Employee Relations

People have today become the most potent source of competitive advantage. Today, the bulk of an organization’s market value comes from its intangible assets driven by its people. Countless studies have demonstrated without any doubt that engagement has a direct impact on performance and business outcomes. In this context, the SHRM Forum Meet at Kolkata on 16th May 2012, explored some of the evolving concepts around Employee Engagement.

There has been longstanding debate on the definition, intellectual boundaries and relative merits of Human Resources Management (HRM) and Industrial Relations (IR). A few decades ago, Human Resources (HR) was considered a subset of the larger IR paradigm. In recent times, however, HR has largely severed its ties with IR, resulting in both being treated as separate, often competing and sometimes complementary agendas. Many Indian professionals today look at IR as an “old school” approach with the new world, management terminology of HR taking on a much wider appeal.

The importance of Employee Relations has come into sharp focus recently, in the light of the Maruti-Manesar labor relations fiasco. SHRM India helped in busting myths and simplifying this conundrum by facilitating a session between eminent personalities Radhakrishna Murthy – Advocate and Corporate Legal Consultant and Pragathi Achanta – HR Head, AT&T who presented the legal and HR perspectives on Employee Relations respectively at the Hyderabad forum. 

Your workers' wealth of knowledge may be worth more to your company than a paycheck is to them. Let them know you appreciate them.

In yesterday's world, the key to wealth may have been the control of land, materials, plants, or tools. In that world, the employee needed the company far more than the company needed the employee. In the apprentice model of leadership, the manager was a person who had mastered technical expertise and then passed on this expertise to followers who didn't know as much as he did.

The world of HR views the word ‘performance’ with completely different connotations, usually as something to do with how well an employee is working.  On the other hand, Indians generally don’t look to actors to improve their communication skills. David Lewis, the Co–founder and CEO of Pinnacle Performance Company, came, saw and conquered by overturning such perceptions, for him ‘performance’ means how well you act on a stage.