Management

Unit V Lecture Transcript

Slide 1

Unit V, Employee Rights, Employee Management, and Labor Relations.

Slide 2

In order to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts presented in

this course, the unit lessons will be structured in question and answer

format. Each slide will provide at least one question based on concepts

presented in this unit and an accompanying audio response from a subject

matter expert. Review each slide to further enhance your practical

knowledge about the field of human resource management.

Slide 3

Meet Marilyn Pike. Marilyn has over 20 years of experience in HR

leadership positions in both the public and private sector, large and small

businesses, and union and non-union environments. She currently holds

both the SPHR and SHRM-SCP.

Question: Can you talk to us about employee rights? Management

rights?

Answer: As Americans, we have all learned that we certain inalienable

Constitutional rights; however, it’s important to recognize that while we

have those rights in our private lives, in the workplace, we give up many of

those rights in exchange for a paycheck. That’s why it’s important to pay

attention to the ethics and/or mission of the organization which provides you

with that paycheck. An employer cannot force you to do anything against

your will; however, the consequence of you choosing not to do what your

employer wants you to do can mean loss of your job. That is the reality of

the world. Key idea, let’s get something out of the way: First Amendment

Right of Free Speech. In the workplace, individual freedom of speech is

limited. The reality is the employer has a responsibility to ensure that

everyone is treated with mutual respect. An employee cannot say whatever

they want, whenever they want. Respectful communication is everything.

That said, within organizations, individuals should still be free to

express concerns or discontent with organizational policies or to even blow

the whistle without fear of harm. Many employees fear that if they speak up,

their employer will retaliate against them by limiting their promotion

opportunities or just make their life miserable at work. There are laws

against this. In fact, a charge of retaliation can be more costly to an

employer than the penalty associated with the original complaint. Manager

rights are based on the necessity for the organization to protect itself and its

employees from persons that might do them intentional or unintentional

harm. The manager has to weigh the individual’s rights against the potential

harm that could be done to the organization by allowing the individual to

express those rights. Management has the right to:

 create and enforce an employee code of conduct;

 create workplace data and device policies to protect data and to

maintain control of its networks;

 monitor the workplace to protect the organization and its

employees;

 identify the relationship with workers as one of employment-at-

will, which basically allows either party to break the relationship

at any time, even without stating a reason;

 set up an orientation program and require that new employees

attend such orientation; and

 test for drugs in the workplace.

In each case, these rights are offered based on the need for managers

to be able to protect the organization and the employees from unnecessary

danger or harm.

Slide 4

Question: You mentioned employment at will. Can you explain this

concept further?

Answer: Employment at will allows the company or the employee to

break their work relationship at any point in time, with or without any

particular reason, as long as in doing so, no law is violated, which essentially

means that the employee is not being terminated due to any protected class

status.

The reality is that if an employer is using at-will employment to

terminate an employee, if that employee happens to be part of a protected

status group, the employer would be wise to document some reason for the

termination, showing that the reason was not protected class status. At-will

employment also runs both ways. An employee can leave an employer at

any time for any reason. While the professional thing to do is to give a

minimum of two weeks’ notice, the employer cannot require an employee to

give notice. I’ve heard many employees feel at-will employment is unfair,

but I suggest they consider that rarely is a manager going to decide to

terminate a good employee “just because.” The effect on other employees

would be devastating should a manager just walk up to someone and say,

“You’re gone.” When a manager terminates an employee, there is usually a

very good reason. At-will employment just does not require the manager to

share that reason with the employee.

Slide 5

Question: What is coaching verses counseling?

Answer: The major objective of coaching, counseling and discipline is

to change behavior. I’ve found, often, managers are reluctant to talk with

employees about issues. I think it is important to change the paradigm and

realize that by reaching out to the employee as soon as the issue is

identified, the manager is doing both themselves and the employee a huge

favor.

Coaching, generally, should be the first step in dealing with problem

employees, but if they are unwilling or unable to change, or a rule has been

broken, discipline is necessary. The second objective is to let employees

know action will be taken when standing plans or performance requirements

are not met and to maintain authority when challenged. It is all about

accountability. Management counseling, that involves giving employees

feedback so they realize a problem (often personal) is affecting their job

performance and referring employees with problems that cannot be

managed within the work structure to an employee assistance program. Of

course, coaching, counseling, and discipline may differ globally. The most

important thing in any successful interaction between the coach and the

recipient of coaching is probably an understanding of the individual, not the

culture that the individual comes from. This is because no matter what

culture a person belongs to, individual personalities may or may not adhere

to cultural norms and values. Therefore, two of the most significant issues

that the coach needs to attempt to determine are the individual’s personality

type and their motivators.

Slide 6

Question: What is job satisfaction, and why is it important?

Answer: Job satisfaction is an attitude, not a behavior. We can

experience behaviors directly, while we can measure attitudes only

indirectly, making job satisfaction difficult to measure. The seven

determinants of job satisfaction include individual personality, the work

itself, compensation, growth and upward mobility, coworkers, management,

and communication. Although compensation (pay and benefits) is important

to job satisfaction, research, historically, has not strongly supported the idea

that pay is the only, or even the primary determinant of job satisfaction in

many cases. Job satisfaction is, to a large extent, based on personality and

perception, so it can be changed. If you work at being more positive by

focusing on the good parts of your job and spend less time thinking about

problems, and especially complaining to others about your job, then you

may increase your job satisfaction.

Slide 7

Question: Let’s talk about unions. What drives employees’ desire to

unionize?

Answer: We talked about job satisfaction. Job dissatisfaction has a lot

to do with employees wanting to join unions. Treating employees well and

fairly is a very effective union avoidance tactic. Employees organize for a

variety of reasons, including better pay and benefits (especially good

healthcare coverage and retirement plans), they organize to fight unfair

management practices that lead to poor labor relations, and they fight for

job security. I’ve worked with three different unions and been involved in

two union organization attempts. One organization attempt failed and the

other succeeded.

In the attempt which succeeded, we realized after the fact that the

main reason the employees wanted to organize is they felt they were not

being heard. Conflict is part of every relationship and every social system.

You are in conflict when you get aggravated at someone or when someone

does something that bothers you. When there is conflict and employees do

not feel heard, they turn to unionization in order to attempt to gain some

type of power on their side in the process.

Labor and management are required by law to bargain with each other

in good faith, and companies need to maintain effective employee relations,

but when in conflict, we cannot always resolve our dispute alone. In these

cases, we can use something called alternative dispute resolution.

Alternative dispute resolution includes a series of tools, most commonly

either mediation or arbitration, which parties in conflict can use to resolve

their disagreements without going through the process of litigation.

The NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) has taken a stance that

heavily favors the employee in virtually all situations where there may be

questions about whether or not an action is protected concerted activity.

Business, as a result of these interpretations, has found it more difficult to

maintain good order and discipline within their organizations. However, there

is at least some help from some recent court decisions that have reversed

some of the more extreme NLRB decisions, noting that sometimes, you have

to use common sense in such situations.

Companies have become much more knowledgeable concerning

avoiding unionization drives. However, it doesn’t mean that their activities

are necessarily ethical. Staying within the letter of the law (NO TIPS) may

not provide the company with the kind of skilled workforce that it needs. We

have to pay attention to whether or not actions on the part of management

will increase the satisfaction and engagement levels of the employees or

cause them to decrease.

Slide 8

This concludes the Unit V question and answer session with subject

matter expert, Marilyn Pike. Reflect on this question and answer session as

you review your readings for this unit.