Introduction to employee relations
To start with, what is it that constitutes employee relations?
Well, for starters, employee relations refer to the relationship between the employer and employee within an organization and also that which exists between the employees themselves. It is the responsibility of the organization to engender harmonious employee relations, and in order for this to happen, there has to be a planned, focused, and strategic set of initiatives. The larger the size of the organization, the more will people need to be involved in the employee engagement initiatives in order to develop a conducive, fostering environment for work and personal relations.
A good employee relations plan will have policies in place with regard to workplace culture, the office environment, human resource and payroll policies (vacation and sick days, work from home, compensation and benefits, etc.), the company’s values, mission, ethos, how the employers will deal with conflict within the organization, including but not limited to friction and disagreements between employees, and also of course, the addressing of grievances that employees bring forth, against the organization or management. How the organization addresses issues that employees face, internal, as well as external facing (for example, with a client or vendor) are also aspects related to employee relations. Employees want to feel supported by their employers, alongside being valued for their contributions to the team effort and in hitting organizational goal posts.