Labour and Employee Relations - Management Assignment Help

Assignment Task

Viewpoint: What to do if your team doesn’t want to return to the office
As the pandemic continues, there are growing tensions at organizations where employees who have been working from home are now expected to come into reopened offices. Many knowledge workers—who have happily shed their commutes, decreased their interaction with difficult colleagues and let go of other frustrations of the office—relish the freedom, flexibility, and the increased productivity of working from home. But some senior leaders, who may not have confidence in their own ability to manage remote workers, aren't necessarily on the same page. These leaders may be informed by anecdotal evidence that working from home is too distracting or doesn't support group creativity. And they may share the view of Reed Hastings, the co-CEO of Netflix, who described the inability to get together in person as a "pure negative."

As a manager, you may now be in a tough situation, especially if senior leaders at your company have started floating requirements for employees to return to the office ASAP, despite the rise in Covid-19 cases over the past few months. How can you support your team if your senior leadership team remains sceptical of work-from-home arrangements? Here are seven approaches to help you make an effective case and come to a reasonable set of accommodations that everyone can get behind.

Focus on what your leaders care about
As long as the organization is following all government mandates for safety, whether or not employees have to come back to the office may be determined by your leaders' preferences. This may seem unfair to employees, especially those who are balancing family commitments or who have concerns about their health and safety. If your boss tends to lack sympathy for these individual needs and motivations, discussing personal issues, such as a team member's concern over exposing an elderly parent to the virus, may only trigger their defensiveness and dismissiveness. Instead, focus on what your leaders care about and find ways to show that remote work is beneficial to the company, such as retaining skilled employees who might otherwise have to leave to provide childcare, or because of their own health risks. You might also point out that virtual work has been a boon to recruiting talent that has been locally unavailable or hard to relocate.

Determine if their concerns are personal
Sometimes leaders' negative feelings about one or two employees can cloud their judgment of the entire group. Ask if they have the same concerns about employees they like and approve of. I used this technique successfully with a leader who believed that employees were "getting away with" the equivalent of playing hooky. Once I got her to articulate the specifics of which people she believed were taking advantage and which were not, we were able to focus on what we could do to improve the unsatisfactory performance of individuals rather than having her blame and disapprove of the entire team. And if there are employees who actually are taking advantage in some way, it's your responsibility as their manager, perhaps in conjunction with HR, to specify expectations and help them come back into line, so they don't undercut the
effectiveness of the rest of the team.

Highlight the engagement of all employees, wherever they're working
Some people are truly happier working from the office, and if it's safe for them to be on premises, the presence of these "volunteers" can be reassuring to executives who want to see people. Invite leaders to video meetings that include both inperson and remote workers, and emphasize accomplishments on the leaders' most significant priorities. Showcase any achievements that the leaders take particular interest in, whether that's volunteering for the local "touchless" food drive or spearheading an industry association project. If employees have newly found free time because they aren't commuting or can work more efficiently, putting some of it into upskilling or other forms of professional development is another way for them to demonstrate commitment to the company and its goals.

Question 1
Individuals, cities, economies, countries, and continents have experienced the shock which stemmed from COVID-19 and the fear of unknowing. Managers have had to make many decisions in a very short period of time – decisions about who should stay at work and who should go home? how and where people could be moved into digital space? and what the priorities are and how those priorities can best be communicated to employees.
“Traditional approaches to labour relations suggest theoretical explanations which can be applied to decision making in terms of the maintenance of healthy employer-employee relationships whilst reaching organizational goals during COVID19.”
1. Provide a critical evaluation of this statement, in terms of the traditional labour relations theoretical underpinnings, with evidence from the case.
 

Question 2
“…Given the harsh realities of the pandemic, it may feel like it shouldn’t be necessary for you or your team to make these accommodations to leaders idiosyncrasies. And in an ideal world, you wouldn’t have to. Yet keeping senior leaders calm and happy is definitely part of managing up and maintaining good relationships. If your leadership is applying pressure for employees to come back to the office prematurely, and you believe there is a balance that could work better for everyone, applying some of these approaches may help ease the tension and bridge the gap.”
Mr Erron, employed by Microsoft, was demoted due to poor performance during the lock-down, as a result of a lack of worklife-balance and financial constraints. A year ago, prior to the impact of COVID-19, he received a performance bonus for a completed project and had not been told that his job did not meet the line manager’s expectations and requirements of the job. An investigation was conducted, and it was discovered that the demotion occurred after one error that Mr Erron made during the pandemic.
With reference to cases and notes, is Microsoft guilty of an unfair labour practice? Justify your answer
2.1 In terms of resolving this dispute, discuss the what process can Mr Erron and Microsoft follow?

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