EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS' PERSPECTIVES

 

Employment relations perspectives vary one from another with respect to the ultimate goal of the leadership of the organization in which they are practiced and its growth stage. They are the unitarist, pluralist, and radical perspectives – there are a few more but minor perspectives to the relationship that have not received widespread acceptance and recognition in both industry and practice. We are about to assess why the unitarist perspective is the best for the operations and activities of small-scale and young enterprises.

 The unitarist perspective of the employment relationship reckons that the interests of the employer and the employee are one so there is no reason and course for conflict in the relationship and they do not need the roles of trade union. Both parties appreciate the fact that they are working in the interest of one another and so any action that goes to derail the relationship affects them both.

The pluralist perspective makes the case that the parties in the employment relationship have their own goals which vary from one to another and are the common cause of their conflicts. This often requires the services of external bodies to resolve the challenges. Employers feel the employees are just in to earn even though there may be business difficulties affecting revenues.

The radical perspective reckons that the gains of the business are not evenly distributed among the stakeholders so there always will be conflict between employees and employers. For this reason, there is a need for trade unions to collectively represent and defend the interests of employees.

The unitarist perspective of employment relations is the most relevant to small and medium-sized organisations. With few employees, the easiest and most effective means of relating with them is to have them appreciate that management staff and the general employees have a common interest in all the businesses of the firm. Cooperation and loyalty are must qualities for all startups and young businesses because they see the business through all tough and rough seasons in the initial years. These qualities will go a long way to help the firm grow consistently.

A unitarist perspective of employment relationships will make the work of the people professionals in small-scale businesses very easy. The first reason is that they will not need to struggle to introduce new HR initiatives to the staff because they already have an appreciation of the fact that both management and the employees share a common interest in work. However, if the employees identify there is a sign of undermining on the part of managers, the entire working relationship may come tumbling down. This means that people professionals must always ensure management decisions are not draconian to workers.

Secondly, the recognition of management as the single source of authority in the workspace will make the job of the people professionals very easy in that there will be no delays in decision-making. The unitarist perspective serves the best interest of budding businesses although it may be chaotic if the reason for certain decisions by management is miscommunicated. Furthermore, the place of trust in the unitarist perspective will always make it easy for the human resource managers to engage the employees even with difficult decisions such as pay cuts and redundancies.

In conclusion, the unitarist, pluralist, and radical perspectives of the employment relationship have their advantages and disadvantages regarding how they are engaged in various kinds of organizational settings. Business leaders must critically analyze the goals and objectives of their businesses and use them to assess the type of employment relationship that will be efficient for the kind of work they do.

 

 

PAUL ANANG AMASAH

20TH NOVEMBER, 2024

THE COLLEGE BUSINESS CONSULT

thecollegebc@gmail.com