Employee Relations

Employee Relaions Order Description Assignment brief BCG Ltd. is a family-owned company currently employin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing 150 people that has successfully operated three garden centres in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in South East England for the last ten years. In order to build on this success the company’s CEO, Aaron Brown, has outlin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ined an ambitious growth programme. BCG is therefore to open seven new garden centres across the South East. The company’s HR Director is lookin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing for advice about the employee relations strategy and policies the company should adopt. As experts in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in employee relations, your task is to read the overview of the busin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">iness and its policies and then answer the questions listed below. Overview of the Busin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">iness Structure The busin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">iness will from now on be divided in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">into two main" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in parts, the horticulture and retail division, and a transport/logistics division. The horticulture and retail division will comprise the ten garden centres, which will employ 50 people each. There will be two main" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in categories of staff at the garden centres, product specialists and shopfloor/canteen assistants. The centres will be open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, with late openin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing (until 9pm) three evenin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ings a week durin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing the summer months. The product specialists will work full-time both outside and in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inside, tendin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing to flowers and plants and handlin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing garden furniture and equipment. Startin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing pay for these employees will be £9.50-11.50 an hour dependin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing on qualifications. The majority will be expected to have qualifications but those that don’t will be sponsored by the company to do an NVQ in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in Horticulture. The shopfloor/canteen assistants will undertake more basic tasks such as replenishin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing stock, pricin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing and movin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing products, operatin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing the tills and servin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing drin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inks and food to customers. They will be expected to work flexibly across these different tasks. They will receive a basic train" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing and be paid £5.30-7.20 an hour dependin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing on age. Half will work full-time and half part-time. The logistics division will be responsible for sourcin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing products and deliverin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing them to the ten garden centres (but not to customers). It will employ 30 people, ten long distance drivers who will collect products from contin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inental Europe, ten people in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the warehouse/distribution centre and ten regional delivery drivers. Startin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing pay will be £8.50-£9.50 an hour. The logistics division will operate on a 24/7, shift work basis and experience very high throughput volumes in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in sprin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing and summer months when most flowers and plants are in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in bloom. HR Policies & Approaches As a busin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">iness BCG has to date been domin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inated by the vision and personality of its CEO Aaron Brown, who founded the company. Brown has frequently expressed the view that employees are privileged to work for his company and they should give “200 percent” in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in their jobs. In particular he expects staff to work over-time in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in sprin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing and summer to respond to in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">increased customer demand durin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing those seasons. To date the company has relied on direct communication between managers and staff, with department managers given a lot of power to make decisions and enforce the company’s strict attendance and dress code policy. With the busin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">iness expansion, the CEO plans to hold ‘town hall’ meetin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ings for staff at every location every six months in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in order to provide an update on busin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">iness performance and “in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inspire staff to work even harder.” The company will also operate a suggestion scheme for busin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">iness and operational improvements, with prizes awarded for the most successful suggestions. All BCG employees will be enrolled in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the company’s pension scheme, which is more generous than the new government-sponsored scheme. Questions In light of the in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">information above, your report should address the followin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing questions: (a) What sort of approach to Employee Relations is BCG adoptin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing? What are the advantages and disadvantages of its approach, and is this advisable now the busin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">iness is expandin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing? [30% of marks] (b) What kin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ind of Employee Voice strategy is BCG adoptin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing? Are the proposed employee voice policies and mechanisms likely to be effective in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in light of the other employment and HR policies bein" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing adopted and the statistics outlin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ined in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in part (a)? Would you suggest anythin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing different in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in terms of employee voice strategy or mechanisms, and if so what and why? [40% of marks] Suggested Readin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ings : Textbook - Gennard J. and Judge G. (2010/2-16): Managin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing Employment Relations, 5th edition, London: CIPD. Rollin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inson, D. and Dundon, T. (2011): Understandin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing Employment Relations, 2nd edition, Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill, chapters 4 ‘Employee Voice.’ Noon, M., Blyton, P. and Morrell, K. (2011), The Realities of Work, Basin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ingstoke: Palgrave, chapter 11, ‘Representation at Work.’ Purcell, J. and Hall, M. (2012): ‘Voice and Participation in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the Modern Workplace: challenges and prospects’, ACAS Future of Workplace Relations Discussion Paper Series, March, London: ACAS (available at: https://www.acas.org.uk/in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">index.aspx?articleid=3544). Lashley, C. (2000): ‘Empowerment through in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">involvement: a case study of TGI Friday’s restaurants’, Personnel Review, 29(6): 791-815 (read 791-811 only). Simms, M. and Charlwood, A. (2010): ‘Trade Unions: Power and Influence in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in a Changed Context’, pp. 125-148 in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in T. Collin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing and M. Terry (eds.), Industrial Relations: theory and practice, 3rd edition, Chichester: Wiley. Lloyd, C. (2001): ‘What do Employee Councils do? The impact of non-union forms of representation on trade union organisation’, Industrial Relations Journal, 32 (4): 313-327. Diamond, W. and Freeman, R. (2003): ‘Young Workers and their Willin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ingness to Join" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in Trade Unions’ in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in H. Gospel and S. Wood (eds.) Representin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing Workers: Trade Union Membership and Recognition in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in Britain" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in, Routledge: London.