Industrial harmony key to growth

Edmore Mudavanhu
Harmonious industrial relations both at micro and macro level contribute to corporate performance in Zimbabwe. Industrial relations is defined as “the totality of orientations, policies, concepts, theories, procedure and sound management of conflict”.

Conflict can be constructive or pathological, the former of which is necessary and needs to be resolved for industrial harmony, while the latter is dysfunctional.

The challenges that most enterprises face relate to low capacity utilisation and limited growth. A closer look at the issues at hand shows that the challenges can be resolved from an industrial relations perspective.

It is counter-intuitive to think of industrial harmony as a seed for corporate growth.

Many companies are bedevilled by a myriad of challenges that can be traced to strained relationships between managers and workers.

There are other factors that come into play at a national level and have an effect on industrial harmony.

Management of labour disagreements remains crucial as they are firm specific.

The level of conflict in industry is more evident through job disaffection. This can happen due to issues relating to an individual employee’s particular experiences.

Job dissatisfaction can also be experienced at group level and if not handled well, conflict can escalate. The manifestation of conflict at an individual level can be seen through high accident rates; low productivity and absenteeism; lack of focus; short tempers; suspicion and inclination towards gossip.

The ultimate expression of conflict in an employee is resignation, but with the minimal recruitment in Zimbabwe, employees tend to remain disengaged rather than quit.

This contributes to the cost of doing business as the number of engaged employees shrinks. This is why it is necessary to resolve conflicts in the workplace to ensure industrial harmony.

Extreme conflict at group level can lead to protests and this breaks the psychological contract of trust between employers and employees. Issues need to be tackled at embryonic stage before they reach the level of mistrust. Employee confidence becomes much harder to restore after the experience of protests.

The industrial harmony space is a multi-level challenge that can be tackled at several levels and all these levels require attention from the parties involved.

This space is more evident in the following relationships:

1. Management and workers, with the workers being constituted as groups or individuals;

2. Workers’ committees and their trade unions;

3. Trade unions at a national level;

4. Employers and their representative bodies.

There are implications for relationships at each level, and all these levels affect what happens on the shop-floor.

Discussions at the Tripartite Negotiation Forum are more effective if they are within a professional and progressive matrix.

All the relationships mentioned above are meant to discuss and plot a way forward on issues such as conditions of work, grievances and dispute procedures, occupational health and employee productivity.

The relationship between management and the respective labour unions will determine the success of that industry.

The trade union seeks to influence the employer to offer better working conditions and welfare provisions, while the employer seeks to contain costs and improve profitability.

On the other hand, Government provides a framework to settle labour disputes and create industrial harmony. Employers also seek to provide industrial harmony through implementation of labour relations strategies, communication and innovative managerial processes.

The failure of industrial relations levers has far-reaching implications to Government, Business and Labour. It is against this background that the TNF partners need to keep on re-negotiating issues to ensure vibrancy in corporate and economic growth.

Business need to ensure workers are motivated both intrinsically and extrinsically in order to boost productivity. They need to eliminate the fear that is now inherent in employees by ensuring job satisfaction is always maintained.

Despite all the present challenges, some businesses are doing well as they have invested more capital, implemented strategies to enter new markets and changed managerial processes to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.

Employee potential can only be released if workers share the organisation’s vision or purpose. At micro level, managers in a turbulent economy need to encourage discussion of business challenges with employees and work together to resolve these challenges.

They need to recognise employees’ contributions to corporate growth.

Dispute resolution mechanisms, both at company and national level, lubricate the cogs of productivity and competitiveness.