Employees Relations

Employees Relations 1

EMPLOYEES RELATIONS

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Employees Relations 2

Employees Relations

Abstract

Employees’ relation is an imperative phenomenon in an organization. That is because it

aids in the development of a healthy working environment for all stakeholders in an

organization. Subsequently, such an occurrence aids in promoting the personnel’s performance

in an organization and also aids in enhancing an organization’s overall performance. The

following project expounds on the topic of employee’s relations, by referencing to the

operational performance of an Apple store establishment situated in the United States. The

analysis will focus on the unitary, pluralistic and radical perspectives in reference to the stated

business establishment. Moreover, the research will also discuss the concepts of employee

involvement, voice, as well as participation and it, will also provide a description of how the

stated concepts were employed in the Apple establishment. Lastly, the findings of this research

will be ideal to both the employer and employees functioning in various organizations in

illustrating the appropriateness of having positive employee relations in an organization.

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Table of Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................4

Brief Description of the Work Environment to be featured in the Analysis ..................................4

Outline of the Main Features of the Unitary, Pluralist and Radical Perspectives ...........................5

Unitary Perspective .........................................................................................................................5

Pluralistic Perspective .....................................................................................................................6

Radical Perspective .........................................................................................................................7

Explanation of the Organization’s Approach .................................................................................7

Contemporary Examples Illustrating How Different Approaches May Work or Not Work in

Other Organizations ........................................................................................................................9

Employee Involvement, Employee Voice and Employee Participation ..........................................9

Outline and Assessment of Various Forms of Employee Involvement and Other Forms of Non-

Union Voice at the Apple Store ....................................................................................................11

Assessment and Evaluation of Employee Participation at the Apple Store ...................................11

Assessment of the Apple Store’s Organizational Approach to Employees’ Involvement and

Voice ..............................................................................................................................................12

Contrast of the Stated Approach to Voice Mechanisms in Other Organizations .........................14

Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................14

Employees Relations 4

Introduction

Employees’ relations are the company’s efforts that are focused on managing the

relationships between the organization’s stakeholders. A company that has an ideal employee

relations’ program offers fair and consistent treatment to all its personnel. Subsequently, such

staffs become committed to their jobs and they are also in most cases loyal to their organizations.

Today, employees’ relations is a field of study on its own that entails the investigation of the

relationships between employees, employers, trading unions as well as the government during

the regular execution of organizational functions. Additionally, there are three perspectives that

define the nature of employees’ relations in an organization. They include unitarism, pluralist

and radical perspectives and each of them offers a unique perception of workplace relations in an

organization. The perceptions also provide an explanation of the actions, statements as well as

employer behaviors in an organization. In this case, the employer behavior could be assessed in

reference to his/her response to work conflicts and in policy development at the workplace. The

following research will be a critical analysis of a workplace using the unitary, pluralist and

radical perspectives citing the strengths and weakness of each perspective in the stated work

environment.

Brief Description of the Work Environment to be Featured in the Analysis

Apple Inc. is among the globally renowned technology corporation in the world. The

corporation was founded by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne as well as Steve Wozniak in 1976 and

today it has franchised to over 500 outlets around the world (Isaacson 2011). Moreover, the

company is a leading manufacturer and retailer of consumer electronics, online services as well

as computer software (Russell & Cohn 2012). The workplace to be cited for this project will be

an Apple Store selling a range of Apple devices like iPhone, iPads, laptops and music

Employees Relations 5

accessories. The analysis is based on a past working experience while working with the

establishment on a part-time basis for two years. The store is located in the United States and it

has been in operation for six years. Also, the store has 15 personnel and 4 managers. Most of the

entity’s customers are local but there is occasional shipping of products for international

customers. There are minimal conflicts at work and the employees’ relation with the

management is ideal. Lastly, all the work conflicts that emerge at the establishment are solved

internally without very little involvement of the board members.

Outline of the Main Features of the Unitary, Pluralist and Radical Perspectives

Unitary Perspective

The unitary perspective has a fundamental advantage in that it aids in promoting unity

between the employer and his/her staff members (Heery 2016). Moreover, the views, as well as

decisions of the staff members, are highly acknowledged and placed into consideration before

any conclusions can be made on matters affecting an organization. Nevertheless, despite the

stated advantages of having a unitary perspective in a working environment, the model also

poses some disadvantages to an organization. The first disadvantage depicted by the unitary

perspective is the aspect that it assumes that there exists a power difference between managers or

employers and their employees. In most cases, this could be a problem for some organizations if

the employers or managers perceive themselves to be superior to their employees. Another

disadvantage is that through the unitary model, employees are often forced to submit to almost

all the decisions made by their managers unquestioned.

That is because the staff often view themselves as minors whilst their managers as the

superiors. Another disadvantage is that through the unitary model, employees are often forced to

Employees Relations 6

submit to almost all the decisions made by their managers unquestioned. That is because the staff

often view themselves as minors whilst their managers as the superiors. The third disadvantage is

that the unitary perspective regards all forms of conflict as harmful to all the operations of the

organizations. Nevertheless, this perception is not true as some of the conflicts that affect

business organizations aid in enhancing the growth as well as the development of organizations.

Additionally, there are varying forms of conflicts in an organization and some may be beneficial

to the organizations. The last disadvantage of the unitary perspective is that it fails to outline how

an organization’s human resource management should subdivide various roles and

responsibilities to the personnel a phenomenon if not executed can potentially create a conflict

among the staff workers.

Pluralistic Perspective

The pluralistic theory is different from the unitary theory as it assumes that in all forms of

organizations; there exist different types of workers each with varying cultures, beliefs,

leadership skills as well as attitudes (Adegbite et al. 2017). The variations in the stated factors

often cause competition and conflicts between the personnel in an organization. Subsequently,

such an occurrence creates the need for the variations to be addressed efficiently by the

management department to promote a good working environment with positive employees’

relations. Furthermore, unlike the unitary theory, the pluralistic perspective affirms that

conflicting leadership must be present in a working environment. Also, the pluralistic outlook

believes that some of the conflicts that exist in a working environment are essential to an

organization and as such, they should not be restricted. Also, the perspective encourages the staff

members in an organization to make appropriate as well as informed decisions in an effort to

prevent the managers from violating their rights. Moreover, trade unions unlike in the unitary

Employees Relations 7

perspective are encouraged in order to cater for the welfare of the employees (Betchoo 2014).

Also, under the pluralistic perspective, the methodology of collective bargaining aids in

maintaining the stability of the staffs’ relations in an organization.

Radical Perspective

The approach assumes that all organizations exist in capitalist societies. That is whereby

the production systems are privately or individually owned and the profit attained is the primary

influencing factor of a business organization’s policies (Govrin 2015). Lastly, the radical

approach assumes that all control of the production or operations of an entity is normally

enforced downwards towards the employees by managers (Bates & Bailey 2018;

Paraskevopoulou & McKay 2016). In such cases, the management personnel are the superior

stakeholders in a business and their decisions largely influence all the operations of a business.

The primary disadvantage of this perspective is that it suppresses the employees’ room for

invention and innovation in a working environment. That is because the management enforces all

the guidelines of executing various functions in an organization leaving the staff with a very

limited level of influence on the workplace tasks or functions.

Explanation of the Organization’s Approach

The Apple store focused on this analysis used the unitary perspective approach. At the

Apple store, before any major decision that would bring change to the business was made, the

management invited all the personnel for a staff meeting. In the stated meetings, the staff offered

insightful suggestions to the proposed change, which in most cases were beneficial to the

organization. Furthermore, including the employees in the decision-making process promoted a

good relationship between the staff and managers and also prevented the emergence of resistance

Employees Relations 8

to change. Subsequently, this ensured that respect between the staff and employees were

safeguarded at all times, which subsequently promoted a good working environment.

Moreover, the perspective acknowledged that personnel are imperative stakeholders in an

organization and that they should be motivated so as to remain committed to executing their

functions. For instance, some of the employees’ motivational strategies that were employed at

the Apple store were inclusive of sales commission, semi-annual trips to renowned tourist

attraction sites and semi-quarterly barbeques for all employees. Nevertheless, the unitary

perspective had several disadvantages. That is that at the stated Apple store, some of the

marketing strategies proposed by the marketing managers were not as effective as other

promotion methods proposed by the personnel. Nevertheless, on some occasions, the employees

had to support and accept the reasons offered by their managers supporting specific marketing

methodologies.

The unitary perspective also failed to outline how an organization’s human resource

management should subdivide various roles and responsibilities. For instance, at the stated Apple

store, at one point a major conflict between the personnel on equitable delegation of

responsibilities at the organization occurred. Some of the staff in the marketing department felt

that they were offered more work than all the other personnel at the business premises yet all the

employees were offered the same salary and wages. Moreover, the employees who felt oppressed

by more work at the store argued that they were entitled to a slight increment in their salaries

compared to other workers. Arguably, it is plausible that such a conflict occurred due to the

inadequacy of the unitary perspective in delegating different roles and responsibilities at the

organization equitably.

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Contemporary Examples Illustrating How Different Approaches May Work or Not Work in

Other Organizations

The unitary perspective in today’s modern society can work for organizations that

promote the involvement of staff by managers in the decision-making process. For instance, in a

case that involves the employees in making a decision to improve the design of an existing

product. However, it would not be appropriate for an organization where the managers view

themselves as superior to their employees such as in an organization where the autocratic

leadership style is used. The pluralistic approach can be effective in organizations which believe

that conflicts are important to enforce change in an organization. For instance, in a factory where

employees feel that the only way for the managers to review their salaries for an increment is

through conducting a strike or work demonstration. Nevertheless, it will not be essential for a

company where managers feel strikes are detrimental to the continued performance of an

organization. The radical perspective can be appropriate for a company that believes that profit

should be a driving guideline of all functions delegated to the employees in an organization.

Nevertheless, the radical approach would not be appropriate for a company where employees are

not offered a participatory role in the company’s decision-making process since it restricts the

invention and innovation of a company’s personnel.

Employee Involvement, Employee Voice and Employee Participation

Employees are among the most imperative stakeholders in every organization (Valentine

2014). Businesspersons or employers need a team of employees that are capable and efficient in

executing various job functions (Cihon & Castagnera 2013). Employee performance is crucial to

the overall success of a corporation. In order for managers or employers to manage their human

resource workforce effectively, they must understand employees’ involvement, voice, and

Employees Relations 10

participation. Employee involvement is the direct participation of workers in helping an

organization to meet its mission and objectives in applying ideas, expertise as well as efforts in

developing solutions to issues and making decisions (Heckscher 2018). Contrary, the employee

voice is the means through which workers in an organization communicate their needs and

opinions to an employer (Boxall et al. 2018). It is an important facet of employees’ relations in

an organization because it is the primary way through which the personnel communicate the

issues affecting them to their employers. To the employers, having an effective employee voice

is essential because it aids in the promotion of the personnel's productivity, innovation as well as

business improvement in an organization (Wilkinson et al. 2014). Lastly, employee participation

is the method through which the staffs in an organization are involved in the decision making

processes instead of simply following the orders of the management (Hadwiger 2018).

Over the years, there has been a gradual transformation in the expectations of managers

and employees in business organizations. In the past, the management style that was employed

by most managers in organizations was the autocratic leadership style, whereby the management

personnel was offered full power as well as authority in a work environment. Nevertheless, in the

recent past, an emphasis on employees’ relations has become a trend in most organizations as a

strategic technique of promoting the staffs’ productivity and an overall positive organizational

performance. Some of the methodologies that are utilized by the human resource management

departments in most organizations today are inclusive of the facilitation of the employees’

involvement, voice as well as participation. Additionally, such measures have been adopted to

ensure that the organizations have an ideal working environment where workers can function at

full potential and also have room for invention and innovation. Also, the success of some of the

major international business organizations like the Apple Corporation has in past linked their

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excellence in the international market to the promotion of ideal employees’ relations.

Subsequently, different strategies of employees’ involvement, voice and participation have been

developed with the focus of exceeding the workers’ expectations and satisfaction in their work

environment.

Outline and Assessment of Various Forms of Employee Involvement and Other Forms of Non-

Union Voice At the Apple Store

There are three fundamental forms of employee involvement that were employed at the

Apple store identified for the analysis of this project. The first method was participative

management whereby the Apple store’s management shared a significant level of decision-

making authority with the staff on matters of marketing. The second methodology of employees’

involvement that was utilized at the Apple store was representative participation. In this method,

the workers participated in the organization’s decision-making process via small groups of

representative personnel (Wilton 2010). In this case, the employees’ representatives ensured that

the interests of all the subordinate staffs at the Apple store were placed in consideration. That is

when all major decisions that would impact the performance of workers through change were

being enacted by the establishment’s managers. The last technique was the use of quality circles

where groups of personnel met every week in the presence of managers to discuss the quality

problems, ascertain their causes, propose solutions and implement corrective actions. The

workers of the Apple store also had non-union representation whereby all the workers teamed up

and consented to open a suggestion box where they anonymously placed written notifications

about their issues for the management.

Assessment and Evaluation of Employee Participation at the Apple Store

Employees Relations 12

At the Apple store, the primary staff involvement technique that was being employed by

the organization was representative participation. At the mentioned Apple store, a team of four

employees that were appointed anonymously by the staff as their representatives in the

organization. Such appointments were done annually at the beginning of the year. The appointed

personnel was effective at representing all the employees’ concerns, during the management

meetings and in communicating with their fellow workers on any changes that were planned to

take place at the establishment. Early communication on all changes that were anticipated to

occur at the Apple store by the staff representatives helped in minimizing all forms of resistance

that would have occurred at the business establishment. Moreover, the integration of change into

the other functions that were being performed by the employees was seamless and their overall

performance, as well as the business’ productivity, was not affected. Furthermore, the employee

participation method at the Apple store helped the managers in creating a good work

environment, where employee relations were both good and beneficial to the organizations.

Lastly, the employee participation technique that was used at the Apple store helped in creating

staff motivation and in promoting the aspect of invention and innovation among the employees.

Assessment of the Apple Store’s Organizational Approach to Employees’ Involvement and

Voice

The Apple store was in support of the employees’ involvement as well as voice at the

organization. There are three primary methods that the Apple store employed to promote the

staff in seeking involvement and voice in the business establishment’s affairs. First, the Apple

store offered a slight salary increase to all the four persons who were appointed for the

employees’ representatives’ position at the organization. The salary increase was a technique of

making the staff working at the establishment to view the representative position as an

Employees Relations 13

imperative post at the organization. Subsequently, this made such positions to be competitive

among the personnel and the appointment process for such positions to be immensely thorough

in the selection of only the best performing personnel. Second, the management team at the

Apple Store structured weekly meetings with the staff representatives as a technique of

encouraging the employees to utilize the representation as their workplace voice. Subsequently,

the method made all staff members to be immensely involved in all the operations and changes

proposed at the Apple establishment. Third, the managers promoted the use of public

acknowledgment in praise of the good work that was being executed by appointed staff

representatives as a way of maintaining their imperative positions at the organizations.

The acceptance of the need for employees’ involvement and voice at the Apple store by

the establishment’s managers was due to three fundamental reasons. First, through the appointed

employees’ representatives, the Apple establishment was able to learn about any imminent

problems among its personnel that had the potential to interfere with the regular operations of the

business. Subsequently, efficient strategies to address such problems were adopted and before

the issues could become critical and potentially compromise the profitability of the

establishment. Second, the Apple store supported the employees’ involvement and voice through

the appointed personnel representatives in order to gain insightful suggestions on how to

improve the entities’ performance. That is because the Apple store had a diverse range of

workers with varying social, educational and cultural backgrounds with unique suggestions on

how to improve the performance of the establishment. Lastly, the Apple store supported the

employees’ voice and participation at its establishment to avoid inter-organizational conflicts

that would affect the optimal performance of the organization. Through the staff representatives,

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the management team could learn about any conflicts that would take place at the organization

and subsequently develop effective interventions to prevent such occurrences.

Contrast of the Stated Approach to Voice Mechanisms in Other Organizations

The employees’ voice mechanisms utilized at the Apple store entailed the use of

appointed employees’ representatives and a suggestion box by the employees. Nevertheless,

instead of using such voice mechanisms, the Apple store could have used other alternative

mechanisms used in other organizations. For instance, the employees at a competitor Nokia store

had a company’s mail where they could send anonymous emails on all issues affecting them at

the organization. The latter establishment had a team of managers who had been selected as the

recipient of the complaint and suggestion emails from the employees. Additionally, the email

technique was better than the use of a suggestion box because it was safer in promoting the

confidentiality of workers who reported any business misconducts against the business managers

or fellow workers.

Conclusion

The unitary perspective in promoting the unity between the employer and his/her staff

members. Contrary, the pluralistic perspective assumes that in all forms of organizations, there

exist different types of workers each with varying cultures, beliefs, leadership skills as well as

attitudes. On the other hand, the radical perspective assumes that all control of the production or

operations of an entity is normally enforced downwards towards the employees by managers. In

addition, in an organization, the employee voice is the means through which workers in an

organization communicate their needs and opinions to an employer. Contrary, the employee

voice is the means through which workers in an organization communicate their needs and

Employees Relations 15

opinions to an employer. On the other hand, employee participation is the method through which

the staffs in an organization are involved in the decision making processes instead of simply

following the orders of the management. The employee’s involvement, participatory and voice

strategies that were employed by the Apple store include the participative management,

representative participation as well as quality circles.

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References

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Isaacson, W. 2011. Steve Jobs. New York: Simon and Schuster.

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Paraskevopoulou, A., & McKay, S. 2016. Workplace Equality in Europe: The Role of Trade

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Russell, J., & Cohn, R. 2012. Apple Inc. Tbilisi: Tbilisi State University.

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