THEORETICAL BASIS OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

Theoretical Basis Of Employment Relations

Theoretical Basis Of Employment Relations

Introduction

The aim of this essay will be to access and explain the management of British employment relationship and then derive lessons concerning the management of the employment relationship from the study of the operation, structure and effectiveness of systems of the employment relations in Britain. An argument will be put forward that what the future of the British ER system is.

This essay will begin by defining employment relation (ER). It will then access and explain recent management of the ER system in Britain and discuss the future for Britain's ER System. It will conclude by discussing the lessons be learnt from the study of Britain's ER system.

The Employment Relation (ER).

Employment relationship is an economical exchange of labour capacity in return for the production of goods and services. It is very important to understand the implications of all the aspects of employment relations. High levels of collaboration between the workforce and management are likely to be consistent with greater reliability of production and quality of output, which in turn would bolster the organization's market position. Thus, employment relation is one of the most significant areas that need to be invested (Rollinson 1993).

Salaman (2000) defines employment relations as a reflection of the development of more diverse employment patterns, the growth of high tech and commercial sectors, reduced levels of unionisation and use of management strategies aimed at individualising the employment relationship, in other terms it is the new management of all the variables which influence the work namely the management style, the level of employee's motivation, the work environment, job satisfaction, the objectives of the company etc.

Trade unions are developed to protect and promote the interests of their members. The ability of trade unions to exercise power and influence over users of that service depends on the relative demand for that service. Thus, when demand for skilled labour is high, trade unions are in a relatively powerful position to negotiate a high price for the use of that labour. When demand for labour is slack and unemployment begins to raise, the influence power of trade unions will diminish (Ken 1994).

The state (all levels of government) plays a crucial role in employment relations, both directly and indirectly. The roles undertaken by governments may be categorised into five components including maintaining protective standards; establishing rules for the interaction between the parties; ensuring that the results of such interaction were consistent with the apparent needs of economy; providing services for labour and management such as advice, conciliation, arbitration and training; and as a major employer. After World War II, it indicates that many governments adopt a more active role in regard to employment relations (Bamber et al. 2004).

According to Bamber et al. (2004), there are several reasons why it is important to study analysing different ER systems and how they are managed (adopting an international comparative approach). Firstly, studying comparative employment relations may use that knowledge for comparative purposes with a view to applying ...