Guidelines for effective employee relations
- Drive out fear from employees
- Treat employees with respect
The article by Peterson, Bert on 'Employee Relations Today,' clearly states that employee relations (the foremost of which is to drive out fear) starts at the top. The way the Chief Executive looks at the company sets the standards. If employees are viewed as labor cost then no matter what anyone else in the company tries to do can overcome this perception. (1:3)
In the words of Dr. Deming (as cited in Bert, “n.d.”), who developed the widely acclaimed Deming Quality Principles:
"Drive out fear. Many employees are afraid to ask questions or to take a position; even when they do not understand what the job is or what is right or wrong. People will continue to do things the wrong way, or not to do them at all. The economic loss from fear is appalling. It is necessary for better quality and productivity that people feel secure." (2:1)
Fear works to maintain discipline. But it also effectively discourages people to ask question. They are to follow orders that they receive. They carry them out exactly as they are directed. This approach is probably necessary when one is ordering troops into battle, but it seems a bit out of place in the business world. (2:1)
Fear also helps in discouraging embarrassing questions from subordinates. They spend most of their time "polishing the boss's shoe." Initiative is lost and creativity is suppressed. Coming to work then is not an enjoyable experience. The employee is to know his/her place in the "pecking order", the job thus becomes to protect that place, and if safe, to improve that place.
From an economic perspective this may be acceptable, but the personal impact on employees and managers is unforgivable when the alternative to a fear environment is so simple. The alternative is respect for everyone in the company. Respect means treating employees the way you would want to be treated. It means considering people as being intelligent, knowledgeable about their jobs, hard working and enthusiastic, all in all being craftsmen. (2:2)
Respect for employees begins with humility from those on top. It is important to remember that the company is successful because of the talent, effort and attention of the lowest level of employees. The efforts of top managers are no more important than the interaction of the lowest level of employee with a customer. Managers must believe that employees are intelligent, hard working and every bit as skilful as the manager is. (2:3)
Results of Employee Relations
Good employee relations translate into a happier, healthier and motivated workforce. Working becomes a pleasure. Even though there is no single solution to employee relations' problem, a simple step in the right direction is to treat employees with respect and give them the credit they rightly deserve.
Employee Counseling
The Need for Counseling
Everyone has periods of time in their life of difficulty, change and transition, when personal issues affect their work and relationships; issues such as emotional, family matters, career, financial, grief, or abuse of alcohol/drugs. It is important for managers to realize that everyone includes their employees. (6:1)
Every person goes through ups and downs in life and that includes employees. This affects their performance and attitude at work. Helping them get through the blues is not only the humanistic style of management but it also saves organizations many costs in terms of quality problems and miscommunication.
What is Counseling
Counseling can come in many forms. It can come as advice from a friend or relative. It can be guidance from a religious organization or a social worker.
"COUNSELING is Gaining Understanding then Perceiving Options and Finding Encouragement for Making Changes. Counseling provides options for change." (6:1)
The Goals of Counseling
The general aims of counseling are listed below.
- Provide support and understanding;
- Help identify problems and clarify issues;
- Train employees to develop coping skills;
- Educate employees in self-management techniques;
- Encourage them to take personal responsibility;
- Refer to proper community resources if required and
- Provide follow-up to monitor success.
Types of Counseling
As mentioned earlier, helping employees get through the blues is simply smart management. This help can come in many forms. The three basic types of counseling that will come under discussion are:
- General Counseling Approach
- One-on-one Performance Counseling
- Specific/Need-based Counseling Approach
General Counseling Approach.
The organization can have this kind of approach when it aims to help the employees on a collective basis to maintain an optimistic perspective of life. The article 'Seven Ways to Beat the Blues' describes seven ways that can be incorporated as part of a philosophy of the department/division or it can be part of an on-going counseling program. The guidelines listed below are generic in nature and apply to all employees across the board.
- Maintain a realistic, factual and optimistic perspective on things;
- Develop a healthy and positive relationships with people;
- Get regular exercise;
- Maintain a healthy balanced diet;
- Rest and relaxation;
- Get sunshine;
- Improve your self-esteem.
This kind of approach of giving tips to employees regarding how to conduct their affairs shows that the organization cares about the welfare of its employees.
One-on-one Performance Counseling.
Managers specifically use this approach, when they are faced with issues of poor performance.
Usually there are two things that a manger does when faced with such a problem
- nothing
- write a formalized warning
Both these methods are on two extremes. Another more suitable course of action would be to talk with the employee personally and try and find out what is the reason behind the poor performance. It is a six step coaching approach and it does yield positive results. The steps are as follows:
- Gather and verify performance information and decide if proceeding is worth your time or hassling the employee. Don't act on rumors or suppositions.
- Meet with the employee and reach agreement on what's happened or what hasn't happened.
- Get agreement on whose problem it really is.
- Ask for solutions. Include them, which helps compliance.
- Evaluate the solutions, agree on the best alternative and on what will happen and when.
- Monitor progress and give feedback to correct and/or to reinforce the employee's actions.
However it is important that before a manager decides to take this course of action several other factors are considered, for example:
- Is this employee problem worth mentioning at all?
- Is this the employee's very first time with a minor infraction?
- Has the employee had proper training?
- Is the correction of performance within the employee's control?
It is important to remember that before any action is taken the management's own role in the situation is evaluated. Has the management adequately reinforced the desired behavior or has it shown complacency in the past regarding performance related problems.
Specific/Need-based Counseling.
The organization can have developed EAPs to assist those employees who need help, i.e. provide specific need-based counseling. Originally introduced in late 1970s, EAPs offer private and confidential counseling to employees, who need help with issues related to drugs, alcohol, finances, stress, family problems and other personal problems. (9:3) EAPs are not something that the company should provide just because it looks nice on the face but they should use it to improve the physical and psychological health of its workforce. The EAP provides assessment and problem solving and therapy. (9:1)
This approach entails the services of a professional counselor who has a Doctorate degree in psychology. The employee attends therapy sessions with the counselor who helps the employee overcome/deal effectively with the problems.
How to choose a professional counselor
Counseling is, gaining understanding, then perceiving options and finding encouragement for making changes. To be able to achieve this through counseling it is important to seek a counselor one is comfortable with, professionally, religiously and emotionally and who is experienced in the area of need. it is better to first advise the employee to assess his/her compatibility with the counselor before proceeding.
It is important to make an employee realize that the same behavior always leads to the same results. If they want different results, they need different behavior. This is perhaps the single most important thing that an employee must learn from counseling.
What an employee should know about counselor ethics
To avoid any unprofessional practice or any malpractice, it is important that the employees of an organization are aware of the ethical practices with respect to employee counseling. It is also important so that employees know if the counselor is competent and professional.
The organization needs to educate the employees in this matter because carelessness may lead to adverse effect amongst employees, scandals and even lawsuits. The following things are what an employee can expect from a professional counselor:
- the counselor will tell the employee his qualifications and area of expertise;
- the counselor will treat the employee with respect and dignity;
- the counselor will inform about the purpose, goals, techniques, limitations, risks and benefits of counseling services that the employee will receive;
- the counselor will inform about the confidentiality and the limitations to confidentiality of the sessions; and
- the counselor will inform the employee about the financial arrangement. (7:1)
Employee Coaching
What is Coaching
Coaching is a development activity in which a manager takes an active role in guiding an employee. Counseling, mentoring and serving as a much needed sound-board is all part of coaching. But coaching is not therapy. It is not about giving advice. (12:1)
What does Coaching help achieve
Executive coaching is a fairly new concept. It improves communication not in terms of giving advice but in terms of company and employee strengthening and growth. Executive coaches elevated the job game. They identify key areas of employee and company concerns and strengths and help capitalize on these strengths. Executive coaching creates and executes the highest performance standards. An executive coach program solves business problems within a company's work team and adds immediate and measurable value to a company. (12:1-2)
"Corporate coaching is a lot about retention. It's about getting key management people into places where they feel invigorated, challenged and rewarded for their work." (12:2)
Coaching molds managers and talented people into leaders. It tells the employees that the company is worried about their (employees') future. Basically mentor programs such as these help workers stay on the corporate ladder.
Why employee development is necessary
Only self-confident people can be simple and if employees can not be simple they cannot be fast and that can be a deadly fault. Usually if people cannot explain themselves simply they complicate matters so as to appear intelligent. People use many different defenses to hide their lack of self-esteem. Thus we find some employees to be intimidating, annoying and blocking. These employees generally make us defensive and angry and we don't realize that these are generally insecure people.
Apart from the personal blocks such employees generate in us, these employees cost organizations a lot of money through complicating things, building red tape and lengthening the decision process.
It is thus more effective to run personal development programs and counseling programs and invest in mentoring programs than to deal with self-protective, responsibility-avoiding bureaucracy. Self-confidence can be built by:
- experience;
- self-awareness;
- taking responsibility.
Such employees must be helped through development programs and effectively dealt with it. Complacency in this matter is equivalent to contribution in building bureaucracy.
Teaching how to deal with difficult people
More often than not there are present difficult people in our work environment and we just wish that they disappeared. However difficult people may just be the boost one needs in order to grow. The presence of a difficult person will catalyze the employee to stretch beyond their comfort zone and take some form of action that they usually would not take.
To deal with difficult people it is important teach the employees that they must first realize that such people are here to show them something about themselves. They should not feel weak or victimized by such people but learn to deal with them and learn from them. It is important that managers view this as an opportunity to learn, and teach their employees otherwise it will be difficult to grow. Difficult people are necessary as they help us remain on our toes and bring to the work environment the dynamism that is necessary.
Annotated Bibliography
Peterson, Bert "Role of Employee Relations Today."
, pp.1-5.
Employees are a very valuable resource. To accomplish the rate of change that is required of a business enterprise today, every employee on board must contribute to the change process otherwise the competition will succeed.
The company that can elevate the role of employee relations and that can capture the skills, talents, knowledge and creativity of every employee will be richly rewarded for its efforts. Employee relations, the foremost task of which is driving out fear, starts at the top. If the CEO or the COO consider employees as a labor cost than the effort is meaningless. Employees are valuable and must be treated well. Companies should not just be worried about the legal aspect of employee relations. They should treat each employee with respect and as an integral part of the company.
Peterson, Bert "Fear- A Management Style."
, pp.1-4.
Management styles usually border on fear. This is not only bad but can be dangerous and costly for the organization. It is simple to drive out fear from the organization. The answer lies in giving respect. However this is difficult since it requires a change in attitude, thinking and behavior of the managers.
Fear breeds unproductivity. Many employees are afraid to ask questions or to take a position, even when they don't understand what the job is or what is right or wrong. People will continue to do the things the wrong way or not do them at all. The economic loss from fear is appalling. It is necessary for better quality and better productivity that people feel secure.
Peyser, Randy "The Necessity of Difficult People."
Exploration Hall, www.balancinglife.com, pp.1-2.
More often than not there are present difficult people in our work environment and we just wish that they disappeared. However difficult people may just be the boost you need in order to grow. The presence of a difficult person will catalyze you to stretch beyond your comfort zone and take some form of action that you usually would not take.
To deal with difficult people first realize that they are here to show you something about yourself. Do not feel weak or victimized by them but learn to deal with them and learn from them. It is important that managers view this as an opportunity to learn, otherwise it will be difficult to grow. Difficult people are necessary as they help us remain on our toes and bring to the work environment the dynamism that is necessary.
Cairnes, Margot "Building self-confidence should be
strategic priority." www.hr-info.com, pp.1-2.
Only self-confident people can be simple and if you are not simple you cannot be fast and that can be a deadly fault.
Usually if people cannot explain themselves simply they complicate matters so as to appear intelligent. People use many different defenses to hide their lack of self-esteem. Thus we find people intimidating, annoying and blocking. These people generally make us defensive and angry and we don't realize that these are generally insecure people.
Apart from the personal blocks such people generate in us these people cost organizations a lot of money through complicating things, building red tape and lengthening the decision process.
It is thus more effective to run personal development programs and counseling programs and invest in mentoring programs than to deal with self-protective, responsibility-avoiding bureaucracy. Self-confidence can be built by:
- experience; b)self-awareness; c)taking responsibility.
"Employee Assistance Program; Counselling Service."
www.benefits.org, pp.1-3.
Counseling can come in many forms; a friend or relative's advice or a social worker or priest's advice. The best practice however is to seek counseling from professional counselors for matters that are beyond simplicity.
Employee assistance programs (EAP) provide assessment and problem solving and therapy. The goals are to: 1) provide support and understanding; 2) help identify problems and clarify issues; 3) train employees to develop coping skills; 4) educate employees in self management techniques; 5) encourage them to take personal responsibility; 6) refer to proper community resources if required and 7) provide follow-up to monitor success.
Apart from this to make the EAP a success it is critical to maintain confidentiality and professional standards.
"Counseling Service." www.balancinglife.com, pp.1-2.
Counseling provides options for change. Counseling is, gaining understanding, then perceiving options and finding encouragement for making changes. To be able to achieve this through counseling it is important to seek a counselor one is comfortable with, professionally, religiously and emotionally.
It is important to note that the way one copes with success or failure is what shapes the person and not mere success or failure. What really helps and works if counseling therapy is being employed is the full involvement of the person in question. Without this even the best counselor and the best techniques cannot make the difference.
"The Layperson's Guide to Counselor Ethics: What You Should
Know About the Ethical Practice of Professional Counselors." www.counseling.org, pp.1-2.
To avoid any unprofessional practice or any malpractice, it is important that the employees of an organization are aware of the ethical practices with respect to employee counseling. It is also important so that employees know if the counselor is competent and professional.
The organization needs to educate the employees in this matter because carelessness may lead to adverse effect amongst employees, scandals and even lawsuits.
The following things are what an employee can expect from a professional counselor: 1) the counselor will tell the employee his qualifications and area of expertise; 2) the counselor will treat the employee with respect and dignity; 3) the counselor will inform about the purpose, goals, techniques, limitations, risks and benefits of counseling services that the employee will receive; 4) the counselor will inform about the confidentiality and the limitations to confidentiality of the sessions; and 5) the counselor will inform the employee about the financial arrangement.
"7 Ways To Beat The Blues." www.hurstplace.com, pp.1
Every person goes through ups and downs in life and that includes employees. This affects their performance and attitude at work. Helping them get through the blues is not only the humanistic style of management but it also saves organizations many costs in terms of quality problems and miscommunication.
The article talks about seven ways that help beat the blues. These seven ways can be incorporated as part of a philosophy of the department/division or it can be part of an on-going counseling program.
The seven ways mentioned in the article are: 1) maintain a realistic, factual and optimistic perspective on things; 2) develop a healthy and positive relationships with people; 3) get regular exercise; 4) maintain a healthy balanced diet; 5) rest and relaxation; 6) get sunshine; 7) improve your self-esteem.
Atkinson, William "Wellness, Employee Assistance Programs:
Investments, Not Costs." , pp.1-6
Wellness plans and EAPs can improve the physical and psychological health of the company's workforce and can result in major financial savings and increased productivity. EAPs offer private and confidential counseling to employees who need help with issues related to drugs, alcohol, finances, stress, family problems and other personal problems.
The article says that "EAPs used to be a frill. Today, most companies realize they're a necessity. Pressures on employees in and outside of the workplace are becoming greater. They're juggling family, finances and other issues. EAP helps employees get through any tough times they're having."
Farr, John "Problem Employees: How do managers decide how
and when to deal with poor employee performance?" , pp.1-7
There are two things a manager can usually do when faced with issues regarding poor performance; nothing or write a formalized warning. However there is another course of action that managers can take- one-on-one performance counseling. It is a six step counseling approach reproduced as follow: 1. Gather and verify performance information and decide if proceeding is worth your time or hassling the employee. Don't act on rumors or suppositions. 2. Meet with the employee and reach agreement on what's happened or what hasn't happened. 3. Get agreement on whose problem it really is. 4. Ask for solutions. Include them, which helps compliance. 5. Evaluate the solutions, agree on the best alternative and on what will happen and when. 6. Monitor progress and give feedback to correct and/or to reinforce the employee's actions.
"The Future of Electronic Counselling." , pp.1-2
The use of internet in our lives is expanding and is likely to influence the way counselors and psychotherapists do their jobs. The article states that video-counseling via internet is likely to expand sharply over the next decade as the technology develops and personal communications with video-links replace the conventional telephone and remove the need for computers and keyboards to a great extent.
The advantages of online counseling include: increased flexibility and accessibility; low cost; increased access for counselors to expert therapists worldwide. The possible impediments stated are: impersonal nature of computer interface will be a barrier to client's acceptance; lack of visual and auditory cues and anonymity of the remote communication technology may tend to be viewed as an impediment to the relationship building process.
