Employee relations best practices for 2021 (tips and tricks, industry insights, case studies)

What is Employee relations? Employee relations defined as the relationship shared between different employees of an organization. To have a productive environment, it is necessary to have a healthy environment at work. It is the duty of superiors and management to avoid internal conflicts and encourage positive relationships between employer and employee.

There are several factors that help in managing employee relations, which will be further discussed in this article. We will also go through several benefits of improving employer employee relations and the different metrics that can be used to measure workforce relations in a workplace.

Also Read: Team communication | A complete guide

What is employee relations?

Employee relations is the amount of effort an organization puts in maintaining a healthy and positive relationship with its employees. ER is a crucial factor when it comes to an organization’s overall performance. The main aim of Employee relationships is to ensure relationships and collaborations are improved in the workplace.

Employee relations definitions

Employee relations definition says that it is the relationship between an employer and its employees. “Employee relations” covers the contractual, practical, as well as physical and emotional efforts made by an employer to maintain a positive relationship with their employees. These practices help in keeping employees more loyal and engaged.

Employment relations definition for remote teams

Employment relations definition means the efforts put by a remote manager to create a positive bond with their virtual team. Maintaining relations has never been easier in a remote team. The need for employee relations is required to make everyone feel part of the team.

Also Read: What is a virtual office | Critical items that you must know!

Why is a good employer employee relationship a necessity?

There are several benefits of a healthy employer-employee relationship as it plays an important role in the success of the organization,

Fewer Work-Place disputes – A friendly workplace helps result in fewer disputes at work between coworkers. It helps the team to work towards a common goal and work in harmony.
Higher Retention Rate – Companies that create a positive environment for their employees and keep their interests in mind have a more loyal workforce.
Increased Productivity and Efficiency – Good employer-employee relation means higher revenue for the company as employee productivity increases.

Also Read: Productivity tips | A how-to guide for everyone

Benefits of having a solid employer employee relationship

Here are a few benefits of building a solid employer-employee relationship,

Equality at Workplace – A fair environment is essential to make each employee feel important at work. Having solid employee-employer relations can help in building a workplace where everyone is welcomed without prejudice.
Higher Engagement Rate – An employee’s relation with their employer is a very crucial factor when it comes to job satisfaction. This keeps employees stay in for longer.
Easier Work Assignment – Employee employer relationships help managers to be more aware of each individual’s strengths and weaknesses and assign work accordingly.

Also Read: Decision fatigue | An ultimate read for best results

Psychology of employment relations issues

Employment relations issues might result in several psychological impacts on the workforce,

Wrong employee relations in the workplace may lead to employees feeling unwelcome and undervalued. This would lead to increased absenteeism and eventually resignation.
Weak Employment relationships may result in employees getting overworked and stressed.
If Employee and employer relations are not good at an organization, it would lead to an unhappy and unmotivated workforce.
Employee relation issues are also responsible for poor work-life balance that can lead to severe anxiety, depression, and other related issues that affect the mental well-being of an employee.

Also Read: Managing remote teams | A priceless list of tips to succeed

Challenges faced in employee-employer relationships

Employee-Employer relationships are not simple and they often come with their own set of challenges. Let us discuss a few of them,

Adequate safety at the workplace – A workplace should ensure that they have proper safety equipment and safety guidelines in place. Employees should be educated about safe practices at the workplace.
Hours and Wages Challenges – Good employee relations include remunerating employees based on their hard work and working hours. They should have a good work-life balance.
Conflict Management – Encourage employees to have open communication regarding their woes and create a channel for them to convey their concerns anonymously.

Also Read: Remote meeting | A comprehensive guide

Employment relationship management metrics

Employment relationship management metrics are the key to tracking how well the employers are putting efforts to maintain a positive employee-employer relationship.

Revenue Per Employee – If employee and employer relations are healthy, employees are more productive and generate more revenue.
Absenteeism Rate – Regular absenteeism from the workplace can be a result of unwelcoming work culture.
360-degree feedback – 360-degree feedback helps in assessing if positive employee relations are being maintained.
Turnover/Retention – Good employee relations would result in a more loyal and dedicated workforce. Employees tend to stay longer in a place where they are happy.

Also Read: Work life balance | Everything you must know

Best employee retention strategies

Employee retention strategies mean the policies in place by the organization to ensure that the current staff stays in the company. Organizations which have the best interest of employees at heart are successful in retaining employees. Here are a few strategies that can come in handy,

Encourage Open Communication – An “open-door policy” where employees can raise their concerns without fear of judgment.
Maintaining Work-Life Balance – Introduce Workload sharing, Work From Home, Flexible schedules, etc to ensure that employees are stress-free.
Providing Competitive Salary and Benefits – Maintain better employee relations by recognizing employees for their work.

Also Read: Organize your life | A complete guide

Top 10 ways to build best employee-employer relations

Now that we have established the importance of employee relations in an organization, let us learn more about the employee relations best practices. Employee relations strategy helps in providing a healthy and positive work environment which makes the employees feel motivated to work.

Strong employee relationship is the foundation for an organization’s success. Here are the top 10 ways to build the best employer employee relations in a workplace,

Resolve employee relations issue quickly

Have an open-door policy where the employees feel comfortable sharing their concerns and woes. To build the best employer and employee relationship it is essential to address the employee relations issues and resolve them on priority.

Employees who are valued at the workplace are more likely to stay longer. Better work relations result in a more cohesive team that is motivated to work towards a common goal.

Also Read: Working from home with kids | Critical items that you must know!

Hire an employee relation specialist

Employee relation specialists are HR professionals who specialize in managing labor relations strategy for an organization or a business. Companies should focus on building strong employee and employer relationships to be successful.

Hiring an employee relation specialist would ensure that your organization has the best policies and employee relations strategies in place. They put an effort to introduce a framework which helps employers build a healthy relationship with employee.

Human resource employee relations should create a safe workplace

It is imperative in today’s times that human resources create a safe working space for each and every employee from the top level to the bottom level. The office space has no room for harassment, bullying, abuse, and discrimination.

Human resources employee relations should implement safe practices at work and educate the team as well. Employee relations issue must be addressed as a priority to have a better staff relationship.

Encourage communication to improve employee-employer relation

Communication is one of the major key aspects of the employer/employee relationship. Open and honest communication will help employers in understanding the needs of an employee. Weekly meetings and casual chit-chat hours should be introduced to avoid awkwardness between members.

To increase the retention of employees, indulge in private conversations with your employees and talk to them about their interests and goals outside of work.

Also Read: Remote work | A how-to guide for everyone

Appreciate your Employees to improve employment relation

Recognize the efforts and hard work of your employees and do not forget to appreciate them often. A simple “thank you” can be enough sometimes to uplift the energy and keep the employees motivated.

Improve employment relations by making them feel special and letting them know that you value their work. An honest appreciation would bring a major difference to the relation between employer and employee at the workplace.

Human resources employee relations must encourage breaks

Working hard indefinitely can exhaust employees in the longer-term hence human resources employee relations should encourage employees to take short breaks between their work. Also, provide weekends off and paid vacations to the employees to enhance employee relations experience.

By allowing employees to take time off, they will come back to work with a more focused mindset. It also helps in keeping the workforce motivated and productive for a longer time.

Also Read: Virtual ice breaker questions | An ultimate read for best results

Let employment relations management create growth and leadership opportunities for employees

Employee Relations Management should put efforts to create growth opportunities for everyone. Invest in learning and development programs, employee well-being programs, peer mentoring programs, etc to provide opportunities.

Providing the right facilities to the employees will keep them motivated and interested in the job. Employer relationships are strengthened when employees see themselves growing along with the company and learning new skills.

Make stronger employer-employee relationship a priority

There are no set guidelines on what a business should do to make strong employer employee relationships. What works for one business may not work for another. Try to find what helps you in ensuring a strong employer-employee bond by trial and error method.

A strong employer-employee relationship paves a path to success for your business. Employee relations can take many forms and you need to find what suits you.

Also Read: Virtual party ideas | A priceless list of tips to succeed

Embrace Diversity to build associate relations

To encourage a culture of strong workforce relationships, hire a diverse workforce. Diversity in the workplace would result in a better range of skills, talent, and experience. Treat everyone equally to build strong associate relations at the office space.

Diversity also gives employers access to a broader client base. Employee relations policies must be made by keeping people from diverse backgrounds in mind to create a fair system.

Create employment relations by trusting your people

Do not micromanage your employees and trust them for finishing the job. Sit with them weekly to discuss the work commitments and ensure that they understand what is expected of them. Let them finish work in their own time and be flexible.

Checking up on your employees from time to time would affect employment relations. Maintain a level of trust to improve employee relationships in the workplace.

Also Read: Virtual gift ideas | A comprehensive guide

Employee relationship management for remote teams

Employee relationship management means managing the relation between various employees working in an organization. The relationship can either be between employees at the same level or between employees and the employer. Employee management relations practices help in strengthening the bond among the team members.

Encourage equality for better employee relationships

Treat everyone equally and ensure that your team members respect each other. A workplace that promotes equality creates a healthy environment where everyone is welcomed and valued equally. There is no room for prejudice and biases in a workplace.

Employee management relationships can be improved for remote teams by creating a safe space for everyone to communicate and share their thoughts and opinions with the entire team.

Open communication for improving employee relations management

Open communication is a key asset when it comes to employee management relations. Provide an open channel for employees to share their concerns and issues with the management. Organize team meetings and encourage everyone to communicate freely.

Plan fun activities and casual conversations after work hours to help the team in bonding with each other. Recognize and Appreciate the hard work of the team on a regular basis.

Also Read: Virtual Team Games | Everything you must know

Implement healthy work relations policies

HR Employee relations policies should be aimed at implementing healthy work relations in the organization. Higher authorities responsible for drafting policies and strategies must keep the best interest of employees in mind. Involve employees in decision-making meetings to understand their concerns.

Implement policies that will help in maintaining work-life balance and creating a stress-free environment for employees to work. Improved employee retention rates are a result of positive employee relations.

Maintain positive employee relations

Maintaining positive employee relations would result in a more loyal workforce that is happy and satisfied with their organization. To ensure a higher employee retention rate, maintain a healthy employee and employer relationship.

Connect regularly with your remote team members to form a cohesive team. Divide work sensibly among the team members based on the individual’s interests and strengths. Celebrate the achievements and milestones with the team to keep them engaged.

Understand the importance of employee relations

Each and every employer must understand the importance of positive employee relations and how it affects an organization’s revenue and productivity. Implementing best practices ensures that employees are happy to work and it leads to an increase in employee efficiency.

This increase in employee productivity would lead to an increase in the revenue of the organization. Employee relations management is the key to an organization’s success in today’s times.

Also Read: How to motivate employees | A complete guide

How to improve employee relationships during Covid times?

Looking for ways on how to improve employee relations? Here are the best practices to adopt in order to improve employee relationships during covid times,

Offer Flexible Working Hours – Be as flexible as possible and let employees work based on their individual schedules. It makes it easier for employees to manage both work and personal commitments.
Communicate Regularly – Regular check-ins and discussions with employees will help in addressing their concerns if any. Make Employees feel safe and secure to talk openly.
Plan Fun Activities – Engage employees in after-work activities to alleviate stress.

Also Read: Remote team building activities | Critical items that you must know!

Employee relations best practices

For an organization to be happy, it needs to have strong employee relations programs. Let us see examples of organizations with the best employment relations policies.

Case study 1 – Google is undoubtedly the best company when it comes to employer and employee relationships in the workplace. The company is very transparent about the culture they want to create in the workplace. Google encourages its employees to do something out of the box and explore their creative side. They believe that it is crucial to break barriers at every level to build strong employee relations.
Case study 2 – Lytx is a pioneer in the technology innovation space. They work to transform driver behavior and make our roads safer. Lytx takes their employees’ relations very seriously. They have provided an onsite cafe, dry-cleaning services, and collaboration tools for employees to use on a daily basis. Employee relation policy at Lytx supports a productive work environment.

Also Read: Welcome to the team | A how-to guide for everyone

Use unremot watercooler software for effective employee relations

unremot is a virtual watercooler for remote teams that facilitates casual conversations and informal meetings. This platform is beneficial for team members to bond outside of work. It allows members to create virtual rooms dedicated to different purposes such as book clubs water cooler, team building water cooler, happy hours water cooler, etc.

unremot watercooler software is an effective tool for improving employee relations and providing a medium for open communication. Stronger relationships between employer and employee result in better retention rate, team engagement, team bonding, loyalty, teamwork, workload sharing, etc.

Also Read: People Analytics | An ultimate read for best results

Why is there a need for effective employers?

Effective employers maintain positive and healthy relationships with employees. They ensure that their workplace is a happy place where everyone is treated equally. Employees are more likely to be loyal to an effective employer. They encourage their team to communicate openly.

What is employee relations in human resources?

A Human Resource Department of an organization typically manages employee relations which means they put efforts to maintain a positive relationship between employer and employees. They build strategies and policies to improve employee relationships which leads to an increase in productivity and revenue.

Also Read: Employee Retention | A priceless list of tips to succeed

Why is employee involvement an effective employee relations strategy?

Employee involvement means encouraging your employees to take part in management and decision-making meetings of the organization. It helps the management in understanding their viewpoint and addressing their issues and concerns. These insights are helpful while framing employee relations strategies.

admin

Employee relations