Introduction
Industrial harmony is achieved in the
workplace only when the leaders (management) determine what they want their
organization culture to look like and the strategy to make it reality. Where there is no vision people will throw
off restraints. There will be no discipline; thus leadership has to establish
vision, mission, values, direction, create the organisational culture through
personal discipline, respect for others
and follow development plan. However, there are a number of reasons why
some workplaces are more harmonious than others.
·
Encouraging
open communication (Frequent and effective communication).
One of the best ways to foster good
relationship within the workplace is to encourage dialogue and effective communication. This should not just amongst
colleagues but between staff and management also. Encouraging the workplace to express
ideas and views as well as suggesting improvements is a great way of achieving this. Gaining feedback on performance either
as a team or in 1 to 1 session as
well as giving workers clearly defined and realistic targets and deadlines. Remember also who, what; when; where & how guideline question. Meetings with
planned agendas, clear and
concise communication to keep it simple,
meaningful, deliberate and planned and
last build interpersonal communication skills.
·
Establishing a good work/life balance
Work can become
unbearable if employers are only
interested in themselves and making as much profit as possible
without giving any regard
to the needs of their staff, its also important to recognise that they have life outside of the workplace too. Creating
a family friendly environment
is a very positive step.
This
is achieved by creating flexible working practices, compassionate leave, staff
domestic as arrangements i.e attached the institutions with financial
institution (guarantor). Like Banks and
SACOSS. Also by having a well
planned arrangement on how to handle staff issues
like death, wedding arrangements
and disasters . Sometime a company may even insure their employees with a
limited number of their families.
·
Training and Development
No
matter how much an employee enjoy their current role, most career
minded people will ultimately hope that the job they are doing
now will be a stepping stone
towards the next phase of their
career. To retain valued members of staff a company can provide them with the right platform in order to develop. This might include on – job training , study leave
or even paying for the cost of external educational courses to
have a career development
programme. Rule 30 G.N 42 /2007 provides for the same.
·
Provisions
of Incentives /bonus or awarding good employee.
Payment
of bonuses to staff for performance
that have exceeded
institution expectation, the
same applies to award good worker for a certain categorised
achievement can not only increase productivity but also increase a sense
of belonging with the
company or institution.
However, money
alone is rarely enough of a motivation for staff to remain loyal
and to feel happy in their work. Other means are:
-
Institutions
bonanza
-
Institution family day
-
Institution day out /corporate
responsibility etc.
·
Leadership
skills, innovation and creativity
(a) First
leaders should be held accountable model and demonstrate behaviour they expect.
They should establish and drive clearly defined standards of performance.
Practice of discipline and restraint , coach
and mentor. They should focus
on goals, clear , actionable
measurable and specific goals.
(b)
Clearly defined roles for sub group (Depts, sections or unit)
To
have them with a clear job descriptions, performance
assessment , clerly defined
expectation, set clear standards to these sub groups up to an individual who will know very clearly what the
organisation /institution will expect
from him/her in a specified period of time.
(c)
Shared resources
Both
hard resources (like working tools) and soft resources
(cash) together with workers themselves
(Human Resources) ought to mingle
for the purpose of
furthering organisational objectives .
When resources are not clearly /equally shared
there will arise grievances which
may be translated into disputes.
It should be
clear that people (both management and other staff) are
resources who can share ideas, experiences
and build partnership and by having
common access to resources.
Organization
tips towards creating good industrial relations
(i)
Consistent, United and enthusiastic effort
-
Set
standards
-
Focus on goal (s)
-
Communicate the strategy
-
Communicate the benefit
-
Encourage, inspire and motivate
-
Reward and recognition
-
Share
success stories
-
build
a win culture
-
Take time to build relationship on and off the job
-
Career
planning
(ii)
Periodic and temporary suppression of the “ego”
-
Leaders don’t have all the answer
-
Shut up! listen, listen and listen some
more
-
Seek personal development
-
Learn from others
-
Failure
is not fatal
-
Forgiveness
(iii)
Measure,
assess, and face reality
- Employee surveys
- Customer survey
- Feed back
- Focus groups
- Round tables
- Benchmark
(iv)
Build a solid foundation…….
-
Recruit and hire the right
people
-
Enforce fair and equitable
employment practices
-
Share
organization vision
-
Help employees to achieve their goals
-
Build
an eager want
-
Promote from within when
possible
-
Establish a talent
pipeline
INDICATORS
OF GOOD WORKING CONDITIONS AT A WORKING
PLACE
(i)
Labour Turnover: The more high labour turnover ensrihed that the workplace is not conducive and vice
versa.
(ii)
Number of displinary issues noted, attended or normally observed within a specified period of time (punctuality) and how problems are dealt with.
(iii)
Existence or non existence of communication barrier. i.e
process, procedure and its
effectiveness.
(iv)
The type
of organization culture
exisitng in the institution i.e degree
of strictness flexibility, team working
spirit or not etc.
(v)
The way internal and external
clients internet , communicate,
perpetuate etc.