Employee Relations & Responsibilities

Broadly defined, the purpose of a human resources department employee relations section is to improve and strengthen the employer-employee relationship. This encompasses a number of duties and responsibilities that involve all of human resources disciplines. Human resources disciplines include compensation and benefits, workplace safety, training and development, recruitment and selection, and employee relations. Strategic management is another function of human resources employee relations. Within the context of employee relations, strategic HR management refers to developing practices and providing metrics that illustrate to executive leadership the correlation between human capital and the organization's bottom line.

Employee Relations

Employee relations managers and specialists tend to focus on matters that occur in a nonunionized work environment. Employee relations responsibilities include identifying and resolving workplace issues that affect productivity, assessing employee training and development needs, providing leadership training and one-on-one guidance to supervisors and managers who need clarification on how to balance their responsibilities for department management and workforce management. There is overlap between performance management responsibilities for employee relations and labor relations specialists. They work collaboratively to achieve consistent performance management goals for nonunion workers and union workers.

Labor Relations

Employee relations and labor relations are related functions in that they both seek to improve the employer-employee relationship. However, labor relations may be a distinct section within human resources that's typically present only in unionized work environments. Labor relations managers and specialists focus on labor-management relations such as collective bargaining agreements negotiations, management-side representation during employee grievances and interpretation and enforcement of work rules and guidelines contained in collection bargaining agreements or labor contracts.

Strengthening Employer-Employee Relationships

Employee relations staff engage in a number of activities and processes to strengthen the employer-employee relationship. They administer employee opinion surveys and analyze the results to determine if employee satisfaction and employee morale are high or at a minimally acceptable levels. If there are issues that prevent positive work relationships -- between individual employees or groups of employees -- employee relations specialists use survey results to construct action plans with well-defined steps for company leadership to follow so they can improve employee satisfaction and morale. Action plans are development plans with concrete, actionable measures for effecting change in the workplace.

Workplace Investigations

One of the primary functions of an employee relations specialist is managing workplace investigations. All companies should have a written policy that prohibits discrimination and unfair employment practices. Nevertheless, at some point during the employment relationship there are bound to be issues that cause workplace disruptions. Organizations committed to equal employment opportunity work diligently to inform employees of their commitment through tangibles such as employee handbooks, workplace posters and advertising that indicates they do not discriminate on bases unrelated to job qualifications. The highest level of management, which is often the CEO or chief operating officer, accepts responsibility for conveying this message. Employee relations specialists are responsible for carrying out this mission and minimizing company expense and liability associated with employee complaints and investigations.

Performance Management

Of all the members of a human resources department, employee relations specialists have the most extensive contact with employees. Performance management falls within the purview of employee relations because developing methods to measure and improve employee performance requires a cross-discipline approach that employee relations specialists can provide. Performance management systems consist of employer standards and expectations, as well as employee understanding of how job proficiency and overall performance affect compensation, career mobility and employment status. Employee recognition and rewards programs are key elements in any organization's performance management system. Therefore, employee relations specialists are also involved in the planning and execution of employee recognition and rewards programs. Some employee relations specialists are even responsible for planning employee events that recognize individual and departmental contributions to the company's success.

References

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition: Human Resources, Training, and Labor Relations Managers and Specialists
• Society for Human Resource Management: 2006 Strategic HR Management Survey Report; Shawn Fegley; 2006
• Stanford School of Medicine: Employee Relations Information
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Employee/Management Relations
• Texas Workforce Commission: Workplace Investigations -- Basic Issues for Employers

Resources

• HR.com
• Society for Human Resource Management
• National Human Resources Association
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• National Labor Relations Board