Human Relations in Organizational Productivity

Introduction

Human relations management is a principle that is focused on organisational development through the study of people behaviour (Brewster and Hegewisch, 2017). The discipline examines the effects of employees' satisfaction, social relations and motivation on organisational productivity. Three areas are of focus when studying the human relations management of an organisation. These three areas are; the power of natural groups over the organisational structures, high-quality leadership, and a two-way communication.

Human relations management establishes the relationship between the employees and the management. This is achieved by addressing the employees’ needs and fostering workplace culture (Jensen, 2017). Companies have varied human relations fostered by leadership and management. The House of Fraser's administration has incorporated programs for employee empowerment and motivation. Likewise, Poundland is also equipped with human relation strategies that enhance communication and offers incentives to all staff (Dundon, Cullinane and Wilkinson, 2017). This study focuses on case companies of House of Fraser and Poundland. House of Fraser is a retail organisation with outlets and stores across Ireland and the United Kingdom. It operates in 59 locations headquartered in London (Thompson, 2017). The main products include homeware, fashion clothing, shoes, boots, electrical and cosmetics. House of Fraser has a workforce of 6,000 employees and 11,500 concession. Poundland is a retail organisation operating across Britain. Poundland operates in 896 locations and is headquartered in West Midlands, UK. Poundland’s main products are consumer goods, groceries and electrical. Poundland has a workforce of 18,000 employees.

Background

The theory of human relations management emerged in the 1930s during the industrial revolution. During this period, the focus of the business was mainly productivity. In his research (the Hawthorne Studies), Elton Mayo suggested that besides machines, people were important for productivity (De Board, 2014). The Hawthorne studies established that in the organization, relationships are the factors most influencing productivity. The research proved that with the availability of relationships and supportive groups, productivity increased. In supportive groups, employees' individual work had a significant impact on the teams' output. Elton, therefore, concluded that the more attention the employees received, the motivated they were and resultantly, productivity increased. The observations made on this research are referred to as the Hawthorne Effect (Dundon, Cullinane and Wilkinson, 2017).

After the Hawthorne studies, two researchers (Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGregor) introduced the motivational theory and how it ties to the human relations theories. According to Maslow, there are five basic needs and these are physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualisation (Sutherland, Land and Böhm, 2014). Maslow insisted that these basic needs were the motivating factors observed in the employees’ work values. Maslow’s observation was supported by McGregor who observed that if employees feel valued and responsible, they contribute more to the organisation (Mayo, 2014).

Over the years, the concept of human relations has been studied further based on the belief that employees want to be in a supportive team mainly because such a team facilitates growth and development. Therefore, by providing the employees with special attention, and encouraging them to participate, the employees perceive their work as significant and as a result, they are motivated to perform better in terms of productivity and quality.

Research Problem

Humans are relational and being in a relationship gives them a sense of belonging. Relationships are established in social environments and workplaces are no different. The principles of human relations theory hypothesises that mutual influence comes from people working together and as such, organisational leadership should be focused on controlling the working environment and situations and not the people. Retaining healthy human relations at work attracts people enhances a spirit of teamwork motivates employees.

According to Mayo, working places ought to be like the social environment and good relations amongst the employees and between the management and the employees. Even with well-known benefits of human relations at workplaces and the continued research in the area, there are numerous challenges in implementing human relations principles. Some of these challenges are caused by the inflexibility in the management and organisational structure. This study investigates human relations in two organisation to establish the execution of the principles of human relations theory and to evaluate differences and similarities in either company.

Purpose of the research

The purpose of this research is to compare the human relations management and leadership of Poundland to that of House of Fraser. The aim is to establish any differences and similarities in how the two organisations manage their human resources. Also, the study establishes the effectiveness of the human relations management identified to the productivity of the respective organisation.

Literature Review

Human relations management theory

The human relations management theory is a discipline focused on organisational development based on the study of people's behaviours in workplace groups. At its origin in the Hawthorne studies, the human relations theory focused on establishing the impact of social relations, employees' satisfaction and motivation in the industry productivity. The theory is established on the view of employees based on their psychology and to fit it with the company (Kelly, 2014). This foundation is contrary to looking at the workers’ psychology and the company as interchangeable parts. Elton Mayo, an industrial researcher, and organisational theorist established the scientific study of organisational behaviour studying social, human and political problems arising during the industrial civilisation. In the foundation of the human relations movement, Mayo’s work insisted that alongside the formal organisational structure at the workplace, there is an informal structure. Based on this observation, Mayo criticised the scientific management approaches and underlined the equally important relations of the people working for the organisations (Mayo, 2014).

Mayo's worth thus insisted on the need for companies to improve the interpersonal skills of the workers through what is currently referred to as "soft training". Job-oriented interpersonal skills enable the employees to successfully communicate, interpret other people's emotions, be open to fellow worker's feelings, and to solve conflict reach resolutions.

Mayo’s work has not been without criticism especially because it is built on a concept that is contrary from the scientific management and Taylorism (Harding, Lee and Ford, 2014). These two insisted on the application of science in the management of employees to achieve economic efficiency by labour productivity. Contrary to this, Mayo’s work insisted on the discovery of a “social person”, in which organisations should see workers and individuals and not “robots” working to achieve unrealistic and unethical productivity expectations (Gabarro, 2014). Human relations insists on treating the workers as individuals, therefore, obliging that employees be allowed to gain job satisfaction, job stability, and identity with the assumption that the workers will be willing to contribute their efforts and to co-operates towards achieving the goals of the organisation. The scientific approach to management insists on improving the productivity of a worker through strict management while human relations theory insists on improving productivity through the establishment of better and stronger relationships achievement and recognition are the stimulants for increased production in human relations movement (Wadhwani and Bucheli, 2014). Human relations management disagrees with the scientific management approach that concentrates on organisation output and production techniques. Human relations advocates for the changing of the organisation through human interaction. Human relations insists on teamwork and motivation as the heart of the productive organisation and not "managers do and workers do". According to the human relation theory, an organisation is a social system comprised of inter-group and interpersonal relationships (Sutherland, Land and Böhm, 2014). Based on the theory's principle, management can get high-quality work through ensuring workers satisfaction socially and psychologically. Some of these principles are;

Organisations work through both formal and informal relations and as such management should invest in informal relations.

Job security and satisfaction lead in terms of what the employees need to be productive and so management should work towards meeting these two needs.

Employees are individuals and human being and must be treated as such and not like machines. Managers can attain this by understanding the employees’ emotions and feelings.

Good communication is essential to the workers and must be relayed without hindrances by the management’s superiority complex.

Misunderstandings and conflicts are the main threats of members’ inter-group and interpersonal relationships and must be eliminated.

Freedom is a necessity for the employees and managers must withdraw strict supervision and control over the employees.

Employees want to be involved in decision making especially on the matters that affect their interests and management should facilitate such involvement.

Motivational theory

The motivational theory of management refers to the way that an organisation motivates its employees to achieve performance within groups and individual jobs. The theory hypothesises that organisations rely on their workers to provide services and to produce products when they are needed. The theory observes that while the employees can acquire the skills they need to perform their job roles, providing the employees with motivational incentives can be beneficial for higher productivity (Bamberger, Meshoulam and Biron, 2014).

The way an organisation manages its workers has a significant impact on its productivity as well as the morale levels (Hubbard, 2017). To achieve its objectives, an organisation must function as a whole and as a set of specific departments. Incorporating motivational theories in organisational management is important in the utilisation of human resources. Motivational theories are employed to establish systems usable in the promotion of productive work environments (Harding, Lee and Ford, 2014). Different mutational systems are used and some of the commonly used are a reward, employee perception, and productivity. Introducing a reward system enables the incorporation of the expectancy and reinforcement theories in the organisation’s management practice. The expectancy theory concentrates on the employees' perspectives on the relationship between the expected reward after achieving a goal and the effort they have put. Higher expectations lead to highly motivated employees. The reinforcement theory employs incentives like promotions and pay-rise for reinforcing good performance. Negative incentives also may be employed as a way to discourage poor performance and inappropriate behaviour (Gabarro, 2014). The employee’s individual perceptions of the rewards acquired for completed tasks. If through the equity motivational theory the employees perceive their efforts as equitable exchanges, they are likely to be highly motivated. If they perceive inequities where some members are highly rewarded better than others, motivational levels are likely to decline. Productivity represented by actions such as goal setting is also a motivational system employed by organisations to improve motivation levels of the employees (Chemers, 2014). With set goals, employees clearly understand the tasks required to meet the goal. Feedback received on the employees' performance serves as a motivational tool encouraging the worker to achieve more.

Behavioural Management Theory; Understanding employee behaviour and motivation

Besides understanding the theories of human relations and organisational motivation, behavioural management theory is another vital field important for understanding employee behaviour and motivation. Behavioural management theory supports the principles of human relations and motivation. It shifts management from the scientific and classic leadership to a workers’ human need leadership oriented style. Further, the theory insists on work-related satisfaction for the employees and good working environment (Wadhwani and Bucheli, 2014). Behavioural management theory is based on the assumption that managers have an understanding of the human aspect of the workers and as such will treat the workers as important assets in goals achievement (Benn, Edwards and Williams, 2014). Resultantly, the employees feel that they belong in a special group. The behavioural approach to management is based on the assumption that human behaviour can be learnt and taught. Human behaviour can be modified in a different situation, it can be conditioned to perform under certain inputs and in the right place. For these reasons, the employees' behaviour is an essential and central element in management. The theory of human behaviour has been identified as an effective tool in analysing how the workers behave. The management uses the theory to determine what needs to be done so as to modify the worker's behaviour to function in a certain way. Identifying what factors motivate the employees is the first step in determining how such factors can be modified to enhance productivity

Methodology

The study employed a case study research approach. The case study focused on the two organisations under study; House of Fraser and Poundland. Secondary data was gathered from the organisation’s annual reports and statistics available on the companies’ websites. This data is publicly available and accessible on the internet (Hubbard, 2017). The data were analysed using the qualitative content analysis method to identify the issues in the human relations management in the two companies. An explanatory comparative analysis was employed to identify the difference and similarities in the human relations of the two companies. The case study research approach is used to allow a multi-faceted exploration of issues in the real-life setting. It is effectively employed to obtain an in-depth appreciation of a research issue. In the current study, the employment of this study approach was essential because the research focused on assessing in depth the issues of human relations in the two organisations under review. The case study allows research of a phenomenon in its natural setting (Flick, 2015). For this reason, the employment of this approach facilitated researching human relations issues based on first-hand information issued by the companies and the affected employees. Employees reviews posted online by the employees were studied using the case study approach because of its capacity to study these reviews from the real-life setting.

All the data gathered and analysed in this study was secondary. Secondary data refers to data that has already been gathered and is therefore available in other sources. The data was mainly gathered from the companies' website and annual reports. Secondary data is advantageous in that it provides a good basis for comparison with other data gathered by the researcher. Data was then analysed using a qualitative content analysis method. This analysis method involves text analysis where the basic principles are explained with categories to provided validity and reliability (Taylor, Bogdan, and DeVault, 2015).

Key Findings

Poundland sees its employees as the biggest part of their success. The management team and employees from the stores, in a customer care centre and the distribution centres become a part of the company’s success through dedication and hard work that results to great service to the customers. Services from both the executive and the employees have been achieved through the company's continued motivation, attraction, and retention of a highly qualified team. To mitigate all the employment risks, Poundland runs a remuneration policy that is focused to attract, motivate and retain their employees. Besides achieving this, the policy is also focused on introducing and sustaining a high-performance culture and to maintain a team of employees that is focused on delivering the company's strategic objectives. Another goal is to achieve an incentive for high growth in alignment with the interests of the directors. Between the shareholders and the executive directors, the policy is focused on encouraging ownership equity (Poundland Group plc Annual).

House of Fraser similarly recognises that the engagement and dedication of the employee workforce is the key to the success of the organisation. Equal opportunity for all employees encourages diversity in the organisation. Diversity in House of Fraser ensures that all applicants are treated favourably irrespective of gender, religion, ethnic, age, sexual orientation, and disability. Employee forums are operated to promote best practice by ensuring consultation and information sharing. Through the forums, the employees’ views and voice on business issues are heard and therefore considered.

Employee Responsibility

Human relations management insists of the responsibilities that organisations have on their employees. Some of these are paying workers, insurance, positive working environment and providing work safety.

The two organisations fulfil the employees’ responsibility differently but effectively. In Poundland, success is celebrated using various initiative that has been highlighted here. First, seasonal incentives such as providing vouchers for use during employees' leisure are availed for the employees. Seasonal performance rewards are given to the employees who are eligible for meeting the objectives and living the values of the company. There are bonus schemes that are offered on intervals of a certain number of years especially for a long service to the company. House of Fraser also views their employees as critical assets that play a vital part in the company’s success. As part of making the employees feel important to the company’s vision, House of Fraser emphasis on diversity, performance culture and expertise (Frasers Center point Annual Report 2017). In support of these three, House of Fraser focuses in there things which are career development for the employees, health and safety, and welfare. Gender, age, skills-set, and nationality are the leading pillars of diversity which aims at providing equal employment opportunities.

Poundland

To ensure that the employees are motivated to attend to their roles, the company has a benefits platform that is accessible to all of its employees. All types of benefits and discounts are availed to the workers and their families; for example, healthcare insurance, childcare vouchers, and lifestyle special discounts.

In partnership with the Retail Trust, Poundland provides its workers with an employee assistance program. The program is in support to the employees' welfare. Also, to ensure that all the employees’ concerns and voices are heard, the company maintains an open communication using different communication means (Poundland Group plc Annual). Regular meetings between the executive and the employees' union are conducted throughout the year. A whistleblowing policy has been incorporated into the company's culture and is essential to the employees' ability to voice their concerns. Using this policy, the employees can with confidence and with confidence can raise their concerns and communicate their needs to the management. The policy also facilitates surveys that serve as an important source of feedback about the important matters and to enhance continued engagement in the company’s goals.

Long-term employment and job security is an important part of employees’ protection and is facilitated using the expansion program aimed at creating 1000 employment opportunities each year. This program works closely with job centres locally so as to reach the unemployed and it is aimed at first, providing employment and secondly to increase the employability of the workers, therefore, enabling them to play a significant role in their communities (Drazba, 2015).

At Poundland, the customer identifies the value of a customer to the success of the organisation and requires that all the workers adhere to certain values. These values play a critical part of employees’ motivation and they include;

Respect for each other and for the customers

Individual responsibility and team delivery

Recognising and celebrating success

Putting the customer first

Using these values, the employees are enabled to perceive their contribution as workers as though they were running their own businesses. This way, for every service they are offering, the workers are empowered and motivated to take their responsibility seriously. Operating ethically is a huge part of the motivation to the workers as it facilitates the workers to serve the customers right and as a process achieve higher performance.

Health and safety is a responsibility that is taken seriously in Poundland. Ensuring that all the workers are reporting to safe and healthy working environments is a crucial part of operations in the organisation. Through this, the company demonstrates to the employees that they are not just money-making assets to the firm but rather, their humanity is recognised and take care. Reporting to clean and safe working environments makes the employees identify themselves as family and as a part of Poundland and therefore serves as a motivating factor.

Career development through training is a crucial part of human relations in Poundland. Training is categorically driven in various levels to ensure that all the workers are provided with the skills they require to become better. First, new arrivals are taken through an induction programme which is tailored to the worker’s role. Mainly, induction is conducted in the stores rather than in classrooms. This provides the employees with an experience that they need to confidently execute their roles as they train and work at the same time. Also, workers acquire all the aspects of their job with the help from the supervisor which makes them better in future performances. For the employees who have already been working with Poundland, they are taken through on-the-job training programs that are held regularly to ensure that they still have the confidence and motivation they require to continue the customers. Talent promotion through vocational programs of sharing knowledge is a crucial element of human relations in Poundland.

House of Fraser

At House of Fraser, workers are equipped with the following four values to become a valuable asset to the company;

Collaboration; employees are introduced to collaboration and teamwork and are made to understand that they are a family working towards achieving one goal which is to win the customers’ trust. Collaboration introduces the aspect of team ownership so that the workers feel that any success achieved by the organisation is theirs too and any weakness that may hinder success is a responsibility of everybody (Frasers Center point Annual Report 2017).

Respect; by treating the workers with respect, the executive enables the employees to understand the importance of treating everybody with respect and therefore they are motivated to treat the customers with respect which results to higher performance.

Progress; by sharing the organisational goals, the management makes the workers identify the importance of progression in one's goals and objectives. For example, when the management sets a goal better performance, the only way this can be achieved is through ensuring that each employee improves at an individual level. This is mainly achieved through the reward of innovation which can only be attained if the workers are purposeful and responsive (Lynch et al., 2011). Through the introduction of a pro-active culture in solving arising performance issues, the employees’ talents and abilities are appreciated.

Authenticity; the management empowers the employees to be responsible for using the "we are what we do" slogan. An empowerment to be responsible motivates the employees to be aware of the diversity in terms of skills and ability of everybody and as a result feel free to show how they are different. Being able to perform without being judged or being looked down upon motivates them to seek the available assistance and ensure that they are doing what is right.

At House of Fraser, engaging with the workers is not enough. Rather, the organisation encourages employees' work-life balance. The management believes that other than having a healthy work environment, a stimulating life is also crucial in a worker's performance. Staff engagement is employed to enhance team-building, sustainability awareness, health-related activities, and personal development. Also, while there packages of competitive remuneration, employees are offered wellbeing and health benefits (Lynch et al., 2011). There are welfare schemes and leave programs that are availed to all the employees.

Employees Reviews

Besides looking at the efforts that either organisation has put in place to enhance human relations, this study examined employees’ reviews to evaluate how the employees feel about human relations in their organisation. The following are the results;

Poundland

Employees have the following negative when it comes to human relations;

Performance pressure as management wants you to sell more

Fewer leave offers (sick leaves are limited in a year)

Impatient for slower learners

Positive reviews

Employees can discuss working hours

Adequate support from the managers

Low departmentalisation and therefore all workers are focused on achieving the same thing

Flexibility in working hours

Proper communication

Teamwork

House of Fraser

Negative reviews

A long process of registering for benefits and discounts and so they are not available for new staff

Constant change in the management staff which distorts stability in the management-staff relationship

Positive reviews

Staff discounts

Decent pension, staff benefits, childcare vouchers

Holiday days (25 per year)

Welfare packages including maternity and half-day pay when kids start school

Team-spirit enabling you to work with the best people

Recommendations and Conclusion

The findings presented in this study shows the various efforts effected in both companies with regard to the human relations movement as well as the employees' comments reviews. From the analysis, both organisations have a well laid out platform for treating the employees as humans, individuals, and organisational assets. However, the reviews also reveal some of the shortcomings of the platform. The shortcomings are an indication that while a policy for human relations movement is important, ensuring that the policy's objective is achieved is challenging. The analysis establishes that in both organisations, employees are recognised as a crucial asset that plays an essential role attaining success for the organisation. Dedication and hard works are a performance culture observed in both organisations. To ensure that this culture is sustainable, both organisations emphasise on employee motivation and the attraction and retention of highly qualified workers. Also, each company has well-established remuneration and benefits policies and packages that are availed to all employees. Career growth through training and other empowerment schemes such as talent promotion are the tools employed to ensure that the employees have the skills they need to deliver to certain standards. Diversity is highly embraced and this has been expressed as the leading factor in achieving authenticity for the workers. Diversity enables the employees to fully utilise their skills for the company’s growth without introducing an element of unhealthy competitiveness, and they are also allowed to express their weaknesses and rely on the others to help them deal with their shortcomings. Based on the above-summarised outcomes of the study, it is clear that at Poundland and the House of Fraser, embrace the principles of human relations theory. First, the evidence shows that the two companies recognise that employees are human beings and individuals and therefore, besides providing them with work, the companies provide the support they require to be more productive. Employee contribution in decision making and organisational achievement is acknowledged and invested which shows a determination of both organisations to making the employees feel valued and recognised. Team-building and authenticity which is a critical tool in the productivity of the two organisations have been emphasised and this is an indication that the firms entrust the employees performing towards personal achievement and therefore good performance is achieved with minimal control and supervision.

Contrast is, however, is seen in the areas of the employees well. The study had identified that at House of Fraser, employees welfare is enhanced in various ways. In Poundland however, employee welfare is not seriously delivered. For instance, employees reviews show that in Poundland, employees feel as though they are not given adequate time off work. It is even alarming that some employees commented that the number of days a worker can call-in sick are limited in one year. This fact is alarming because failing to provide employees with sick leaves means that the company requires them to report in for work even when they are unwell. A sick employee is not only unfit to work but also feel neglected and unimportant. Regarding the same factor of welfare, at House of Fraser, the employees commented that the organisation is focused on enabling them to achieve a work-life balance which is achieved through offering the workers with adequate holiday time and other paid leaves such as maternity and childcare.

Employees from Poundland also reported poor job satisfaction especially due to management pressure on the workers to deliver more. This is contrary to the situation reported in House of Fraser because here employees reported that they believe they work with the best people and with a team spirit, a high job satisfaction is achieved.

In conclusion, based on the observations made, this study recommends that either company investigate the areas of shortcomings to rectify and improve. In line with the literature reviewed in this study, human relation is a developing area with the main focus being to incorporate the human aspect of workers in the management goals. The more the management understand this humanity and individuality aspects, the more likely they will devise more effective strategies to motivate attract highly qualified employees and therefore achieve high productivity. Therefore to the two organisations examined in this study, the focus should be made on the areas of weaknesses as the reviews by the employees and efforts should be put towards improving these areas and achieving more with regard to the human relations principles.

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