- Obtaining satisfactory pay
- Ensuring good working conditions
- Reviewing job descriptions and specifications
- Negotiating bonuses for achieving targets
- Ensuring job security
- Adequate work facilities
Satisfactory pay
Satisfactory pay is always an issue no matter what organisation you make work for and Blacks are no exception to this fact. Unsatisfactory pay is on of the main reasons that employees are unhappy. They may well be happy with the job description but the salary could make a big difference.
If a worker is unhappy with their current pay at Blacks they could simply tell their area manager who would advise the employee to join him/her at the staff association meeting whereby the employee could raise this point. If a problem with the pay is a common problem with many employees which has come up many times in the staff associations meetings then the employees through the staff association can take up the problem to top management. The staff association can then use various methods so as to get the employers to change the pay, providing the employees with better and deserved pay.
I believe that in terms of satisfactory pay the staff association is providing for the employees rights to better pay. The reason I say this is that from the time I have worked at Blacks I have seen the pay get better without any real form of action to be taken ob the employees behalf.
Due to the fact that Blacks is a company who specialises in outdoor gear equipment and the fact that they are one of the leading suppliers of outdoor gear, I believe that the pay is affected by this fact. In a standard retail store such as Woolworths, under 18’s are paid £4.20 per hour. Over 18’s at Woolworths are paid £5.20 per hour. At Blacks however under 18’s are paid a minimum of £4.80 per hour. Over 18’s are paid a minimum of £5.80 per hour. The staff association has also agreed with the Blacks’ employers that if employees work a full year from the age of 18-19 for example then your pay will be increased at the beginning of the financial year by 20p. Under 18’s though receive an increase of 10p until they become 18.
Analysis of satisfactory pay
I would have to say that the staff association here are doing a tremendous job on providing the workers with satisfactory pay. The staff association have identified to the employers that the job is not like a normal retail job but involves a lot of training on the products so as to advise customers on the correct products to use when travelling.
The rights of the employees in this section are being represented very well by the staff association and of course by receiving better pay employee’s morale and motivational levels are being boosted.
A negative point that could come out of the fact that the employees are currently receiving satisfactory pay is greediness. Every year the pay goes up for employees. I have seen this happen personally having started to work at Blacks at the age of 15. Three years later I can honestly say I am very happy with the pay and I have seen a dramatic increase in the last year. However what may happen if one year the company cannot afford to increase employees pay due to costs, or it is raised by a few pennies. The employees are so used to receiving an increase every year that problems may arise as they may believe that the company does not value their work enough to praise them through an increase in pay.
Currently though I would have to say that the staff association are making a positive contribution and are meeting the needs of the employees.
Ensuring good working conditions
Good working conditions cover a variety of areas within Blacks stores. Employers do the best to ensure that all stores are good working conditions for employees to work. Here they need to ensure that it is a good environment, in terms of space, lighting, good floorboards and also sufficient staff rooms.
All of the Blacks stores are assessed by the health and safety officers to make sure that they are safe to work in. By doing this employees will not feel endangered working there. The stock room also needs to be of a substantial size otherwise it will become overcrowded with stock and make it very difficult to work under those conditions.
As a result the staff association needs to ensure that the working conditions are good. There was a big problem with the floorboards and some of the flooring was coming loose. Also the floorboards would constantly creek because they had not been laid down properly.
The floorboards have been the same ones for nearly two years now. As a result of many complaints from customers and workers the manager finally discussed the matter with the staff association. The matter was dealt with as soon as possible by Blacks and the store was closed for a day so that new floorboards could be re-fitted.
Analysis of working conditions
It could be said that again the staff association are contributing in a positive way. The second they heard that there was a problem with the working conditions they were very quick to act. This shows that they really are representing the rights of the employees and the results on this occasion were better working conditions for employees.
Another benefit that has come out of this is that it shows that Blacks values its customer’s opinions. Customers initially complained about the floor boards and Blacks proved that the business really is customer based.
Reviewing Job descriptions and specifications
The staff association at Blacks have the right to go through employees’ contract so as to discern the employees’ job description and specification. This way if workers are asked to carry out duties that are not stated in the contract, it would breach of contract.
If such a situation was to arise then the staff association would have the right to make an appeal against Blacks in court. If extra responsibility is given to hard workers, then the association can help the worker more by making sure that he/she is getting the same return such as a higher wage for the extra responsibilities they pick up.
Analysis of Job description/specifications
The contribution the staff association makes to the working environment in this situation is that they make sure the workers do the tasks that they have been employed to do and are contracted to do and do not do anything that is not stated in their contract.
I believe that the contribution of this function is actually negative to a certain extent. The reason I say this is that my contract when I started was a sales assistant, so I would specifically just assist customers and serve at the till. However having worked there a year the manger had gained my loyalty and knew she could trust me. As a result I was given supervisor responsibilities such as taking the banking to the post office and filling out rota forms for the week. I personally considered this a step forward as I was developing the skills that supervisors had. As a result when I became 18 six months ago I was automatically promoted to supervisor.
If had gone through the staff association I would not have been allowed to carry out these tasks. Someone may say that it is a form of taking advantage but I was aware of the implications but looked to the fact that I was being trained.
I believe that other workers who have adequate skills but have a different job specification are missing out on opportunities, meaning skilled workers could be left behind.
However a positive contribution it has on the rights of employees is that when employees are given a more influential role at Blacks, the staff association speaks to Blacks who negotiates a pay increase for employees in light of increasing duties.
Negotiating bonuses
The staff association has recently passed on to Blacks quite a few bonus schemes which will motivate customers and give employees a positive attitude to work.
Blacks at the beginning of the year decided to start a competition running from January through to March. It is a prize £2000 for the store to be shared equally among workers and mangers. The winner is the store that sells the most ski wear in the three months. This is just one of many bonus schemes that the staff association has been able to negotiate with Blacks.
Another method used is for stores to beat there monthly sales from the precious year. This is offered on a monthly basis and is always up for grabs for any store. A new scheme that the staff association has negotiated is Duet card which is a discount card which can be used in other big department stores such as Selfridges.
Analysis of Bonuses
I believe that the current bonus schemes that the staff association has negotiated for employees are a positive contribution to employees’ rights. It shows that the staff association truly cares about each individual worker and wants each worker to have a fair chance in receiving bonuses or other incentives.
Ensuring Job Security
All employees need an assurance of job security and the staff association needs to aim to provide that for employees. All members of the association want to have job security and it’s the association’s duty to support the workers and ensure that the workers are not threatened from being dismissed. The way Blacks provide job security is by giving offering workers promotional opportunities so that they can stay at Blacks’ helm for years to come. Also if workers meet their targets, then they will prove to managers that they are an asset to the business.
Analysis of Job security
I believe that the staff association on this point make a small but ineffective contribution. Here, the staff association doesn’t do much due to the fact that it cannot do much. Unlike a trade union the staff association at Blacks cannot guarantee that all jobs are safe. The employees are poorly represented to management here.
Adequate work facilities
Here the staff association do their best to make sure that the needed to apparatus for work and facilities are included. The association needs to make sure employers are supplying employees with needed apparatus such as a ladder in the stock room. Also the need to ensure a step stool is made available on the shop floor in order for customers to be served properly.
Facilities that the staff association have made sure are available to employees are lockers to protect workers property when working. Also toilets for staff need to be included in the facilities.
Analysis of work facilities
Here it can definitely be said that the staff association positively contribute into making sure the required facilities are available. It makes sense to provide these facilities for the employees as they are the ones who are serve the customers and require these facilities. Also it makes sense for the employers to give the employees lockers to look after there personal belongings. This can give employees a sense of safety at work.
Conclusion
Having looked closely at the various functions that the staff association controls it is clear that they are doing a good job in most areas with a positive contribution and they are representing the rights of employees to a satisfactory level.
However to go that one step further it would be nice to see the staff association give employees that sense of job security as this can play games with employees minds. This should be sorted out a soon as possible.
Employer organisations
We have seen that the employees at Blacks are represented by a staff association who represent them to the employers. The employers seem to always be the bad people in business. So who can the employers refer to for help? The Institute Of Directors. The IOD is a worldwide association of members aiming to provide a professional network that reaches into every corner of the business community that provides support to directors and top managers. All the managers and directors at Blacks rely on this organisation for support.
Members receive a variety of benefits including
- Information
- Advice
- Training schemes
- Have conferences
- Hand out publications to help solve problems
I believer that the IOD contribute positively feel that this organisation does contribute positively because as I mentioned before, employees have excellent working conditions and it is partly down to the information provided by this organisation. It shows that they want to ensure a good health and safety policy for employees.
The IOD also provide advice to managers on how to handle certain issues that the staff association raises to them. An example could be when the staff association demands pay rises.
I believe that the IOD also contributes positively in offering managers and directors the best advice. Managers are starting to become more and more aware of what motivates staff and have used the knowledge gained from these meetings to benefit Blacks.
The IOD provides training programs for each manager to attend. In these training programs managers can learn to develop managerial skills such as problem solving and time management. These training programs can also be discussed in conferences that that managers have together. This develops their managerial skills and it builds up their individual attributes.
The organisation has clear objectives and it contributes positively to the managers needs. Hence they represent the manager’s rights adequately.