Employee Grievance Handling

                  

Grievance means any type of dissatisfaction or discontentment’s arising out of genuine or imaginary factors related to an employee’s job which according to him, is unfair, unjust or inequitable. It must be expressed by the employee and brought to the notice of the management and the organization.

 In an organization, a grievance may arise due to several factors such as:

• Improper working conditions such as strict production standards, unsafe workplace, bad relation with managers, etc.

• Irrational management policies such as overtime, transfers, demotions, inappropriate salary structure, etc.

• Violation of organizational rules and practices

Grievances take the form of collective disputes when they are not resolved. Also they will then lower the morale and efficiency of the employees. Unattended grievances result in frustration, dissatisfaction, low productivity, lack of interest in work, absenteeism, etc. In short, grievance arises when employees’ expectations are not fulfilled from the organization as a result of which a feeling of discontentment and dissatisfaction arises. This dissatisfaction must crop up from employment issues and not from personal issues.

It is necessary to distinguish a complaint from grievance. A complaint is an indication of employee dissatisfaction that has not been submitted in written. On the other hand, a grievance is a complaint that has been put in writing and made formal.

At any stage of the grievance machinery, the dispute must be handled by some members of the management. In grievance redressed, responsibility lies largely with the management. And, grievances should be settled promptly at the first stage itself. The following steps will provide a measure of guidance to the manager dealing with grievances.

i. Acknowledge Dissatisfaction:

Managerial/supervisory attitude to grievances is important. They should focus attention on grievances, not turn away from them. Ignorance is not bliss; it is the bane of industrial conflict. Condescending attitude on the part of supervisors and managers would aggravate the problem.

ii. Define the Problem:

Instead of trying to deal with a vague feeling of discontent, the problem should be defined properly. Sometime the wrong complaint is given. By effective listening, one can make sure that a true complaint is voiced.

iii. Get the Facts:

Facts should be separated from fiction. Though grievances result in hurt feelings, the effort should be to get the facts behind the feelings. There is need for a proper record of each grievance.

iv. Analyze and Decide:

Decisions on each of the grievances will have a precedent effect. While no time should be lost in dealing with them, it is no excuse to be slip-shod about it. Grievance settlements provide opportunities for managements to correct the problems and thereby come closer to the employees.

v. Follow up:

Decisions taken must be followed up earnestly. They should be promptly communicated to the employee concerned. If a decision is favorable to the employee, his immediate boss should have the privilege of communicating the same.

 

When dealing with employee grievances, employers may feel a wide range of emotions from fear to anger to enlightenment. Keeping a calm, positive attitude and following the grievance handling policies and procedures helps to reach a resolution that everyone is satisfied with. An effective grievance procedure ensures an amiable work environment because it redresses the grievance to mutual satisfaction of both the employees and the managers. It also helps the management to frame policies and procedures acceptable to the employees. It becomes an effective medium for the employees to express t feelings, discontent and dissatisfaction openly and formally.

 

References

 Management Study Guide.(2020). Employee Grievance - Effective Ways Of Handling Grievance. [online] Available at: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/employee-grievance.htm

[Accessed 4 July 2020].

Business Management Ideas. (2020). Grievance Handling Procedure: Steps, Need And Elements. [online] Available at: https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/human-resources-management/grievance-handling/grievance-handling-procedure-steps-need-and-elements/4618

[Accessed 4 July 2020].

Measuring & Boosting Employee Satisfaction

Measuring & Boosting Employee Satisfaction

All the leaders want satisfied employees: people who are excited to come to work, motivated to do a good job, and open to changes and collaboration to improve what they can do for the institution.

Employees who are satisfied tend to be:

·       *  Happier, more content, and more motivated at work.

·       *  More productive.

·       * Taking leaves for only for the unavoidable reasons.

·       *  Better able to collaborate and network with colleagues.

·       *  More likely to positively spread the word about your organization as brand advocates.

·       *  More likely to stay at your organization for a long time, reducing employee churn.

Ultimately, satisfied employees give back to the institution, making it grow into the best place it can be.

Yet, many employees are not satisfied.

According to the various researches more than 48% of employees are either “unhappy” at work, or only “somewhat happy.”

This is a big issue for both the institution & the employee .At a time when employee loyalty is at a low, companies need to focus on raising employee satisfaction in order to retain their top talent. Measuring employee engagement helps the leader to understand how to engage employees in a way that works best for the institution.

Benefits of measuring the Employee satisfaction

Employee satisfaction depends on factors related to the work conditions of everyday life at work, including the benefits and compensation the team members receive in return for their effort. There may be parts of the job that employees are not happy with, but other parts they enjoy. In order to ensure the institution have a highly motivated team, the leader needs pay more attention to employee satisfaction.

To identify strengths, problem areas, and “hidden truths”
Regularly measuring engagement helps the leader to tackle obstacles before they become problems. The leader can also use engagement data to showcase what’s going well and connect weaker teams or departments to stronger ones.

To build trust 
Asking for feedback from employees shows that the leader cares about their opinions and how they feel at work. Prove that the leader is there to listen and wants to create the best working environment.

To understand trends. 
Understand what’s happening in the institution by location, team or compared to industry benchmarks. Keep track on the progress & direction of the institution.

How to measure Employee Satisfaction?

Having One-on-One Conversations

Having conversations personally with the employee is one of the best ways to measure the satisfaction. Many companies have these types of conversations on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. Be clear about the goals of these sessions. Ultimately, the leader wants to find out about how satisfied the employee is with their roles and the institute as a whole.

Conducting Surveys

Sometimes it’s difficult for employees to express themselves to their leader or manager, especially if they are concerned about how the other party will take it. That’s why surveys, especially anonymous ones, can be helpful tools. Surveys also help you get quantitative data, rather than just a bunch of ideas and suggestions.

How to Improve Employee Satisfaction

Once the leader measured the current level of contentment at your company, the real work begins. Leader can improve employee satisfaction by trying these tips:

Team Building at Work

Engaging the employees once in a while with team building exercises like ropes courses, paintball, boating, camping etc.   These exercises will help the employees to build a great team spirit at work & also will reduce the pressure at work place making it more comfortable to work.

Host an Annual Awards Ceremony

By treating the best employees to a yearly bash on the boss’s dime, you’ll encourage good will, inspire improved performance.

Let Employees Own Achievements

A sense of achievement can be a real shot in the arm.  Leader needs to give the employee freedom to get creative, to come up with their own ideas and run with them.

Give out Gift cards or Coupons

Giving employees small gift cards or coupons in festive season like Sinhala & Hindu New Year or Christmas will go a long way for boosting employee satisfaction. 

Broadcast Names

It’s great when the boss comes up and says “good job” for a deed well done.  It’s even better when the boss writes up a blurb and sends it to the company newsletter or even the local newspaper. Make the employees feel like stars for their work.

Allow Time Off

Who doesn’t like an extra day or two off?  If an employee is giving his maximum efforts by sacrificing more than he is asked for, to get the job done, leader should appreciate it let them cool it on company time.

That way the leaders can make the institute a better place to work for the employees & ultimately it at will help to create positive change within the institute to improve the employee workplace engagement

References

Built In. (2020). How To Successfully Measure Employee Engagement. [online] Available at: https://builtin.com/employee-engagement/how-to-measure-employee-engagement

 [Accessed 21 June 2020].

Bernard M. (2020). Measuring Staff Satisfaction: 7 Reasons Why Your Staff Survey Is Not Giving You Anything Useful. [online] Available at: https://bernardmarr.com/default.asp?contentID=1404

[Accessed 21 June 2020].

When I Work (2020). How To Measure & Boost Employee Satisfaction | When I Work. [online] Available at: https://wheniwork.com/blog/how-to-measure-boost-employee-satisfaction

[Accessed 21 June 2020].

Employee Job Satisfaction

What Is Job Satisfaction?

Job satisfaction is a term we hear often, but do you know its exact definition, and how its absence could be bringing down  the company’s productivity?

What Is Job Satisfaction?

Job satisfaction, an unquantifiable metric, is defined as a positive emotional response you experience when doing your job or when you are present at work. Leading organizations are now trying to measure this feeling, with job satisfaction surveys becoming a staple at most workplaces.

It’s important to remember that job satisfaction varies from employee to employee. In the same workplace under the same conditions, the factors that help one employee feel good about their job may not apply to another employee. For this reason, it is essential to have a multidimensional approach to employee satisfaction, covering the following areas:

·    The challenging nature of work, pushing employees to new heights

·    A level of convenience (short commutes, access to the right digital tools, and flexible hours)

·    Regular appreciation by the immediate management and the organization as a whole

·   Competitive pay, which employees maintain a good quality of life

·  The promise of career progression in sync with employees’ personal growth targets

Why Employee job satisfaction is so important?

1.Satisfied employees translate into satisfied customers

If employees are unhappy at work, the chances are that this will reflect in their interactions with the customer. Contact centers, specifically, cannot afford to have dissatisfied employees – this is sure to show in every word they say and every campaign they work on.

Even in non-customer-facing jobs, low satisfaction can cause errors in the workflow – for example, a higher defect rate in manufacturing and bad code in software development. This is why employee satisfaction is vital for customer-centric companies.

2. Voluntary turnover will come down

Sometimes, turnover can be good for business, as it brings fresh talent into the organization. But voluntary turnover looks different – The Management risks losing top talent they have carefully trained over the years.

Also, this talent takes with it tribal knowledge once it leaves the company, which could toughen up the competition for the products and service offerings. On the other hand, a satisfied workforce is less likely to quit.

3. It will increase the chances of referrals 

Employee referrals are the most effective method of recruitment, bar none. A report by Jobvite found that referrals make up 7% of all applications but an overwhelming 40% of all hires. An employee satisfied with the work conditions and the pay scale is far more likely to recommend their friends than a dissatisfied employee.

Non-compensation related factors make up a big part of this benefit, as employees will assess multiple factors before recommending someone else.

4. Satisfaction is directly linked to the productivity

In a positive work environment, employees are more likely to bring their best to work every day. For example, research by the Social Market Foundation and the University of Warwick’s Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE) found that happy employees are 20% more productive than unhappy employees on average!

There's also a secondary reason for this – high-satisfaction workplaces prioritize employee wellness. Therefore, they are more likely to look after themselves, and address stress/burnout/health issues, before it impacts work.

5. In the long term, The Management can dramatically reduce HR costs

Typically, The Management needs to plan for both fixed and variable costs as part of the HR budget. Low satisfaction could significantly dent the variable aspect of this equation – dissatisfied employees require targeted surveys, specialized learning and development, additional career assistance, and ultimately may lead to rehiring and retraining costs in the case of turnover. All of this needs the company to invest more than it had expected.

Employee job satisfaction needs to be treated with both short and long-term visions. In the short term, it is directly linked to attrition and employee-organization match. It is important that people perceive the company in a positive light in their early days of employment, else it would not take long for them to look for a change. In the long term, it is more damaging when an employee is not satisfied but continues to work with an organization due to other reasons. The employee starts to look for reasons to dislike the company more. For example, if a bad appraisal is the core reason behind her disappointment, the employee might then perceive that there is favouritism or that the company does not treat her as a valuable asset. Such impressions corrode the value an employee places on the company and this gets projected extrinsically, often among an audience with whom the equity of the organization gets affected

A dissatisfied employee expresses her negative perceptions more in external forums than internal ones, for fear of repercussion. And when an existing employee speaks ill of the company, it reduces the prospects of the listener to join the company and the reputation of the organization is impacted. Hence it is also important that HR identify such employees and work towards alleviating their problems and converting negative impressions to positive ones.

Job satisfaction is a very important part of an employee’s life-cycle and motivation to remain loyal to and employed with an organization. A number of activities or tasks of an HR team directly or indirectly influence employee satisfaction levels. Therefore HR must also remember that how a company functions through its policies, senior management and culture will impact how happy employees are and will help it reap financial, cultural and brand equity benefits

By making job satisfaction a priority at the company, The Management can stay ahead of the curve and ensure that there are no unprecedented issues arising due to low satisfaction.

References

Toolbox (2019) Talent Management. What Is Job Satisfaction? Definition, Factors, Importance, Statistics, and Examples [Online]. Available at   
https://hr.toolbox.com/articles/what-is-job-satisfaction-definition-factors-importance-statistics-and-examples
[Accessed on 14^th June 2020]

Entrepreneur (2020) Job Satisfaction. Why Job satisfaction is an Important Phenomenon of the Vicious Circle? [Online]. Available at 
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/310608
[Accessed on 14^th June 2020]

HR management in an organization

What is Human Resource Management?

A ccording to The Harvard Model of Human Resource Management, created by Michael Beer, Human Resource Management is a strategic approach to the employment, development and well-being of the people working in an organization. Human resources management involves all management decisions and actions that affect the relationship between the organization and its employees – in other words, its human resources.

It concentrates on making the most of the human resources that are at the disposal of the organization and enhances the performance of employees to achieve the organization’s objectives. HRM ensures the seamless and effective application of policies and processes in the business. HRM is there to keep the balance between employee needs and satisfaction and an organization’s profitability and capability to reach its objectives.

In practice, however, HRM is a tool used to try to make optimum use of human resources, to foster individual development, and to comply with government mandates. Larger organizations typically have an HRM department and its primary objective is making company goals compatible with employee goals. For a company to attain its goals, it must have employees who will help it attain them.

An efficiently functional HRM aids the workforce of an organization to contribute efficiently and effectively towards the overall achievement of an organization’s goals.

Human Resource Management involves management functions like planning, organizing, directing and controlling

• It involves procurement, development, maintenance of human resource
• It helps to achieve individual, organizational and social objectives
• Human Resource Management is a multidisciplinary subject. It includes the study of management, psychology, communication, economics and sociology.
• It involves team spirit and team work.
• It is a continuous process.

What is the importance of Human resource?

Behind production of every product or service there is an human mind, effort and man hours (working hours). No product or service can be produced without help of human being. Human being is fundamental resource for making or construction of anything. Every organization desire is to have skilled and competent people to make their organization competent and best.

Among the five “M”s of management, i.e., Men, Money, Machines, Materials, and Methods, HRM deals about the first M, which is Men. It is believed that in the five “M”s, "Men" is  not so easy to manage. "every man is different from other" and they are totally different from the other Ms in the sense that men possess the power to manipulate the other Ms. Whereas, the other Ms are either lifeless or abstract and as such, do not have the power to think and decide what is good for them.

Why do we call it as Human Resource Management?

Human: refers to the skilled workforce in an organization.

Resource: refers to limited availability or scarce.

Management: refers  how to optimize  and make best use of such limited or scarce resource so as to meet the organization goals and objectives.

Therefore, human resource management is meant for proper utilization of  available skilled workforce and also to make efficient use of existing human resource in the organisation. The best example in present situation is, construction industry has been facing serious shortage of skilled workforce. It is  expected to triple in the next decade from the present 30 per cent, will negatively impact the overall productivity of the sector, warn industry experts.

References

HRD Connect (2019)  What is HR management in an organisation?. What is HR management in an organisation? [Online]. Available at   
https://www.hrdconnect.com/2019/05/22/what-is-hr-management-in-an-organisation/
[Accessed on 30th May 2020]

What is Human Resource (2020) Human Resource Management. Human Resource Management [Online]. Available at 
http://www.whatishumanresource.com/human-resource-management    
[Accessed on 30th May 2020]