“Increasingly contracts include clauses which allow employer to make adjustments to terms and conditions without the need to seek agreement from the employees or the representatives.”
It is stated on blackboard learning suite that Torrington, Hall and Taylor set out the rights and obligations that come with the contract of employment. They did this by distinguishing between those who were the employees and those who were the non-employees. Within the lecture notes on the ‘written and psychological contracts’ it is said;
“Employees have access to a wider range of legal rights than non-employees.”
There are statutory rights for employees and all workers which are, as stated on the lecture notes;
There are also statutory obligations that need to be followed. Within the chart the duties of both the employer and employee are stated as;
All of the above is what is covered within the employment contract. Both parties have a limited say within the contract of employment and can be said to not represent the relationship realistically. This point is made clearer with the comment from the CIPD website that this contract
“Will in many cases offer only a limited and uncertain representation of the reality of the employment relationship.”
This point clearly showing that another method is needed as to create a certainty of what both parties are looking for, which is said to be the role of the Psychological contract. As it is stated on wikipedia.com that the Psychological contract;
“Looks at the reality of the situation as perceived by the parties, and may be more influential than the formal contract in affecting how employees behave from day to day.”
The Psychological contract is an unwritten contract; it is more a mutual agreement between the employer and employee. However, on the wikipedia website it states that;
“Better organised employers are careful to document offers to reduce the risk of raising false expectations followed by disappointment.”
The definition given for the Psychological contract on blackboard academic suite was
“It is ideally about the creation of the conditions that will allow people to meet their needs/expectations while delivering what the organisation wants.”
The obligations that are part of the psychological contract are usually informal and not entirely precise. These obligations may be introduced into the contract from actions made, from things that have happened in the past, as well as statements the employer has made perhaps during the hiring of the employee or in performance appraisals. For example the employer may be looking for an energetic, committed and loyal employee and in return the employee is looking for opportunities for promotion within the workplace. Some of the obligations that make their way into the contract can either be interpreted as promises and others as expectations. In general the expectations of the employee may change over time as they develop a wider range of knowledge within the company, this resulting in the need for the organisation to respond to the change which may mean that they too expect more or different things. The employee believes the psychological contract to be part of the relationship between them and the employer. All in all if the terms of the psychological contract are upheld then there will be a positive affect on the job satisfaction and commitment from the employee. However; a negative affect will be had on the whole employment relationship and job satisfaction if the employee believes that management have broken promises or commitments have not been followed through.
There are many factors, such as the circumstances of the organisation are changing, for example they are downsizing, reconstructing, etc which can affect the violation of the contract. However; when there is a violation of the contract, particularly in the case when the managers themselves are responsible, i.e. they don’t receive promised training, it can be seen as a breach of trust.
The employment relationship is defined by both the contract of employment and the psychological contract. It is fair to say that a clear understanding of both statements is necessary when managing people in the workplace. A clear understanding of the Psychological contract is needed to be able to control the employment relationship and refrain from neglecting to follow through with promises that have been seen by the employee as expectations. As the Psychological contract is more of a reality check within the relationship as commitment to promises creates job satisfaction, it would seem that every workplace should have a clear outline of what the psychological contract is and what is expected of those who follow through with the process.
Refrences
1. 15.11.06
2.http://blackboard.gcal.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=19237_1 16.11.06
3,http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/psycntrct/psycontr.htm 15.11.06
4,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_contract 10.11.06
