BLOG 4: Managing Employee Grievances.

  

Introduction

 

Employee grievances are common in workplaces when employees are unhappy or frustrated with their jobs or work environments. Proper management of these grievances helps to maintain peace, trust and good relations between employees and management.

 

Employee grievances can be defined as the mental frustration of an employee in their job or work environment. Although organizations consider mental frustrations that occur within the job or work environment as employee grievances, mental frustrations that occur outside the job are not considered as employee grievances. However, in human resource management, investigating mental frustrations that occur within the job or work environment as well as mental frustrations that occur outside the job leads to the effectiveness of human resource management.

 

Reasons for Employee Grievances.

The reasons for employee grievances can be identified through employee attitude surveys or discussions with employees who leave the organization. Reasons:

1 Reasons related to the employer.

2 Reasons related to the work environment.

3 Reasons related to human resource management policies, procedures and strategies.

4 Reasons related to violation of organizational rules and regulations.

5 Reasons related to inappropriate personal behavior.

6 Reasons related to the work or non-work environment.

A study conducted in the garment industry in the Katunayake Export Processing Zone in Sri Lanka revealed that proper grievance handling practices significantly improve employee performance and satisfaction (Uva  Wellassa University, 2020).

 

Methods of resolving employee grievances.

 

When employee grievances arise, mental frustration and discomfort arise among employees, and it is the responsibility of the manager to satisfy the employees by providing regular and permanent solutions to those grievances. The methods used for this are:

1 Formal grievance redressal procedure.

Here, both the employee and the management follow formal policies and procedures. In Sri Lanka, the Employers’ Confederation of Sri Lanka (EFC) has introduced specific guidelines to help businesses implement effective grievance handling systems (EFC, 2023).

2 Immediate superior/first level officer.

This can be shown to be the most effective way to resolve employee grievances.

3 Open policy

The ability for an employee to directly approach and present their grievances to the Chief Grievance Officer. Companies such as Sri Lanka Telecom PLC maintain an open policy and a formal grievance committee to ensure transparency (SLT Annual Report, 2019).

4 Joint committee system.

A method of resolving employee grievances by working together with the management of the organization.

5 Consultation.

Providing necessary advice and guidance to resolve employee grievances.

6 Appointment of a grievance redressal officer.

A separate officer is appointed to identify and resolve employee grievances in the organization.

 

Principles to be followed in resolving employee grievances.

 

1 Treat every grievance as important.

2 Collect all the information about the grievance and the employee who has raised the grievance.

3 Discuss with the employee who is the subject of the grievance. Do not argue.

4 Listening carefully to the employee's grievances helps him get a good solution and builds trust in the employee.

5 If the organization is the cause of the grievance, it should humbly admit its fault and provide solutions as soon as possible.

 

Importance of resolving employee grievances.

 

It is the responsibility of management to resolve any kind of employee grievances very quickly and impartially. If the resolution is delayed, the employees form groups to find solutions and thus they engage in actions like forming trade unions and damaging the company's property, thereby reducing the efficiency and productivity of the organization.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Human Resources Department to provide prompt solutions to employee grievances.

Conclusion

Resolving employee grievances promptly and fairly is very important as it helps employees feel valued and also helps in the smooth running of the organization. A happy and satisfied team always helps the company to achieve better work and success.

References

• Uva Wellassa University. (2020). Impact of Grievance Handling on Employee Performance in the Garment Industry (Katunayake EPZ).

• Employers’ Federation of Lanka (EFC). (2023). EFC Pilot Grievance Handling Guidelines for Businesses.

• Sri Lanka Telecom PLC. (2019). Annual Report - Employee Capital.