Employee Relation and It Effects

Project Topic:
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND IT EFFECTS ON EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY
ABSTRACT
One of the most pressing issues facing most organizations today is the need to raise employee
productivity. There is a widespread belief that productivity improvements can only be achieved
through a fundamental reform in the area of employee relations. Changes are thought to be necessary
both in the organization and structure of work and in the way in which employees are trained,
remunerated and motivated. Moreover, it is argued that these changes cannot be separated from the
need to overhaul our system of interest representation and dispute resolution. The activities of trade
unions and the operations of arbitration tribunals are often viewed as impediments to management
e�orts to li� the competitive performance of their organizations. The purpose of this study is to
evaluate these arguments, identify ways employee relations affect productivity, and how to improve
productivity in organizations. South Akim Rural Bank was used as a case study for this research, as
various employees and management of the bank were used as respondents for the study. Responses
gotten from the employees and employers were analyzed to bring out findings as well as
recommendations for this study. With regards to the research methodology of this study, the casual
research design was chosen as the most appropriate research design for the study. Data was gathered
form both primary and secondary sources of information. Responses from questionnaires and
interviews with management of the bank formed the basis for the primary data, while books, articles
and journals on employee relations acted as the secondary data. Findings from this study revealed that
employee relations practices affect productivity through employee morale, quality and quantity of
output/product. Other findings include various challenges that employees face at workplace and
various ways to enhance healthy relationship between employees and their employers in an
organization. The most valuable recommendation given is to treat employees with great care.
INTRODUCTION
Maintaining healthy employee relations in an organization is a pre-requisite for organizational success.

Strong employee relations are required for high productivity and human satisfaction. Employee
relations generally deal with avoiding and resolving issues concerning individuals which might arise out
of or influence the work scenario. Strong employee relation depends upon healthy and safe work
environment, cent percent involvement and commitment of all employees, incentives for employee
motivation, and effective communication system in the organization. Healthy employee relations lead
to more efficient, motivated and productive employees which further lead to increase in production
level. Over 40 percent of the companies listed in the top 100 of Fortune magazine’s “America’s Best
Companies to Work For” also appear on the Fortune 500. While it is possible that employees enjoy
working at these organizations because they are successful, the Watson Wyatt WorldwideHuman
Capital Index study suggests that effective human resources practices lead to positive financial
outcomes more often than positive financial outcomes lead to good practices.
1
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AND ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE
Employee relations had its roots in the industrial revolution which created the modern employment
relationship by spawning free labour markets and large-scale industrial organizations with thousands
of wage workers. As society wrestled with these massive economic and social changes, labour
problems arose. Low wages, long working hours, monotonous and dangerous work, and abusive
supervisory practices led to high employee turnover, violent strikes, and the threat of social instability.
Intellectually, industrial relations was formed at the end of the 19th century as a middle ground
between classical economics and Marxism, with Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb’s Industrial
Democracy being the key intellectual work. Industrial relations thus rejected the classical econ.
Institutionally, employee relation was founded by John R. Commons when he created the first
academic industrial relations program at the University of Wisconsin in 1920. Early financial support
for the field came from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. who supported progressive labour-management
relations in the aftermath of the bloody strike at a Rockefeller-owned coal mine in Colorado. In Britain,
another progressive industrialist, Montague Burton, endowed chairs in industrial relations at Leeds,
Cardiff and Cambridge in 1930, and the discipline was formalized in the 1950s with the formation of
the Oxford School by Allan Flanders and Hugh Clegg. Industrial relations were formed with a strong
problem-solving orientation that rejected both the classical economists’ laissez faire solutions to
labour problems and the Marxist solution of class revolution. It is this approach that underlies the New
Deal legislation in the United States, such as the National Labour Relations Act and the Fair Labour
Standards Act.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In recent times, while most workers are on job, they do not produce more simply because of the un-
healthy relationship they have with their fellow colleagues and employers. A recent study conducted
by Blyton (2008) revealed that employees do not put up their best performances at workplaces when
they are un-happy with management, government, or even their fellow colleagues. Bad employee-
employer relationship results in strike actions and lockouts. All these actions taken by employees to
display their grievances only do the organization harm than good as productivity will be reduced
drastically.
By many accounts, employee relations today are in crisis. In academia, its traditional positions are
threatened on one side by the dominance of mainstream economics and organizational behaviour,
and on the other by postmodernism. In policy-making circles, the industrial relations emphasis on
institutional intervention is trumped by a
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The objectives for this study are:

O1. To identify various employee relations practices, and its effect on the productivity of an
organization.
O2. To identify the challenges faced by employees at work places.
O3. To identify ways of enhancing healthy relationship between employees and employers
in an organization.
2
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following questions were used to achieve the above objectives:
1. What are the various employee relations practices in your organization, and how do they affect
productivity?
2. What challenges do you face in your organization?
3. In what ways can healthy relationship be enhanced between employees and employers in an
organization?
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
H0: employee relations does not influence employee productivity
H0: employee relations influences employee productivity
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study seeks to bring out the various employee relations practices which South Akim Rural Bank
has undertaken to increase its productivity and contribute its quota in the economic development of
the communities which it operates, and the country at large. This study will therefore help enlighten
management of various organizations of the various effects of relationship practices between
employers and employees in an organization. The study will also bring out specifically, the employee
relations practices which the bank has been able to make available to its employees. It also seeks to
bring out the level of encouragement and motivation the bank has given to its employees to work
effectively, among others. The importance of this study is therefore to highlight the various employee
relations practices and how it affects the productivity of an organization. This study will go a long way
to illustrate how organizations should treat employees’ in-order to increase productivity.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the research will be limited to South Akim Rural Bank at the New Juaben Municipal
Assembly in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The research will rely on the bank for vital information as
well as information from secondary source. The research will take duration of four months to
complete.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The researcher encountered a limitation in regards to availability of information. Thus due to the
institutions working ethics, the researcher could not get access to vital information since it was treated
as confidential and the targeted respondent’s number was not attained since some employees were
on leave. Inadequate funds and availability of time also became a limitation.

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Project Topic:

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND IT EFFECTS ON EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

Maintaining healthy employee relations in an organization is a pre-requisite for organizational success.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The objectives for this study are:

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

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