Communication in employment relations

Matthias Ruziwa HR Issues
“There is too much focus within organisations on strategy formulation and planning, and not enough on implementation and delivery. Managing the employment relationship rests heavily on the shoulders of managers, but their competence in the area of communication, in general, is seriously neglected”.

Communication is the glue that makes policies real and without it they are ineffective. Sound employee relations revolve around the fact that “it is only when there is peace where people can work together”.

The four pillars that enable industrial harmony in organisations are namely conflict management, team building, employee empowerment programs and effective communication.

The fact that communication is necessarily a two-way process, involving dialogue rather than simply instruction, is well established.

Yet many organisations perform badly in this area, failing to give communication the priority it deserves.

Getting communication right involves both professionalism and persistence.

Right from the very first day the organisation makes a decision to solicit talent from the employment market; effective communication takes centre stage in developing the employment relationship.

My simple question is why then do organisations perform badly in this area later on during the growth, maturity and decline stages of the exchange relationship?

The employment market in Zimbabwe has been characterised by lots of changes during the year 2015.

Such changes included market conditions, plant closures, retrenchments etc.

In my view communication became a key issue for managers in organisations.

My experience is that if managers do not effectively communicate issues that will make a real difference to business performance, employees won`t get aligned with the strategic intent of the organisation.

There is too much focus within organisations on strategy formulation and planning, and not enough on implementation and delivery.

Managing the employment relationship rests heavily on the shoulders of line managers, but their competence in the area of communication, in general, is seriously neglected.

Effective internal communication is at the heart of achieving business outcomes and it’s something the whole organisation is responsible for.

It supports the organisation’s smooth running, successful change programmes and good leadership on vision, strategy and values.

It is also a critical aspect of employee engagement, which in turn promotes better performance, employee retention and well-being.

Employees are more engaged when information flows freely and they’re aware of organisational activities and management decisions that affect their jobs.

This is why our labour law promotes social dialogue at the workplace in particular Section 25A (4), (5) and (6) of the Labour Act Cap 28:01 which reads;

(4) Without prejudice to the provisions of any collective bargaining agreement that may be applicable to the establishment concerned, the functions of a works council shall be —

(a) to focus the best interests of the establishment and employees on the best possible use of its human, capital, equipment and other resources, so that maximum productivity and optimum employment standards may be maintained; and

(b) to foster, encourage and maintain good relations between the employer and employees at all levels, and to understand and seek solutions to their common problems; and

(c) to promote the general and common interest, including the health, safety and welfare of both the establishment and its workers; and

(d) in general, to promote and maintain the effective participation of employees in the establishment, and to secure the mutual co-operation and trust of employees, the employer and any registered trade union representing employees in the establishment, in the interests of industrial harmony.

(5) Without prejudice to the provisions of any collective bargaining agreement that may be applicable to the establishment concerned, a works council shall be entitled to be consulted by the employer about proposals relating to any of the following matters —

(a) the restructuring of the workplace caused by the introduction of new technology and work methods;

(b) product development plans, job grading and training and education schemes affecting employees;

(c) partial or total plant closures and mergers and transfers of ownership;

(d) the implementation of an employment code of conduct;

(e) the criteria for merit increases or payment of discretionary bonuses;

(f) the retrenchment of employees, whether voluntary or compulsory:

(6) Before an employer may implement a proposal relating to any matter referred to in subsection (5), the employer shall—

(a) afford the members of the works council representing the workers committee a reasonable opportunity to make representations and to advance alternative proposals;

(b) consider and respond to the representations and alternative proposals, if any, made under paragraph

(a) and, if the employer does not agree with them, state the reasons for disagreeing;

(c) generally, attempt to reach consensus with the members of the works council representing the workers committee on any matter referred to in subsection (5)

Companies that fully practice internal communications through various tools such as Works Council, does have a culture of trust and openness which leads to shared vision across the entire business organisation.

Successful communication is built on a shared sense of purpose and aligned to business strategy, receives attention and support from senior leadership, is driven by genuine dialogue and is part of the expectation of good people management.

Effective communication is a vital ingredient for employee engagement and to build trust between the organisation’s leadership and its people.

I do encourage that during good and bad times, as our organisations adapt to the dictates of change, improved communication is central to developing more effective and agile organisations, through innovation and responding to operational issues.

Success depends upon the existence of a consistent, clear strategy linked to a shared understanding of the purpose of the organisation.

Communication mustn’t be seen as a ‘top down’ exercise.

Two-way and increasingly multi-directional dialogue is needed, so that people have a meaningful opportunity to feed their views upwards and discuss them with colleagues.

Employers should also take advantage of the opportunities provided by social media channels. Enterprise social networks are a potentially game-changing shift in how internal communications work.

It is beyond reasonable doubt that some organisations are seeing benefits from internal social media in enabling employee interaction and a sense of unity, quickly resolving operational issues, encouraging collaboration across teams or departments, giving employees greater voice and gaining insight into issues that affect employees and their work.

 Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author Matthias Ruziwa is an experienced and progressing Strategic Human Resource Practitioner based in the Midlands Province, City of Kwekwe. You can contact Matthias at the following email address: [email protected] Whatsapp 0773 470 368