Introduction

The seminar is designed to develop increased productivity and motivation through the application of best practices in the way that employees are treated by the organization. The seminar will enable the creation of a working environment in which all staff can contribute to their full potential. This will involve creating a supportive and trusting climate at work and ensuring that individual and collective ER issues are handled positively and sensitively.

The main features of the seminar are:

• Shows how to create a close working relationship between ER and the rest of the organization
• Establishes the policies that create an effective ER function
• Matches these policies to the practices that support them
• Addresses how to get the best from people
• Addresses key issues for ER and Supervisors/Team Leaders such as handling absence, poor timekeeping, and unrealistic aspirations for promotion

Conference Objectives of Employee Relations

By the end of the seminar, delegates will:

• Be able to relate the role of ER to the role of the Managers/Supervisor and Team Leader
• Know how to manage change
• Be able to deal with performance problems and modify the behavior of employees
• Be able to influence the behavior of managers and team leaders
• Be able to operate disciplinary procedures and grievance procedure
• Know how to manage absence
• Understand the role of an Employee Assistance Program

Conference Methodology of Employee Relations

The conference methodology used is designed to encourage maximum participation by all delegates. The presenter will suggest ideas and theories to the delegates and then encourage them to test out the ideas through the use of discussion, small group work, exercises, and feedback. Each day of the seminar will end with delegates completing their record of what has been learned on the day and considering how the ideas might be transferred back to the workplace.

Organizational Impact on Employee Relations

The benefits to the organization in delegates attending this seminar and putting the ideas into practice are as follows:

• Improved leadership
• Greater productivity
• Improved morale and commitment
• A line management team (Supervisors and Team Leaders) will feel supported by the ER function
• The ER function will develop closer working relationships with the line management team (Supervisors and Team Leaders)
• Improved standards of performance and conduct throughout the organization

Personal Impact on Employee Relations

The seminar will equip delegates with the following skills:

• Motivate employees in a positive and thorough way
• Understand why people work and why they try hard (and why they sometimes don’t)
• Handling Grievances
• The different roles of HR and ER staff; line managers, supervisors, and team leaders
• How to make Disciplinary Action effective and the mistakes to avoid
• Managing common problems such as absence or lateness
• Performance Management
• Linking the organization's values to the ER function

Conference Outlines of Employee Relations

Day 1: The Core Role of Employee Relations

• The Context
• Change Management
• ER and Nationalisation
• Understanding the Rationale of ER
• The Core Role of ER
• The distinction between the role of the ER and the role of the Manager
• The Impact on Policies and Procedures
• Change Agent and Employee Champion
• The Psychological Contract

Day 2:  Supporting the Manager, Supervisor, or Team Leader

• Grievances
• Conducting the Grievance Interview
• Management’s right to manage
• Equal Opportunities
• Discrimination
• Equality and diversity
• Harassment and Bullying
• Motivation

Day 3: The ER function in Practice

• Communications
• Team Briefing
• Consultation
• Discipline - Gross misconduct
• Discipline - poor performance
• Appeals
• Handling sickness absence
• Return to work interviews
• Notification Rules
• Trigger Mechanisms

Day 4:  Getting the Best from People

• Getting the best from People
• Then characteristics of leaders
• Leading Vs Managing
• Leadership Competencies
• Leadership development
• 360-degree feedback
• Seminar review
• Personal Development Planning

Day 5: Managing Performance, Counselling, Providing Employee Assistance

• The performance management process
• Motivation and Goal Theory
• Giving Feedback
• Coaching
• Counseling – Managers and Supervisors
• Counseling employees
• A Counselling Style Inventory
• Employee Assistance Programmes