GHANA COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY (GCTU)

FACULTY OF IT BUSINESS

COURSE: RESEARCH METHODS

LEVEL: 300

SESSION: WEEKEND

STUDENT FULL NAME:Patricia Boatemaa Kodua

PROGRAMME: Human Resource Mgt.

STUDENT INDEX NUMBER: 4311230020

TOPIC: A RESEARCH ON EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND ITS EFFECT ON PRODUCTIVITY

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0.Introduction

Employee’s relation was a major factor in the productivity of an organization. Maintaining

healthy relations in an organization is a per requisite for organizational success. Strong employee

relations are required for high productivity and human satisfaction. The term employee relations

refer to a company’s effort to manage relationships between employers and employees. An

organization with a good employee relations program provides fair and consistent treatment to

all employees, so they will be committed to their job and loyal to the organization.

One of the most pressing issues facing most organizations today was the need to raise employee

productivity. Changes are thought to be necessary both in the organization and structure of work

and in the way in which employees are trained, remunerated and motivated. Moreover, it was

argued that these changes cannot be separate from the need to overhaul our system of interest

representation and dispute resolution. The activities of trade unions and the operations of

arbitration tribunals are often viewed as impediments to management efforts to lift the

competitive performance of their organizations.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate these arguments, identify ways employee relations affect

productivity, and how to improve productivity in an organization. Keen Developers Ltd located

at Adenta housing down, Accra was used as a case study for this research, as various employees

and management of Keen Developers Ltd, Adenta housing down were used as respondents for

the study. Responses gotten from employees and employers were analyzed to bring out findings

as well as recommendations for this study. With regards to research methodology of this study,
the casual research guide as chosen as the most appropriate research design for the study. Data

was gathered from both primary and secondary sources information. Other findings include

various challenges that employees face at workplace and various ways to enhance a healthy

relationship between employees in an organization.

The most valuable recommendation given is to treat employees with great value, maintaining

healthy employee relations in an organization is a pre-requisite for organizational success. Strong

employee relations are required for high productivity and human satisfaction.

Employee relations generally deals with avoiding and resolving issues concerning individuals

which might arise out of or influence the work scenario. Strong employee relations depend upon

healthy and safe work environment, 40% involvement 30% commitment, 30% incentives for

employee motivation. Healthy employee’s relation leads to more efficient, motivated and

productive employees which further lead to increase in production level. Employees are among

an organization’s most important resources and coined as most valuable asset. The nature and

amount of work performed by them have direct impact on the productivity of an organization, so

maintaining a healthy employee relation in an organization is a necessity. Bad employee –

employer relationship results in strike action and lock outs.

All these actions taken by employees to display their grievance only do the organization harm

than good as productivity will be reduced drastically.

It involves maintaining a working environment that satisfies the need of individual employees

and management, improving employees’ morale building company culture, conveying

expectations an effective employee relation involves creating and cultivating a motivated and

productive workforce, it’s a relationship between employees and employers.

1.1 Background of the Study

Employee relations had its roots in the industrial revolution which created the modern

employment relationships by spawning free labor markets and large-scale industrial

organizations with thousands of wage workers. As society wrestled with these massive economic

and social changes, labor problems arose. Low wages, long working hours, monotonous and

dangerous work, and abusive supervisory practices led to high employee turnover, violent strikes,

and the threat of social instability, intellectually, industrial relations was formed at the end of the

20th century as a middle ground between classical economics and Marxism, with Sidney Webb

and Beatrice Webb’s (2020) industrial Democracy being the key intellectual work. Industrial

relations thus rejected the classical econ. Institutionally, employee relation was founded by John

R. Commons (2014) when he created the first academic industrial relations program at the

University of Wisconsin in 2014.

Early financial support for the field came from John D. Rockefeller, Jr (2015) who supported

progressive labor management relations in the aftermath of the bloody strike at a Rockefeller

owned coal mine in Colorado. In recent times, while most workers are on job, they do not

produce more simply because of the unhealthy relationship they have with their fellow

colleagues and employers.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In recent times, while most workers where on the job, they did not work up till their full

potentials simply because of the unhealthy relationship they have with their fellow colleagues

and employers. A recent study conducted by Blyton (2018) revealed that employees do not put

up their best performance at workplace when they are unhappy with their management,

government or even their fellow colleagues. Bad employee-employer relationship results in

strike actions and lockouts. All these actions taken by employees to display their grievances only

do the organization harm than good as productivity will be reduced drastically. By many

accounts, employee relations today are in crisis. Employees work best when the environment

they are working in is friendly and not hostile, laissez faire promotion of free markets.

1.3 Research Objectives

The main objectives for this study are to examine employee relations and its effect on employee

productivity. Specific objectives of the study are:

1.3.1 Specific Objectives

1. To identify various employee relations practices and its effects on productivity of an

organization.

2. To examine the challenges faced by employees at workplace

3. To explore ways of enhancing healthy relationship between employees and employers in

an organization.

1.4 Research Questions

The following questions were used to achieve the above objectives:

1. What are the various employee relations practices in your organization, and how do they

affect productivity?

2. What challenges do you face in your organization?

3. In what ways can a healthy relationship be enhanced between employees and employers

in an organization?
1.5 Significance of the Study

The purpose of this study was to strengthen the employer-employee relationships through

identifying and resolving workplace issues, measuring employee satisfaction and morale, and

providing support and input to the company’s performance management system.

This study brought out the various employees relations practice which Keen Developers Ltd

(Adenta) has undertaken to increase its productivity and contribute its quota in the economic

development of the communities which it operates, and the country at large. This study therefore

helps enlighten management of various organizations of the various effects of relationship

practices between employers and employees in an organization.

The study also brought out specially, the employee relations practices which the Interior

Decoration Agency organization has been able to make available to its employees. It also seeks

to bring out the level of encouragement and motivation the organization has given to its

employees to work efficiently. The importance of this study was therefore to highlight the

various employee relations practices and how it affects the productivity of an organization. This

study will go a long way to illustrate how organization should treat employees in order to

increase productivity.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The scope of the research was limited to Keen Developers Ltd (Adenta) Accra in Greater Accra

Region of Ghana. The researcher relied on Keen Developers Ltd (Adenta) for vital information

as well as information from secondary source.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

The researcher faced a little hindrance whiles researching on this topic. Some of the limitations

are transportation to the company of research (Keen Developers Ltd (Adenta) another limitation

the researcher faced was the preparedness of the top level executives to give out information

concerning the company, research has to persuade them a lot in order to getting vital information

concerning the organization, the researcher also face the problem of meeting the executives on

scheduled time due to the busy schedules of executives and managements of Keen Developers

Ltd (Adenta) it was a little difficult to meet them to discuss crucial information. The researcher

also had to deal with time constraints, the time given to complete the study was not enough and

working on this particular study it needs a lot of time and patience, also funds for the study was

provided solely by the researcher. No agency, no employee or employer supported in any way

and this affected the quantity of questionnaires to be printed out and administered.

1.8 Organization of the Study

This study was conducted, arranged and presented in five main chapters. Chapter one (1)

presents the background of the study, statement of the problem, scope of the study, limitations of

the study, research objectives, significance of the study and profile of the organization. Chapter

two (2) talks about the literature review of the study. It discusses the relationship between other

studies that are closely related to the one to be undertaken. The chapter three (3) presents the

research methodology. It explains the method to be used in conducting the study such as the

source of data, sampling size, sampling techniques. The chapter four (4) also talks about data

analysis and field discussions. And lastly chapter five (5) presents the summary of findings,

conclusions and recommendations.

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

Employees are among an organization’s most important resources and valuable asset. It involved

maintaining a work environment that individual employees and management. This chapter talked

about how other researchers also defined employees’ relations and the impact it has on an

organization, this chapter digs deep into the real definition of great people like (Beardwell &

Claydon), and their perceptions on the topic Employees Relationship and its impact on the

productivity.

2.1 Review of Related Literature

2.1.1 Definition of Human Resource Management

In explaining employees’ relations, it was good to look at the source from which employee’s

relations was derived from which is Human Resource Management. The term human resource

management is the strategic approach to the effective management of people in an organization

such that they can help their businesses gain a competitive advantage. It was designed to

maximize employee performance in the service of an employer’s strategic objectives.

(Henderson 2017).

Broadly speaking, employee relations referred to the manner in which management addressed

and interacted with the staff.

The employer – employee relations was no doubt an enormous topic in Human Resource

Management that covers key areas of Employment relationship, collective bargaining, and

performance and also employee involvement which determines the nature of organizational
commitment and performance. The employment relationship aspect deals with the role and

influence of law which determines the right and responsibilities or rules govern the behavior of

both employer and employee which has an impact on how relationship work out. However, in

recent years’ newer concept have emerged in Human Resource Management that has considered

changed relationship that has dependent upon interaction of formal legal regulations. (Beardwell

& Claydon 2017) Employee involvement is a form of employer relates that allows more

participation of the employee in organizational decision, this was when employees can influence

decisions that are normally reserved for management (Marchington &Wilkinson 2018)

Performance and reward management relates to the use of individualized pay, performance

related pay and performance management. This factor determines behavior in terms of

motivation, communication, and level of commitment. (Beardwell & Claydon 2017)

(Dawson2014) acknowledged that the achievement of organizational objectives depends upon

employment relations, evidence from (Limerick 2015) suggests that individual empowering

should be consistent in the event of strategic change.

Considering the competitive nature of industries and technological advancement, the importance

of employer and employee relationship becomes more critical, reason being that to meet constant

changing needs of consumers, effective human resource management becomes very crucial in

achieving business success.

The greatest asset of an organization is considered to be the human resource and the greatest

challenge of an organization is how to manage these human resources efficiently and effectively

so as to achieve set objectives of the organization, my research objectives will be to stress the

importance of employer and employee relations ,because in the London the relationship is
considered to be an employee to do a particular job in return for wage and salary for the work

they do and this goes beyond mere work for pay.

2.2 EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP

Employment relationship can be defined as when an organization consists of employers and

employees who relate to one another. This is the employment relationship, which may be

expressed formally by what (Rubery et al 2012) regarded as its cornerstone, namely the contract

of employment. In law an employee is someone working for an employer who has the ultimate

right to tell the worker what to do. In the UK, the Employment Rights Act (1996) defines an

employee as a person who works under a contract of employment, the tacit assumption being that

the employer is the other party to the contract. This is sometimes called ‘the pay work bargain’.

The employment relationship can be additionally being defined formally by such means as

procedure agreement and work rules.

2.2.1 The Basis of the Employment Relationship

The starting point of the employment relationship is an undertaking by an employee to provide

skill and effort to the employer in return for which the employer provides the employee with a

salary or a wage. Initially the relationship is founded on a legal contract. This may be a written

contract, but the absence of such contract does not mean that no contractual relationships exist.

The employment relationship exists at different levels in the organization (management to

employees generally, and managers to individual employees and their representatives or groups

of people).

2.2.2 Types of employment relationship contracts

According to MacNeil (2017) and (Rousseau & Wade-Benzoni 2015). There are two main types

of employment relationship contracts namely transactional contract and relational contracts. The

transactional contracts are formal contracts that have a well described terms of exchange

between the employer and employees, which are often expressed financially. They contain

specified performance requirements.

The relational contracts are largely informal contracts with more obstruct terms and refer to an

open-ended membership of the organization. Performance requirements attached to this

continuing membership are incomplete or ambiguous. There is also the psychological contract,

which is implied rather than being stated. More specifically, the employment relationship is

governed by express agreements between employers and employees including contracts of

employment, the terms implied by common law and statutory requirements. Common law

obligations of employers include the duty to pay wages, provide work, cooperate with the

employee, and take reasonable care of the health and safety of the employee.

2.3 Collective bargaining

This is the act of negotiating wages and other conditions of employment by an organized body of

employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits and

other aspects of worker’s compensation and right of workers.

2.3.1 An example of collective bargaining agreement

This type of deal is a labor contract and is often referred to as a collective bargaining agreement.

Examples of collective bargaining agreement between employees and employers include

employee wages, hours, benefits, time off, raises, promotions, and disciplinary issues.

2.3.2 Functions of collective bargaining

Collective bargaining is a group process of negotiating work related issues with the anticipation

of coming to an agreement. Bargaining or negotiating is done between two parties: the employer

and employees.

2.3.3 Main objectives of collective bargaining

The basic objective of collective bargaining is to arrive at an agreement between the

management and the employees determining mutual beneficial terms and conditions of

employment.

2.3.4 Importance of collective bargaining

It becomes easier for the management to resolve issues at the bargaining level rather than taking

up complaints of individual workers. Collective bargaining tends to promote a sense of job

security among employees and thereby tends to reduce the cost of labor turnover to management.

2.3.5 Features of collective bargaining

Collective bargaining thus, covers the negotiation, administration, interpretation, application and

enforcement of written agreement between employers and unions representing employees setting

forth joint understanding, as to policies and procedures governing wages, rates of pay, hours of

work and others.

2.4 Performance

Performance can be defined as the process or action of accomplishing a task or functions, it can

also be defined as the fulfilment of an obligations, in a manner that releases the performer from

all liabilities.

2.4.1 Employee performance

Employee performance in the organizational context, performance is usually defined as the

extent to which an organizational member contributes to achieving the goals of the organization.

In addition, a commitment performance approach views employees as resources or assets and

value an employee’s opinion.

Employee performance can be termed as how workers of an organization behave in the

workplace and how well they perform their tasks and obligation in the organization. Many

business personnel directors assess the employee performance of each stuff member on an

annual or quarterly basis in order to help employers identify suggested areas for improvements.

2.4.2 Reasons for employee performance evaluation.

Employers who routinely monitor employee performance and conduct regular performance

evaluation review reap tremendous benefits:

 The employees know what the employer expects of them. The employees receive

feedback, praise and criticism of the works done with this evaluation employee will be

notified about shortfalls in their conducts or performance.

 The employer can recognize and identify and also coach workers having problems.

The evaluation process also nips a lot of employment problems in the bud. Performance

evaluations can keep employees out of legal trouble by helping the employers track and

document every problem faces in the company. If an employer wanted to fire an employee or

discipline a worker, the employer would have a written proof that the employer gave the

employee notice of a performance or conduct problem and an opportunity to correct them.

2.4.3 Performance evaluation tip

Giving evaluation can be difficult. Some workers react to criticism defensively and sometimes

no one understands what merit a positive evaluation, if workers feel that employers take it easy

on some of them while coming down hard on some employees, resentment is inevitable. So, an

employer can avoid these problems by

a. Be specific

b. Give deadlines

c. Be realistic

d. Be honest

e. Be complete

f. Evaluate performance and not personality

g. listen to the employees

2.4.4How to measure employee performance?

The purpose of an employee evaluation is to measure job performance. Many evaluations

provide quantitative. measurements essential for a production-oriented work environment,

other employee evaluations provide employers with metrics regarding the quality of

employees work.

2.5 Employee Relations

Employee relations offers consultation, facilitation and resolution strategies for workplace issues

or problems. Employee relations assists in the communication between employees and managers,

corrective actions and planning disciplinary actions and also explanations and clarification of

work policies and procedures.

2.5.1 Importance of Employee Relations

The importance of employee’s relations shall be looked at from the study of (Beardwell

&Claydon 2017) which states that employees obtain good and impressive performance rate when

relations are best with managers.

Another importance of employees relations and its effect on performance. when relations at the

office is good, employees feel happy and with this the employees work best to improve the

company.

Another importance of employees relations is that when relations at the office is good,

employees turn to bring out their creative idea and this improves productivity.

Maintaining good employee relations helps reduce workforce conflicts, boost staff morale and

raise overall most productivity.

2.5.2 Advantages of Employee Relations

Employee relations helps boost the self-esteem of employees, with good employee relations

employees turn to have confidence in themselves and in their work. Confidence in their speeches,

activities and performance.

Dedicated workforce, with good employee relations employee are dedicated to the work and

organization also employees turn to stick with organizations objectives and goals.

Increased productivity, with effective employee’s relations the employees increase their

productivity massively, with unity and peaceful environment employees work best. By offering

employees peace of mind, they tend to care about the company and be dedicated as possible
Minimizing the throughput, often it seems difficult for a business to maintain its policies if the

people working under them are constantly unhappy, to show organizations cares about the affairs

and relations of their employees, this puts the employees at ease to work and improve the

organization.

2.5.3 Ways of Maintaining a Good Employee Relation

According to (Limerick 2015) In order to maintain a good and healthy employee relation in an

organization, employers or managers must get to know their teams or employees on an

individual level.

Keeping communications channel always open.

The employers must make sure communications with workers are effective and frequently.

Ask for the opinions of employees. Employers must make sure employee’s opinions and

suggestions are heard and taken in consideration. Employees need to know what is going on in

the company, so encouraging effective communication among team members help them deal

with needs, wishes, complaints and goals setting. The communication has to be precise and

relevant and also ensure there are flexible ways for employees to communicate back.

Listening to the arguments of the employees,

managers must make sure to give employees the freedom to express their grievance and

complaints without being afraid of getting fired.

Encouraging employees to take a stand,

managers have to make sure employees have a common ground when it comes to achieving

organizational objectives.

Events
Celebrate birthdays, holidays parties and other occasions at the workplace. These small

initiatives actually go a long way in strengthening the bond among employees, allow them to

decorate the office, their work stations and make all the necessary agreements themselves.

Strong and effective employee’s relations generally lead to a better performing organizations

Managers are advised to be part of the team building in the organizations, the managers do not

have to exclude themselves from workers simply because they have higher positions than

them(workers).

2.5.4 Strategy for Effective Employees Relations

Employee relations, simply means the relationship between employees and employers. Every

company or organization knows they need an effective employee’s relations strategy, but few do

much about the forming a strategy

According to (Dawson 2014) Employee relations are influenced by many factors, all of which

affect the strategic balance between employees and employers. Building a strong employee

relations strategy involves creating an environment that delivers what people want. Employees

want to feel good about what they do and where they work. An effective employee’s relations

strategy will impact employee engagement, thus resulting in better company performance.

Involve your team members

Employees should feel important to your company. Let them willingly accept new

responsibilities and challenges. But make sure they also enjoy whatever they do. Encourage them

to share their work with each other, this way people tend to talk to each other thus the comfort

level rises.

Recognition
Praise individuals for exceptional results and provide suitable rewards. Encourage everyone to

perform well to live up to the expectations of the management. Put measures in place so people

can be recognized and applauded for.

2.6Theoretical Literature on Employees Relations

(Newell &Scarborough 2015) posed different dimensions on how organizations handle issues of

employee relation and the basis four management style have been suggested: (Edward 2014)

described the relationship between employer and employee as a system where both parties have

common and divergent interests, this is a situation where employer and employee communicate

their requirements and views to one another in terms of agreement on work related issues

 Sophisticated human relations: employees are viewed as the most valuable resource of

the organization, emphasis employee’s appraisal and extensive method of communication

aimed at enhancing employee loyalty and commitment. Trade unionism is discouraged.

Many US companies adopt this style.

 Consultative approach: this is similar to the first approach only those trade unions are

recognized. This style is mostly found in the European countries such as Germany.

 Traditional style: employees are seen as a mere factor of production; it represents the

Taylor management approach. Unions are opposed.

 Constitutional style: this is similar to the traditional style only that traditional style only

that unions are recognized and accepted.

It limitation above theory is that different management styles can be used in the same

organization for example the sophisticated human relations style can be used when managing

managers while the traditional style when managing other employee (Newell &Scarbrough2015).
Considering theories that relate to performance and reward management, motivation theories like

Maslow’s hierarchy of need. Level 1-physiological needs like food, water and comfort. The

organization provides financial reward. Level 2-safety needs: the organization provides this by

benefits. Level 3-social needs: the organization satisfies employee’s social need through social

gathering. Level 4-esteem needs: the organization helps satisfy employee esteem needs by

showing employees appreciation of work done. Level 5-self-actualization needs: deals with self

needs, discovering individual’s full potential (Beardwell &Claydon 2017). Researchers have

often criticized this theory following the proportion that there is no clear relationship between

needs and behavior. Alternatively, Aldermen’s ERG theory suggested that needs could be

classified into three instead of Maslow’s five; these types of needs are existence, relatedness and

growth. Herzberg identified two factors based on his research namely motivators and hygiene

factor (Beardwell&Claydon2017). Several other theories of motivation will be examined in my

dissertation. Besides motivation, modern theory in employee participation known as employee

engagement was defined by CIPD 2007 as “the combination of commitment to the organization

and its values that goes beyond job satisfaction and motivation”. This can be linked

psychological contract which will be later discussed extensively, but this has to do with a

stronger emotional attachment between employer and employee that helps in attracting and

retaining employees (Henderson2017)

The concept of ‘soft’ model HRM throws light to the positive attitude created from the use of

appropriate HRM practices together with communication, motivation and leadership enhances

commitment to the organization and improved performance (Guest2012). While the ‘Hard’ HRM

model emphasizes on the effective utilization of employees, ensuring that HRM strategy are

driven by overall corporate strategy (Keenan 2015)

2.7 Empirical Literature on Employee Relations

In research carried out by (Edgar &Alan 2015) “they stated that effective HRM policies and

practices should be measured by their perceived quality not simply by the numbers of practices

introduced”.

Another important issue raised by (Mac Mahon 2016) is that, even in small firms where the need

for improved productivity is very important, reward systems was rarely tied to productivity and

performance, and also conflict between employer and employee tend to be rare rather conflict

was apparent on the personal level.

(Savolainen 2014) also linked employer-employee relations with the aspect of leadership and

suggested three development strategies: 1) trust building or participative strategy, 2) the

entrepreneurial cooperative strategy, 3) Negotiate strategy. Finding also revealed how

organization change or move towards a new workplace and the role of line managers

Another research suggests that the effective communication of information and ideas to

employees should be developed through practice and commitment, findings also revealed that

organization should assess current culture to desired objectives and as a result new attitude often

needs to be acquired by both employer and employees (Dawson 2014) evidence suggest that

human resources strategy has shifted focus of job design to career development which enhanced

employee involvement. From my findings I have discovered that most research on areas of

employee relations have focused on the impact of HRM practices on employee performance,

however few researchers have worked on employee relations and how it affects organizational

commitment or performance, the justification for this research is to shed lighter on the impact of

this relationship and how it can be improved to enhance organizational performance.

2.8 Benefits of Employee Relations in an Organization

The mutual relationship between both parties increases motivation which in turn leads to

increase in productivity and profit maximization. Estenson (2014) describes employer-employee

relations as a key ingredient in the implementation of quality improvement (Savolainen 2014).

Furthermore, (Sadri and Lees 2018) said a positive relationship between both parties could lead

to a competitive advantage over other firms in the industry and also provide enormous benefits to

the organization.

2.9 Summary

It is apparent from the literature review that the current study is necessary as stated in the

statement of the problem on the basis of what have been reviewed above. There was a good

knowledge on the role of employee’s relations and its effects on performance. With the

challenging world employers need workers to enhance productivity, so effective relations can do

a lot of good than damage.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter deals with the methods and procedures used in collecting data for the project. It was

the responsibility of the researcher to provide a clear description of how data would be collected

to enable readers to understand the study. The chapter included: research design, population,

sample and sampling procedure, data collection methods, data sources, data analysis, and chapter

summary.

3.1 Research Design

The design of a study defines the study type (descriptive, correlation, semi-experiment,

experiment, review, meta- analytic). The research design was a case study design which entailed

an extensive analysis of single case. The study approach adopted was the quantitative method.

3.2 Research Area

The research area in which the researcher used for this research was the Human Resource

Department of Keen Developer Ltd which is located in Adenta, Accra. The company deals with

land survey, construction, renovation, site survey. The researcher revealed the employee’s

relations and how it affected performance in the Human Resource Department of Keen

Developers Ltd.

Organizational Profile
Organization profile basically means an organization or company profile essentially contains

brief information about the history and evolution of the company, the performance history and

anticipated performance in the future, the reputation of the company and details of the goods and

services provided by them. With this in mind the company which the researcher will use for this

study is a Construction company called Keen developers ltd. Keen developers ltd has been

selected as a case study to illustrate the effects of employee relations on productivity. Keen

developers ltd is a private company which came into existence in the year 2017, it is located in

Adenta.

This company came in existence with the aim of building a comfortable yet affordable homes.

The company has about hundred (100) employees and over ten (10) board directors. The

company has workers on site doing construction works which architects design in the office. The

organization has supervisors who go around weekly to make enquiries, inspection, and fix every

problem the workers are facing on site.

3.3 Population

(Bryman,2015) explains population study as a study of a group of individuals taken from the

general population who share a common characteristic and interest in the research the researcher

worked on, they have characteristics like same or similar positions in an organization, training

equipped for a particular job. So, for this study the researcher used both managers and employees

in the Human Resource Department as the population size. In the HR department of Keen

developers ltd and Land Consult, the department has fifty (50) employees and twenty-five (25)

managers, so the population size for the study was seventy-five (75) employees and managers of

the department.
3.4 Sampling Technique

According to Jewel (2018) Sampling technique first of all means the technique, procedure or

formula the researcher used in getting the sample size of the population in which will be use for

the study. Sampling also means something being taken or presented for inspection or shown

evidence of the quality of the whole. For this study the researcher used the stratified sampling

technique, with this technique the researcher divided the population into subgroups (strata) using

only the Human Resource department for this research and in the HR department there are fifty

(50) employees and twenty (25) five managers

3.5 Sample Size

According to (Krejci &Morgan 2017) table for determining sample size. The sample size for the

population of seventy-five (75) that the researcher used was sixty-eight (68) both employees and

managers of the HR department.

3.6 Data Sources

Primary data: The primary data collected for this research was collected from the employees

and managers of the Human Resource Department. Primary data initially are information that

haven’t been touched, manipulated or tamped with. So, the information given by the employee

and managers were based on their own experiences and thoughts.

Secondary data: The secondary data collected for this research was taken from the records

rooms of the human resource department, also secondary data was collected from files,

company’s website and also from the company’s registration data.

3.7 Data Collection Method

Data was collected in the Human Research department, the researcher used the primary data,

secondary data source collection methods and also questionnaires.

Questionnaire: For this study the researcher had two types of questionnaires prepared one for

the employees and one for the employers, the researcher sets some questions in both open and

close ended question. The researcher used both close and open in other to get the full

participation of the one answering the questionnaires. Most researcher set only close ended

questionnaires and with this type of method the employees and managers feel reluctant to fill

them out also when researchers set open ended questionnaires, the researchers do not get enough

information from the participant since, open ended questionnaires are based on simple questions

and simple answers. So, with this study the researcher used both open ended and close ended

questionnaires in other to get more information from the employees and managers willingly. The

questionnaires were distributed to sixty-eight (68) both employee and managers of the Human

Resource Department.

The researcher asked questions relating to the management and its ability to perform their

managerial roles in the organization.

The questionnaires set by the researcher has two (2) sections. The first part was about the

personal information about the recipient of questionnaires, this section talked mainly about the

gender, age, and marital status, educational level about the recipient of the questionnaires (the

employees and managers of the HR department). The second section also talked about the

objectives of the study. This section talked about challenges employee and managers are facing

in the organization, also solutions to solve bad employee relations and its effect on performance.
This section also talked about the ways management can improve the employee relationships at

work.

With this research the researcher distributed two questionnaires, one for the employees and one

for the employers. With the questionnaires distributed to the employers, the researcher asked

seventeen (17) questions and the questionnaires distributed to the employees had fifteen (15)

questions precisely.

3.8 Data Analysis

For this study, the researcher analyzed data needed for this study by collecting answers from the

questionnaires and putting them in charts representing the answers given. The data analysis tool

used for this research was Microsoft Excel

3.9 Chapter Summary

This chapter talked mainly about the procedures the researcher used to collect data and also

analysis on how data will be presented. This chapter also talked about questionnaires and how

many questions are on each questionnaire. This chapter talked about the research designs,

sampling techniques, data sources used and also the data collection methods used.
CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction

This chapter takes into consideration views collected on the results obtained after the analyzed

data collected. The views were collected with the aid of questionnaires.

4.2 Background of Respondents

Information was gathered from 68 respondents in Keen developers ltd. The researcher retrieved

all the questionnaires that was sent out.

4.2.1 Gender Distribution

Respondents were made up of both males and females. In all 25 males and 5 females were

respondents to the questionnaire as depicted in the table 4.2.1.

Table 4.2.1 Sex of respondents

Sex Frequency Percentage

Males 47 69.2

Females 21 30.8

Total 68 100

Source: Field survey 2022

From table 4.2.1 above, the number of respondents (69.2%) were made up of males and (30.8)

were females. This goes to say that there are more males than females at Keen developers ltd.
4.2.2 Age Distribution

Various people with distinct ages were selected as respondents. This was grouped into age limits

and is illustrated in the table below.

Table 4.2.2 Age group of respondents

Age Group Frequency Percentage

20-30 24 35.3

31-40 24 35.3

41-50 14 20.5

51-60 6 8.8

Total 68 100

Source: Field survey

As can be seen in table 4.2.2 above, the age distribution shows that Keen developers ltd has a

youthful population. (24) of the respondents fell within the age limit of 20-30 which applies to

the age limit of 31-40 too which is (35.3%). (14) of the respondents also fell within the age limit

of 41-50 which is (20.5%). (6) also fell within the age limit of 51-60 (16.7%).

4.3 Level of Education

The literacy level of Keen developers ltd is relatively higher.

Figure 4.3 A Bar graph showing the educational level of the respondents.
Source: Field survey 2022

Looking at the Figure 4.3 Senior High school recorded 16 respondents; Tertiary education like

Diploma recorded (20) respondents with Bachelor’s Degree (22) whereas (10) respondents had

Post graduate certificates. From the table it shows majority of the respondents have Bachelor’s

degree which was represented by 32.4% according to the data received the next highest

education level was Diploma holders which was represented by 28.7%, next was those with

Senior High School which was represented 23.5%, lastly was the employees with the Post

Graduate Certificate was represented by 15.4%.

4.4 Work Experience

The table below shows the working years of respondents indicating their experience on the field

of work

Table 4.4 Work Experience of respondents.

 Work Experience Frequency Percentage%

Less than A Year 8 11.8

1-3 years 16 23.5

4-6 years 22 32.4

Above 6 years 21 30.8

Total 68 100

Source: Field survey 2022

Looking at Fig 4.4 results showed that workers with less than a year’s experience was

represented by 11.8%, also the results showed workers with one to three years working

experience was represented by 23.5%, the results also showed workers with four to six years

working experience was represented by 32.4%. Workers with more than six years working

experience was represented by 30.8%.

Response from Managers/Employers

4.5 Employers Work Relationship with their Employees

This explains the relationship employers have with their employees at Keen developers ltd.
 Fig

4.5

Emp

loye

r-

Emp

loye

Rela

tions

hip

From the fig 4.5 above Employers at Keen developers ltd have no bad relationships with their

employees, (6) and (7) employers indicated they have a good and excellent relationship with

their employees respectively whiles (7) employers ticked they have a fair relationship with their

employees.

4.6 Employers Bringing Creative and Unique Ideas Out of Employees Because of their

Relationship with Employees.

This show how employers and managers of Keen developers ltd are able to bring out the

creativity of their employees through their relationship with them.

 Fig

4.6

sho

wing

if

empl

oyer

s are

able

to

bring out creativity from their employees through their relationship with them.

Source: Field survey 2022

From Fig 4.6 above, (19) employers responded “yes” to their relationship with employees

bringing out the uniqueness and creativity in them. (1) Respondent ticked no.

According to fig 4.6 the result showed that majority of the employees agreed that their employers

are able to bring out their uniqueness and creativity.

Good relationship between employers and their employees prevents various workplace issues

causing anger, rage, and emotional instability etc. reducing performance, unwillingness to create

or share ideas and lowering productivity as a whole. A good connection between employers and

employees boost confidence and moral to work well even without supervision.

4.7Improvement in Performance through Employee Relations

This shows if Employers relationship with their employees improves performance.

 Fig

4.7

sho

wing

if

empl

oyee

relat

ions

can

impr

ove

perf

orm

ance.

Sour

ce:

Field survey 2022

From the figure 4.7 above, (20) Employers responded Yes to “if employee relations can improve

performance”. With this result all employees agreed good performance can be approved through

a good and healthy employee relation.

4.8 Anger at Employees for the Slightest Mistake

This shows if employers get angry over the slightest mistake their employees do on the job.
 Fig

4.8

sho

wing

if

empl

oyer

s get

angr

y at employees for the slightest mistakes.

Source: Field survey 2022

Fig 4.8 above shows employers don’t get angry at their employees when they commit a slight

error or mistake. This result showed that employers and employees have cordial and formal

respect for each other, employers are professional enough to handle mistakes of employees and

not flame out at every small mistake committed by the employees.

4.9 Bad Attitude of Employees towards Employers

Among the employers the highest number (19) indicated employees don’t have bad attitudes

towards them and (1) employer indicating employees do show bad attitude towards the

employers.
 Fig

4.9

sho

wing

if

empl

oyee

sho

w bad attitudes to employers.

Source: Field survey 2022

According to fig.4.9 results showed majority of the employees at Keen developers ltd do not

have a bad attitude towards their employers, simply because employee and employers have good

office relationship. When relationship between employees and employers are bad performance

and productivity is very low.

4.10 Challenges Employers Face under Poor Relationship with their Employees at the

Workplace.

Fig

4.10

sho

win

chal

leng

es

emp

loye

es face under poor relationship with employees.

Source: Field survey 2022

Fig4.10 Among the respondents (10) employers ticked the inability to concentrate of work as

their challenge while (5) employers ticked lack of respect towards them and (5) other employers

also ticked instructions not being taken by employees as the challenges they face due to poor

relationship with their employees.

4.11What Can Improve Employer Employee Relationship at the Workplace?

To improve employee employer relationship at work (9) managers or employers suggested

respect among one another at the workplace, (3) employers suggested motivation can improve
the said relationship at the workplace with (8) managers or employers suggesting coordinating

among both employers and employees.

Improving the relationship between employers and employees at the work place with

coordination, respect and motivation will create a great, calm and friendly atmosphere at the

workplace reducing or preventing all challenges caused by the employer employee relations

issue.

Response from Employees

4.12 Employee Relationship with Employers

Employees of Keen developers ltd indicates their relationship with their employers at the work

place.

Fig 4.12 showing employee relationship with their employers.

Sour

ce:

Fiel

surv

ey

2022

Fro

Fig 4.12 above, the employees of Keen developers ltd tend to have no bad relationships with

their employers but an excellent relationship. (24) Which is represented by a percentage of

35.3% Employees indicated they have excellent relationship with their employers, (15) which is

represented by a percentage of 22.4%said their relationship with their employers are good with

(8) which is represented by a percentage of 10.3% employees indicating a fair relationship.

4.13 Importance of Employee and Employer Relations

Respondents indicates if their relationship with employers is important or not.

Fig 4.13 showing if employee and employer relations is important

Source: Field survey 2022

From Fig 4.13 above all respondents indicated that employee and employer relationship is

important to them. Employees and employers know the importance of employee’s relations in an

organization, so they tend to take it seriously in order to improve the productivity and

performance of the organization. With this all employees ticked yes to the importance of

employee’s relations.
4.14Initiative by Employers to Improve Relations at Keen developers ltd

Employees indicated the initiative employers took to bring improvement into their relations at

the work place in the figure below

Fig 4.14 showing the initiative taken by employers to improve relations at Keen developers

ltd.

Source: Field survey 2022

From Fig 4.10 above (24) employees indicated Motivation was the best initiative taken to

improve relations at Keen developers, (16) employees also indicated it was the provision of

equipment and materials needed that improves relations at the workplace with (8) employees

indicating the provision of friendly environments by employers improves relations at Keen

developers ltd.
4.15Employee Relations Influencing Performance.

Respondents indicated with a yes or no answer if employee relations influences performance.

Fig 4.15 showing if employee relations influences performance.

Source: Field survey 2022

From Fig 4.15 above, all employees indicated Employee relations does have influence

performance at the workplace. This results also indicated that employee-employers relationship

has a positive influence on productivity as well as performance.

4.16Ways by which Employee Relations Influences Performance of Employees.

Employees chose the ways employee relations influences their performance, thus what good

thing that happens between the employers and themselves that makes them perform extremely

well.
Fig 4.16 showing ways by which employee relations influences performance of employee

Source: Field survey 2022

From Fig 4.12 above, (38) employees indicated having their Peace of Mind influences their

performance at work and (9) indicated that their opinions being taken into consideration

influences their performance at the workplace.

4.17Challenges Faced when Dealing with your Employer.

Employees indicates the challenges they face when they are dealing with their employers on

issues at Keen developers ltd.

 Fig

4.17

showi

ng

challe

nges

empl

oyees

face

when

dealing with their employers.

Source: Field survey 2022

From Fig 4.17 above, (30) employees indicated the challenge they face when dealing with their

employers was Lack of respect and consideration, (8) employees indicated employees hardly

listens to their opinions and (9) other employees indicated the challenge they face was lack of

motivation from employers.

4.18Ability to Inform Employers about Mishaps and Wrong Doings at Work.

Employees respond on being able to inform their employers about mishaps and wrong doings at

work than hiding it.

Fig 4.18 showing the ability of employees to inform employers about mishaps and

wrongdoings at work.

Source: Field survey 2022

Fig 4.18 above shows (37) employees do inform their employers at work about wrong doings

and mishaps while (10) employees indicated that sometimes they inform their employers about

wrong doings and mishaps. This gives Keen developers ltd a higher chance of resolving issues

when there is a mistake at work to prevent causing further damage.

4.19What can Improve Employer-Employee Relations at Work.

Employees gives their thoughts on what they think can improve employer-employee relations at

Keen developers ltd to promote a good working environment and performance.

Fig 4.19 showing ways to improve employee-employer relations at work.

Source: Field survey 2022

From Fig4.15 above, majority of the employees (35) chose good communications system as a

way of improving employer-employee relations with (12) employees choosing respect to be the

way of improving employer-employee relations.

4.20 Bad Attitudes of Employers Towards Employees.

Employees responds on if employers display bad or poor attitude towards them at work.
Fig 4.20 showing if employers have bad attitudes towards their employees at Keen

developers ltd.

Source: Field survey 2022

From Fig 4.20 above, majority of the employees (45) indicated employers have or show no bad

attitude toward them and (2) employees indicated that sometimes employers do show some bad

attitude towards them at work.

4.21Roles Employees Can Play to Enhance Their Relationship with their Employers.

Employees of Keen developers ltd indicates the roles they can play to enhance their relationship

with their employers.

Fig 4.21 showing roles employees can play to enhance their relationship with their

employers.

Source: Field survey 2022

From Fig 4.17 above, majority of the employees (30) indicated Being productive as a role of

enhancing their relationship with their employees. (9) employees also indicated punctuality as a

role of the enhancement while (8) employees went with Respect among employers and

employees can enhance the relationship between them.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction
Under this chapter the researcher summarizes the study findings, makes conclusions and

recommendations in the accordance with the objectives of the study.

5.1 Summary of the Findings.

5.1.1 Findings on the challenges face by employees at the workplace.

From the analysis it was found that employees of Keen developer’s ltd face a number of

challenges at their workplace. These include the lack of respect and consideration from their

employers, Lack of Motivation and also their opinions not taken into consideration for decision

making process. These challenges tend to affect the performance of the employees and Keen

developers ltd.

5.1.2 Findings on the various employee relations and its effects on performance of an

organization.

From the analysis it was found that good communication system, Respect, Friendly environment

and Motivation are various employee relations that has positive effects on the performance of the

organization. These various employee relations when provided by employers really boost the

morale of employees to work and produce more which also affects the productivity and

performance of the organization as well.

5.1.3 Findings on ways of enhancing healthy relationships between employers and

employees in the organization.

From the analysis made, ways of improving employer-employee relationships were Respect

among employers and employees, Coordination among both employers and employees,

Motivation for employees, Punctuality at the side of employees and employees being productive

at work.
5.2 Conclusion

The results from the analysis and findings shows that Employers at Keen developers ltd adopting

the practices of Motivation, provision of a friendly environment, considering the opinions of

employees in decision making will affect the way their employees work increasing their

productivity level, respect among one another and always punctual at work. This will extremely

improve their performance both employees and the organization.

5.3 Recommendations

From the findings the study recommends that organizations adopt these practices. When an

individual feels Motivated in the company of others whom they can trust and fall back on

whenever the need arises, it makes them feel secure and confident and thus deliver his best. The

organization becomes a happy place to work when a friendly environment is provided by the

employers, everyone works together as a family. An individual tends to lose focus if and

concentration if his or her mind id always clouded with unnecessary tensions and stress. It has

also been observed that if people talk and discuss things with each other, tensions automatically

evaporate and one feels better. Also, employee opinions being taken into consideration during

decision making makes them feel part of the organization and they will always work harder and

create new ideas and innovations to help the company perform very well in the industry.

A healthy relation with workers would ease the work load and in turn increase productivity.

them feel part of the organization and they will always work harder and create new ideas and

innovations to help the company perform very well in the industry.

A healthy relation with workers would ease the work load and in turn increase productivity.