Employee Relations D:

[Niskii]

Hey all, just a few quick questions on Employee Relations.

From the VCAA sample questions they put out along with the new study design:

"Y Box is a computer software design company with 250 staff. The work is all done on short-term contracts, with individuals working on a wide variety of team-based projects of a short duration, before then moving onto new projects with new teams. The company operates a flexitime policy, and has tried to reward individual staff for good performance. However this approach has caused problems for the company as it has resulted in conflict among the staff who are divided over whether the reward system is fair."

Analyse the effectiveness of choosing to use a centralised approach to employee relations in this company.

How would one go about answering this question? Does the question mean "effectiveness of moving to a centralised approach" or does it imply that they are using a centralised approach already? Which I wouldn't think they are, but you know.

Also, as an advantage of the decentralised system I've written a few times on practice exams "allows managers to alter pay/working conditions to allow for LSO-specific characteristics" ... what are some examples of characteristics that could be taken into account here? Just so I can add an example to make it more clear should I need it on the exam.

Thaaaaanks
And good luck to everyone for tomorrow!

[RobDog]

Am also struggling to understand this.
Would it just be listing 2adv and 2 disadv of centralised?

[Niskii]

I'd assume so- I emailed my teacher and she said it would be best to discuss the pros and cons and then come to a conclusion at the end, so pretty much what you said

Any idea how an organisation suddenly exactly can/would choose to use a centralised approach? Isn't it a government controlled thing? :/

[RobDog]

Probably just tell everyone they're the boss and can do what they want. But really i dunno.
So would this be acceptable?

Centralised approach could benefit Y Box in a number of ways.
+ all employees will be receiving equal pay, so there is consistency amongst the org
+ less disputes, as workers can no longer argue about others having more benefits, pay etc

Although there are also disadvantages.
- Y box will no longer be able to provide incentives for staff to increase productivity in exchange for bonuses, resulting in lower productivity.
- Also, level of employee participation in areas such as decision making will be non-existent, as decisions regarding wages and conditions are not negotiable between employee and org, leading to lower morale.

[Niskii]

Yeah, that seems pretty much exactly what I would write

[RobDog]

Yeah, that seems pretty much exactly what I would write

Then there's no doubt about it. We are definitely correct!