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Changes in

World of Work

and new pointers in IR

4

New Developments

in

Industrial Relations

Shifts from

IR to Employee Relations

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1. Changing role of state2. Unions in crisis (bldg. cooperation)

3. New actors in IR: e.g. Consumers/society

4. Emergence of Cooperative bargaining

5. Emphasis on performance-related pay

6. Pressures on labour law rigidity

7. Changing role of ILO: Decent work

8. Employers Primacy on flexibility

9. IR impacted by HR philosophy

New Developments in Employee Relations

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1. Changing Role of State

Welfare state: inefficient

Government as facilitator

Social justice to market & trickle down

Changed labour policies of states:

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2. Union-dilution is Major Agenda: Causes

Shift: adversarial to cooperative IR:

Also called Individualized IR

States primacy to productivity

Service orgs.: white/gold-collar WM

Declining core; rising periphery WM

Influence of HRM Philosophy

Employment of labour law consultants

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Country 1970 1980 1990 1997 2003

Austria 63.6 59.6 56.2 46.6 35.2

Denmark 62.6 87.8 88.9 89.9 75.5

France 21.0 17.1 9.2 8.6 5.8

Germany 37.7 40.6 38.5 33.4 22.2

Italy 38.5 49.0 39.2 38.0 47.1

Netherlands 39.8 39.4 29.5 28.9 23.9

Norway 57.9 64.4 70.3 71.3 63.0

Spain - 13.8 16.8 15.1 11.5

Sweden 66.6 78.2 82.4 86.4 78.0

UK 48.5 54.5 38.1 30.2 25.9

Tab. 1: Percentage of Trade Union members among TotalWorkforce in Selected Industrialized Countries

Source: Accessed on 12 January, 2006 from Cornell Institute of Industrial Relations (IR) Statistical Record on Trade union

Membership at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/downloads/FAQ/UNIONSTATS2002.pdf

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3. New Actors in IR

1. Multilateral IR: consumer/society

2. New issues:

Customer Creation and sustenance

Protecting environment

Gender issues

Safetypromotion

Child labour abolition

3. Medias role in new issues

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4. Emergence of Cooperative Bargaining1. Shift: industry level to unit level CB

2. Squeezing ofbargaining zone

3. Pressure: fear of corp. incompetence

Earlier: fear of corporate power

4. New clauses: Productivity linkage

Wage/benefits cut

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5. Emphasis on Performance-related Pay (PRP)

Flexible pay

Cost saving: a big concern

Competencies & results are imp.

Knowledge pay in high-tech. industries

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6. Pressure on Labour Law Framework

Pressure on Legislature

Do not allow union militancy; co. have to compete globally

Flexible workforce: withdraw Ch-VB of IDA

Keep away law of Employee Participation

Respect sanctity ofmanagers rights

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7. Change in ILOs Agenda

ILOs desire foradaptation, renewal, change

From adversarial C.B. to sophisticated compromise

Securing decent work for women and men everywhere

Common purposeFor all three social partners

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8. Flexibility: Key in New EraWhat is labour flexibility?

The ability to adjust the size and

mix of labour inputs

in response to

changes in product demand

so that organization doesnt have

excess labour

Hard and Soft issues in Flexibility

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9. HRM Philosophy & Psychological contract

It is a philosophy of people-mgt: Identify & enforce behaviour

Aims: Competitive advantage

Focus on new interventions

PM & IR merged to produce positive energy

HRM strategy is the Single most imp. Consultancy Area

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Practicing of

a Developmental Agenda

for promoting New IR

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Neo-Unitarism through Union Substitution

Union

Substitution attempts

Through Progressive

HR

EmpEmp Involvement,Involvement,

empowermentempowerment

Att ractiveAtt ractive

Reward strategyReward strategy

CultureCultureBuilding, flexibilityBuilding, flexibilityIndividual diversityIndividual diversity

MaximizeMaximize

opportunitiesopportunities

DesignDesign

satisfying jobssatisfying jobs

StrategicStrategic

SelectionSelection

Investment inInvestment in

HRD for WMHRD for WM

& managers& managers

Make workplaceMake workplacefunfulfunful & implement& implement

Fair s tandardsFair s tandards

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What Should HR Do to Promote Cooperative IR

Know:

--Context & challenges of new IR

--Key new principles affecting employee relations

--New Practices needed to implement these principles

Behave

--Do the things that lead to sustainable cooperation

Integrated agenda

--Integrate the agenda of SHRM & IR mgt together

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Towards Developing Strategic IR

Two main dimensions

I. Competency-building amongst mgt. & union

Management (at different hierarchical levels)

Unions

II. New Approach to Developing Processes (fostering OCTAPACE)

Openness

Confrontation

Trust

Autonomy

Proactivity

Authenticity

Collaboration

Experimentation

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Re-orienting the Top Management

CEOspersonal predisposition is critical

His beliefs about unionPeople policiesIR policiesMgt.

De-humanization often seen especially in larger bureaucracies

Top mgt. shapes org. culture: Through: beliefs, actions, styles

Development of top management shouldaim at:

Becoming aware of biases & prejudices

Learning to treat IR as important managerial business

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Developing Middle Management

I. Its competency-building will include:

1. Knowledge about new issues in IR2. Understanding customs/practices in dealing with WM/union

3. Knowledge about the legal framework ofIR

4. Knowledge of history of union & its leadership

5. Knowledge about new economic environment/practices

II. Skills

1. Skills in diagnosing the problem

2. Skills in grievance resolution

3. Skills in negotiation

4. Skills in communication and inter-personal relations

III. Attitudes

1. Orientation to positiveproblem-solving

2. Positive belief-system about existence of union (if one exists)

3. Faith in participative decision-making

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Development of Union Leadership

This requires sensitizing them to various issues:

General economic and industrial environment

New technology

Competitors and theirHR practices

New compulsions of mgt. & need for flexibility

Need for democratization within trade unions

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Implementing HR Agenda for Workers

Creating developmental climate in general

Communication & internationalization HR values/goals

Involve unions in cooperation with workers

Continuously communicating the HR action areas: EI

Create HR architecture to implement intentions

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What can one learn from this presentation?

New order is emerging in IR: called employee relations

IR shifting from adversarialism to neo-pluralism or neo-unitarism

Shift from shenanigans to trust & cooperation

Along with traditional issues, new issues have emergedin IR

Flexibility is one of the most salient concerns of cos.

Governments new eco. agenda is moving from social justice to growth

New world of work has led to union-substitution strategies

HRM strategy: for top mgt.middle mgt.unionworkers