Listen to your employees when they need you.

Employees are the most important asset in any kind of organization. So there should be a good relationship between the employer and employee to achieve the organizational objectives. As a result of the difference between the employee’s expectations and management practices, grievances may happen.

Rose (2004) defines a grievance as "any dissatisfaction with work and the workplace expressed in a formal manner to the employee's immediate supervisor."

 Most grievances harm employee performance if management fails to resolve them on time. So that it is essential to have an effective grievance management system to improve employee loyalty and commitment as well as organizational productivity and performance.

Causes of Grievances

01. Economic

Most of the employees are working for the salary. If they feel like they are paid less than others, they may request a salary adjustment. That may include bonuses, overtime payments, medical claim facility, transport allowance and performance-based evaluation also.

02. Work environment

If the working environment unsafe or not following the standard employee may complain about that. Most of the time this is happen in production plants. (poor physical condition of work place, unsafe tools and equipment, not having safety measurements, unfair rules and poor quality of materials)

03. Supervision

This is mainly the attitude of the supervisor towards the employee. (biases and favoritism towards some employees, discrimination based on religion, cast or language barriers)

04. Organizational change

Any changes that happen in an organization can create grievances. (change policies and rules, implementing new technology that employees can’t absorb, introducing new working practices)

05. Employee relations

If the employee can’t deal with their peer group or with their superiors that can also create grievances.  If they feel like others rejecting their ideas or neglecting them when making a decision they may suffer.

 

Steps in grievance handling procedure

01. Acknowledge dissatisfaction

Management/supervisory attitude to grievances is important. They should know the value of grievances handling on time. If the management fail to address the grievance effectively that may lead to have a conflict and that will affect to the organization harmony.

02. Define the problem

In here problem should be clearly identified by the management. Sometimes real problem is not reported. If management can’t point out the real problem, they won’t able to figure out the most effective solution.

03. Get the Facts

Mangers should collect relevant and sufficient facts to get an idea about the grievance’s nature.   These facts should be properly recorded for future use.

04. Analyze and decide

In here actual cause should be identified. And management should take a remedial action to prevent repetition of the grievance. Effective grievances handling process make a strong relationship between employer and employee.

05. Follow up

After implementing the action, there should be a follow-up method to justify that the grievance has been resolved completely and adequately.

 

Benefits of a grievance handling procedure

According to Jackson (2000, 10) If there is an effective grievance handling procedure both parties (employer and employee) can get the benefits as,

01. It encourages employees to raise concerns without fear of reprisal.

The employee has a positive idea about the grievance handling procedure and he or she expects a practical solution.

02. It provides a fair and speedy means of dealing with complaints.

03. It prevents minor disagreements developing into more serious disputes.

04. It saves employers time and money as solutions are found for workplace problems.

If an employee resigns as a result of a grievance, the organization has to hire a new employee. That is time consuming and costly task.

05. It helps to build an organizational climate based on openness and trust.

 

Conclusion

Any type of grievance may lead to reduce employee morale, efficiency and productivity. And also they lead to increase employee turnover and absenteeism. Most of the time grievances affect employees’ minds also. So every organization should have an effective grievances management system, procedures and policies to retain the employees of the organization. Though the grievance is minor or major, the most important thing is you should listen to them and take a necessary action without taking much time. Effective employee grievance management is vital for an effective harmonious management-labor relationship which helps to enhance organizational performance. (Onyebuchi and Eke, 2019, 1-9).

To get and furthermore understanding on grievances handling please watch the following video.

                                                                                                        (Opal People Solution, 2021)

Reference

Jackson, T. (2000) Handling grievances. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Onyebuchi, O. and Eke, N. U. (2019) Impact of employee grievance management on organizational performance. International Journal of Economics and Business Management, 5(1), 1-9.

Opal People Solution. (2021) How to resolve a workplace Grievance | Grievance Procedure | Conflict Resolution | Disputes at Work. [online video] Available at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROnN6UTKKco [Accessed 25.03.2023]

Rose, E. (2004) Employment Relations. 2nd edition. Prentice Hall: England.