Labor Relations and Human Resource Management

Labor Relations and Human Resource Management

Introduction

This paper intends to discuss labor relations and human resource management. Human resource management refers to the study of working environment and functions related to the process of recruitment, selection, training and retention thus everything that is related to managing the employees' base of an organization. Whereas labor relations refers to the creation of fair workplace achieved by enhancing strong relationships between employers and employees. This paper is important to explore the significance of human resource management and labor relations in today's competitive environment.

Discussion

Labor relations are assumed to be significant branch of human resource management. Human resource management cannot achieve the essence of its activities if the importance of labor relations is not realized. Apart from the other major activities that are included in the domain of human resource management like recruitment, training and compensation; managing industrial and labor relations is also extremely important. In order to perform the management of human resources in an effective manner, there is a need to constantly work for promoting labor relations within the organization (Cherrington, 1995). Let us discuss the significance of labor relations and human resource management respectively.

Labor Relations

The labor relations or industrial relations tend to set the surface for the smooth working environment. This refers to a system which include all the employers, workers and even government interactions wherever necessary. Organizations need to work for creating strong labor relations in order to enhance the productivity and to ensure the smooth working environment. If labor relations are not promoted and managed effectively, workers usually tend to rebel against organization's policies. The term 'labor relations' is commonly used for the skilled or semi-skilled workers. The labor relations are usually not extended to the 'officer' cadre of employees (Mildred, 2005).

The importance of labor relations is usually recognized when some issues are raised by 'unions' or at the time of negotiations related to the employment contracts. Organizations need to consider all the labor laws prevailing in the country in which they are operating. There are several laws relating to labor relations at national and even state level. Usually big businesses, there are 'employee unions' which tend to protect the rights of workers. Managers need to be aware of all the labor laws prevailing in order to avoid any unfavorable situation. Further, there are certain rules which are made at the level of unions, managers must also be aware of those rules.

The concept of labor relations can be traced back to the industrial revolution. Industrial revolution led to the creation of 'unions' which represents workers. Collective labor relations are also promoted through such unions. A labor relation system of any organization calls for providing smooth interactions between employers, unions and employees at the times of disputes. Labor relations from the viewpoint of unions provide an advantage of 'collective bargaining' which tends to help workers to enhance their employment relations. Such bargaining provides for improved employment conditions for the workers (Mondy, Noe, ...