact that employees aren’t feeling listened to on an individual basis.

Dealing with unions and giving employees paid time to carry out union duties can prove problematic for a business. Working on complaints and communication procedures can assist in avoiding this eventuality.

 

Role of the employment relations policy

 

Actively managing employee relations through policy is one of the key roles of an HR practitioner. These policies work to strengthen the employee experience and reduce the risk of employee complaints through clearly defined processes.

On an organisational level, this requires maintenance and improvement to allow this relationship to work in good faith. With the right employment relations policies in place, even tricky situations can be mitigated.

These policies can go largely unnoticed until the views of the employer and employee begin to differ. Then, they can work to align these views once more and manage the outcomes.

As you lay out your HR strategy for the coming years, consider how employee relations will be covered. It’s essential to address the aims of these relations and how they will change over the period highlighted in your strategy.

Consistency within the workforce is the aim of these policies, as the method by which issues are dealt with are clearly outlined. Use this space in your strategy to account for changes, prepare for organisational developments and resource effectively to improve employment relations.

 

Employee engagement

 

This concept is more than just a buzzword, as high engagement drives better profits for organisations. Through the course of your employment relations policies, you want to treat employees well and fairly to increase employee engagement.

Within this portion of your strategy, you can marry this with other initiatives that you have in place. These will impact on the policies that you have currently, so use this plan to lay out how you will change them to respond to this.

 

Diversity management

 

If you want to benefit from employing diverse team members, then you have to actively manage this relationship. Where no official policy exists to prevent discrimination, diverse team members may be reticent to come forward when this occurs.

While you may not have had need for these policies in the past, your HR strategy is a great place to decide how you will implement them. You may be bringing in new initiatives to give women leadership roles or hire more diversely, as such you should bring in policies to support these initiatives.

A commitment to diversity can be seen as mere lip service without strong policies to back this up.

 

Employee communication

 

As organisations grow and change structure, there’s a need to review and update communication plans. Regular reviews of communication and confidentiality protects both parties.

Strong communication and methods by which employees can communicate in confidence make for a better relationship.

Should an employee wish to bring a grievance, your policies should outline who and how they should communicate this. This reduces the likelihood of employees becoming dissatisfied and discussing these grievances among themselves.

Look back at exit interviews and issues around communication in the organisation; this will show you if revamping your communication policies require attention in future.

 

Involvement & participation

 

How do you bring employees into decision making? This has a role to play within the rewards strategy of a business, as employees feel valued when their opinion is heard.

Creating a process and using engagement platforms by which employees are invited to participate in decisions can be very beneficial. Outline this in your policies, as this will help to ensure that a standardised procedure is followed to give all employees a voice.

Where appropriate, you may also choose to allow for discretion that gives employees more autonomy on how they conduct tasks.

This can improve participation in the workplace, as employees feel more connected with the work that they do. This requires policies to shift as managers are encouraged to take results into account, rather than the desire to conform to rigidity.

While this may be a large-scale initiative within your HR strategy, you should also support this with clear policies.

 

Working conditions

 

The conditions that workers experience form another component of their relationship with the company. Policies and strategies should exist to ensure that these hours are fair, holidays are allocated, and reasonable adjustments are made. There are many strong arguments for going above and beyond your legal requirements relating to working conditions.

 

Work-life balance

 

The discussion around work-life balance is always shifting, and we’re more aware of this concept than ever before. This forms a major part of the employment relationship, as employees need to feel that they have this balance to form a good opinion of their employer.

Through your policies, you can give workers more autonomy and allow for leniency for emergencies. These practices help your employees to feel valued by the company and more able to deal with other commitments in their lives.

 

Negotiation & bargaining

 

HR should be involved in creating policies around individual negotiations and collective dialogue. Whether dealing with an individual, group or formal union – your goal should be to keep the conversation productive and moving towards a fair solution.

Ensure that you know the law surrounding negotiation, especially where it relates to unions. These groups advocate for the rights of employees and can be quick to legal action where they feel this is merited.

Employees are also entitled to paid time off to carry out duties on behalf of their union and must be given relevant information to act upon.

By keeping good employment relations, talks and negotiations should not break down into strike action or mass walkouts. This may mean changing policies that are viewed as unfair or reiterating unclear ones.

 

Conflict resolution

 

Conflicts within a team and the wider workforce have the potential to derail productivity. Employees that are facing conflict with one another or the organisation won’t be as productive as their counterparts.

This can be difficult to manage, but HR shouldn’t shy away from outlining formal conflict resolution measures to solve this. This gives managers the tools that they need to solve these issues consistently, regardless of their individual feelings on the matter at hand.

If you don’t currently have this in place within your organisation, or wish to improve the existing policy, then you can outline this within your strategy. This may need to be made simpler or less time consuming, depending on feedback from employees.

HR should be present to facilitate this conversation, offering support to supervisors that are dealing with these conflicts.

 

Change management & management control

 

By aligning with the organisational changes that you see in future, you can prepare for any fallout from employees. The practice of proactive change management can improve the employee experience, as clear communication and planning minimises damage to the relationship.

While these changes can be difficult for employees, active management can preserve this relationship.

For anticipated changes, like mergers and redundancies, HR can work this into a longer-term strategy. This strategy can outline what will be done in the run up to the change, such as consultations, communication and additional resources for employees.

 

Discipline

 

The way that you handle disciplinary actions are likely change over time, as case law evolves and the needs of the workforce change.

Not only should HR be aware of these changes, they should also communicate this to all managers and supervisors. This may mean additional training on hand to upskill managers and ensure compliance.

Disciplinary action should be handled informally where appropriate. For example, managers can coach employees to improve their performance before issuing formal warnings.

However, managers that are acting with this kind of discretion have to be confident in their abilities to do so. While this may be appropriate to coach a poor performer, it wouldn’t be appropriate to cover up gross misconduct.

If this is a weakness in your organisation, then think about how your can strategize to fix this. New training, clearer policies and present HR representatives can all mitigate the need for disciplinary action.

 

Role of HR in employee relations

 

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.

 

Relations 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.

 

You can improve peer relationships through:

 

Building cross-functional teams (CFT)

Cross-functional teams span across organisational 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.

 

Conducting team building activities

The benefits of conducting team building activities are widely recognised. 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.

 

Relations between managers & employees

 

Employees often hesitate before sharing information with their managers because they’re 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.

 

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 organisation. 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. 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 their 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 with employees.

 

Conduct Surveys to Understand how Employees Feel

You might be providing employees with great insurance plans but maybe what they really want is a four-day working week. The only way to know this is by asking for their input, usually by conducting surveys. Once you know where you are lacking, you can work on rectifying and providing feasible solutions to your employees.

Taking action on the survey results will see your workforce 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.

 

Transparency and Involvement Going Hand-in-Hand

One of the worst things you can do as a manager is keeping your employees in the dark. 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 favour 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.

 

 

How to implement an employee relations policy

 

For any business considering implementing an employee relations policy, the first step towards creating a successful strategy is to draw up a set of clearly written policies. This should describe an employer’s philosophy, procedures, and rules for handling staff related matters and include plans for resolving issues.

Successful employee relation policies are not template driven, so in this instance, one size does absolutely not fit all. Policies can vary because of a number of factors, including company size, its location, the industry or sector, culture, and many other factors.

That said, there are several characteristics that define successful employee relations policies:

 

• Understand the business’s mission and vision and ensure employees understand them
• Show the employee how their role aligns with the businesses mission and vision
• Communicate with employees effectively and frequently
• Provide feedback to employees
• Reward employees for good work

 

 

Advice for employers

 

Show gratitude

 

Celebrate positive performance, even for something small, such as a member of the team completing a task before a deadline or on time. Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are also simple, yet effective, ways to make staff feel respected and valued.

 

Communicate openly

 

Employees should be encouraged to be open and honest with their managers or higher-level teams. In the same vein, employers, managers and HR should promote a culture of transparency in their everyday dealings.

 

Invest in development

 

This not only applies to continuing professional development but refers to outside the workplace. Employees are more productive when they are happier at home, and there are ways an employer can promote and support this. Offering free private therapy, paying their gym membership or encouraging them to take up a hobby or side project, shows employees their employer cares for them and, in turn, increases loyalty and staff retention.

 

Provide consistent feedback

 

One-to-one meetings are perfect opportunities to offer feedback on an employee’s performance. But it also means that employees can air their own opinion in a safe space and provide feedback to management on how they could be better supported. For these types of meetings to be of benefit, they need to be consistent; whether the meeting takes place once a year, or once a month, they must be adhered to regularly.

 

Trust your team

 

Employees need to feel that their employer trusts them, and that they can trust their employer. Employees who do not feel trusted also felt undervalued and not respected. This is likely to lead to underperformance and decrease staff retention.

 

Build a shared vision

 

Engaged, motivated, and happier employees are more likely to stay with a business in the long term if they understand the part they play in the business’s success.

 

Do not play favourites

 

It will breed resentment and damage a company’s culture and reputation if they treat employees differently according to personal feelings. This is particularly poor practice and should be avoided at all costs.

 

Need Assistance?

 

DavidsonMorris’ team of HR professionals provide a cost-effective HR advisory service to meet both the operational and strategic HR needs of your organisation. Contact us for specialist advice.

 

Employee Relations FAQs

 

What is the difference between employee engagement and job satisfaction?

Employee engagement refers to the emotional commitment an employee has towards their organisation and its goals, resulting in higher levels of effort and productivity. Job satisfaction, on the other hand, is about how content an employee is with their job, which may not necessarily translate to high engagement.

 

How can small businesses in the UK improve employee engagement?

Small businesses can improve employee engagement by fostering a close-knit workplace culture, offering flexible working arrangements, recognising and rewarding contributions, and providing opportunities for professional growth, even on a smaller scale.

 

What role does leadership play in employee engagement?

Leadership is crucial in driving employee engagement. Effective leaders inspire their teams, communicate clearly, provide regular feedback, and create an environment where employees feel valued and motivated to contribute.

 

Are there legal requirements in the UK related to employee engagement?

While there are no specific legal requirements for employee engagement, UK employers must comply with employment laws that impact engagement, such as those related to health and safety, equality, and fair treatment in the workplace. Engaged employees are more likely to feel that their rights and wellbeing are being upheld.

 

How often should UK employers conduct employee engagement surveys?

UK employers should ideally conduct employee engagement surveys at least annually. However, more frequent pulse surveys can be beneficial in gauging ongoing sentiment and addressing issues promptly.

 

Can remote working impact employee engagement?

Yes, remote working can significantly impact employee engagement. While it offers flexibility, it can also lead to feelings of isolation if not managed properly. Employers should ensure regular communication, provide remote work support, and create virtual team-building opportunities to maintain engagement.

 

What are the most effective ways to measure employee engagement in the UK?

Employee engagement can be measured through surveys, one-on-one interviews, and performance metrics. Key indicators include employee turnover rates, absenteeism, productivity levels, and feedback from engagement surveys.

 

How does employee engagement affect business outcomes?

High levels of employee engagement are linked to better business outcomes, including increased productivity, higher retention rates, improved customer satisfaction, and a stronger company reputation. Engaged employees are also more likely to go above and beyond in their roles, driving innovation and growth.

 

What should be included in an employee engagement strategy?

An employee engagement strategy should include clear communication channels, regular feedback mechanisms, recognition and reward systems, opportunities for professional development, and initiatives that promote a healthy work-life balance. It should be tailored to the specific needs of the organisation and its employees.

 

Glossary

 

Term	Definition
Employee Engagement	The emotional commitment an employee has towards their organisation and its goals.
Job Satisfaction	The level of contentment employees feel about their job roles and work environment.
Work-Life Balance	The equilibrium between an employee’s professional duties and personal life.
Pulse Survey	A brief, frequent survey used to quickly gauge employee sentiment on specific issues.
Internal Communication	The exchange of information and ideas within an organisation, crucial for maintaining engagement.
Recognition Program	A system implemented by organisations to acknowledge and reward employee achievements.
Professional Development	Opportunities provided by employers for employees to enhance their skills and career growth.
Employee Retention	The ability of an organisation to keep its employees over a period of time.
Remote Working	The practice of employees working from locations outside the traditional office setting.
Inclusivity	Creating a work environment where all employees feel valued, regardless of their differences.
Diversity	The inclusion of individuals from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives in the workplace.
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)	Metrics used to evaluate the success of an employee or department in meeting objectives.
Turnover Rate	The rate at which employees leave an organisation and need to be replaced.
Absenteeism	The habitual non-presence of an employee at their job, often used as an engagement indicator.
Brexit	The United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, which has implications for workforce management.
Equality Act 2010	UK legislation aimed at ensuring equal treatment and non-discrimination in the workplace.
Health and Safety Regulations	Laws and guidelines designed to ensure a safe working environment for employees.
Workplace Culture	The shared values, beliefs, and practices that characterise an organisation.
Employee Survey	A tool used to collect feedback from employees about various aspects of their work experience.
Feedback Mechanisms	Processes through which employees can give and receive feedback within an organisation.