Human Resource Management

By Ms. DD Lokuge
Department of Management and Finance
Intake 35
General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University
Ratmalana

1
 Tripartite Agreement
• Tripartite agreement is literally
“any agreement taking place between three
parties concerning one matter.” For
companies either in the process of expanding
internationally or for those that have already
done so, this usually involves their own
workforce.
Tripartite Agreement in SL Context
• In a demonstration of social dialogue, Sri Lanka’s tripartite
Covid-19 taskforce has reached an agreement to ensure
payment of wages and employment to workers.

• The government of Sri Lanka established a Covid-19

tripartite taskforce aiming to safeguard the interests of
workers and employers through social dialogue. The
taskforce reached an agreement applicable to all sectors on
5 May, ensuring payment of wages and employment within
the existing legal framework. The agreement was endorsed
by the Sri Lankan ministerial cabinet on 14 May 2020.
 Benefits of Tripartite Agreement
• Members of the taskforce agreed that workers will
continue to be employed and will not be retrenched from
work due to Covid-19 lockdown measures. All employees
will be deployed at work and allotted equal number of
shifts through rotation. This will protect workers’ interests
while respecting health and safety measures like social
distancing.

• If employees are not deployed at work during May and

June, they will be paid 50 percent of their basic wages or
LKR 14500 (US$77), whichever is more beneficial. In
addition, employees provident fund (EPF) and employees’
trust fund (ETF) contributions on the wages will also be
paid to workers.
Benefits of Tripartite Agreement ctd…
• Anton Marcus of IndustriALL affiliate Free Trade
Zone & General Services Employees Union, and
one of the members of the taskforce says:
• “Given the difficult circumstances we are facing
with Covid-19, this tripartite agreement is an
instrument to safeguard workers’ interests. Now
we are working to create more awareness among
workers about this agreement to ensure that
large number of companies implement it.”
Benefits of Tripartite Agreement ctd…
• Apoorva Kaiwar, IndustriALL South Asia
regional secretary, says:
• “The tripartite agreement is an important step
forward to provide relief to Sri Lankan
workers. IndustriALL Global Union stands in
solidarity with Sri Lankan affiliates in their
efforts to defend workers’ rights during this
challenging period.”
Benefits of Tripartite Agreement Ctd…
• The tripartite taskforce include
representatives from Employers’ Federation of
Ceylon (EFC), the trade unions, including many
IndustriALL Sri Lankan affiliates and the
Ministry of Skills Development, Employment
and Labour Relations.
 Example for Tripartite Agreement
• The Ministry of Megapolis and Western
Development, the Urban Development
Authority and the project company signed the
agreement 12.08.2020.The Financial City will
be governed under a new act titled the
Colombo International Financial Centre Law,
while the act envisages the creation of an
International Financial Zone. The zone hopes
to attract the international financial services
industry.
 Industrial Relations
• Industrial relations is that part of human
resource management which studies the
formal relationship of the workers with the
administration and the employers and
ensuring a proper mechanism to manage the
industrial disputes and conflicts.
 Objectives of IR
• To enhance economic status of workers
• To avoid industrial conflicts and their consequences
• To extend and maintain industrial democracy
• To provide an opportunity to workers to have a say in
the management decision making
• To regulate production by minimizing conflicts
• To provide forum to the workers
• To solve their problems through mutual negotiations
and consultation with management
• To encourage and develop trade union in order to
develop workers collective strength (solidarity)
Approaches to Industrial Relations
 Why there are so many approaches
• The problems posed in the field of industrial
relations cannot be solved within the limits of
a single discipline, and hence it is bound to be
inter-disciplinary in approach.
• Any problem in industrial relations has to be
approached on a multi-disciplinary basis,
drawing from the contributions of a number
of disciplines.
 Systems Approach

• John Dunlop gave the systems theory of industrial relations in the

year 1958. He believed that every human being belongs to a
continuous but independent social system culture which is
responsible for framing his or her actions, behaviour and role.
• The industrial relations system was based on three sets of different
variables:
• Actors: By actors here mean that the individuals or parties involved
in the process of developing sound industrial relations.

• Contexts: The contexts refer to the setup in which the actors

perform the given tasks. It includes the industry markets,
technologies and the power distribution in the organization and
labour unions.

• Ideology: The similar ideas, mentality or beliefs shared by the

actors helps to blend the system. It can be expressed by the initial
meetings.
 Systems Approach ctd…

Environmental Forces Participants Outputs

(i) Market or Budgetary
Union
Restraints
Management Rules of the
(ii)Technology
Workplace
(iii)Distribution of Power
Government
in Society
 Unitary Approach
• As the name suggests, the unitary approach can be seen as a
method of bringing together the teamwork, common objective,
individual strategy and mutual efforts of the individuals.
• This theory believes that the conflicts are non-permanent
malformations, which are a result of improper management in the
organization.
• Moreover, if everyone works towards the achievement of the
common goals by maintaining peace and cooperation in the
workplace, it will tend to benefit everyone associated with the
organization. It also considered the organizational conflicts resulting
in strikes to be useless and destructive.
• The other aims of the unitary approach are as follows:
• To create a productive, effective and harmonious work
environment;
• to develops a trustworthy, open, fair and transparent work culture;
• to create a cordial work environment;
• to restrict the role of the tribunals and other government
associations like the trade unions and initiates direct negotiation
between the management and the employees.
 Pluralist Approach

• The pluralist theory also called the ‘Oxford Approach’,

was proposed by Flanders in the year 1970. This
approach explained that the management and
the trade unions are the different and robust sub-
groups which unanimously form an organization.

• Collective bargaining was considered to be a useful

technique for resolving organizational conflicts. Due to
this, the management’s role has transformed from
imposition and control; to influencing and coordinating
with the workers.
 Pluralist Approach ctd…
• Following are some of the highlights of this approach:

• The organization should appoint personnel experts and industrial

relations specialists to act as mediators between the management
and trade unions. They need to look into the matters of staffing,
provide consultation to the managers and the unions, and negotiate
with both the parties in case of conflicts.

• The organization should ensure that the trade unions get

recognized and the union leaders or representatives can perform
their duties freely.
• In the case of industrial disputes, the organization can avail the
services of the external agent for settlement of such issues.
• The managers should resolve to a collective bargaining
agreement when there is a need for negotiation and settlement
with the trade unions.
 Marxist Approach
• Lenin came up with the concept of a Marxist approach in the year
1978, where he emphasized the social perspective of the
organization.
• This theory perceived that the industrial relations depend upon the
relationship between the workers (i.e., employees or labour) and
the owners (i.e., employer or capital). There exists a class conflict
between both the groups to exercise a higher control or influence
over each other.
• The assumptions of this approach are as follows:
• Industrial relations are a significant and never-ending source of
conflicts under capitalism which cannot be avoided. However, cases
of open disputes are quite unusual.
• Understanding the conceptions of capitalized society, capital
accumulation process and the pertaining social relations, give a
better overview of the industrial relations.
• The Marxist theory assumed that the survival of the employees
without any work is more crucial than the survival of the employer
without the labours.
 Sociological Approach

• The industries comprise of different human beings who

need to communicate with the individuals of other
organizations.

• Due to the difference in their attitude, skills,

perception, personality, interests, likes and dislikes,
needs, they are usually involved in one or the other
conflict. Even the social mobility and other aspects
including transfer, default, group dynamics, stress,
norms, regulations and status of the workers influence
their output and the industrial relations.
 Sociological Approach
• This theory also emphasizes on the impact of
various changes in the work
environment (i.e., economic, technical and
political) on the interactions and relationship
shared by the employer, employees,
institutions and the government bodies.
 Sociological Approach Ctd…
• This approach includes various sociological
factors like value system, customs, norms,
symbols, attitude and perception of both
labour and management.
• As industrialisation gets momentum, a set of
new industrial-cum-social patterns emerges.
These influences shape the industrial relations.
• Now a days industrial relations are determined
by power.
 Gandhian Approach
• The Gandhian approach to industrial relations was proposed by the
father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi,who was also a well-known
labour leader.
• Following are the various features of the trusteeship or Gandhian
theory:

Gandhi Ji was not against strikes; instead, he gave the

following conditions to carry out a favourable strike:
– The workers or labours can go on a strike only if there is a specific
grievance.
– There should be complete non-violence while carrying out strikes.
– The ones who are not involved in the strikes should not be tormented.

He was not against carrying out strikes, he believed that it should be

the last option to which the labour should resort to, after the failure of
all the constitutional and peaceful ways of resolving conflicts and
negotiating with the employer.
 Gandhian Approach
• The Gandhian approach illustrated that nature had provided us with
human capabilities and different kinds of property. Thus,
such nature’s gift belongs to the whole society and cannot be
considered as of personal possession by anyone.

• The objective of this theory is to adopt non-violent ways to bring in

economic parity and material enhancement in a capitalist society.

• Gandhi perceived that every organization is a joint venture, and the

labour should be treated as associates or co-partners with the
shareholders. Moreover, the workers should have proper
knowledge of all the business transactions as it is their right.
• He focussed on increasing the production and believed that
the gains should be shared with the employees because of whom
it has been possible.

• He also emphasized that the industrial disputes and conflicts

between the parties should be resolved healthily through
interactions, arbitration and bilateral negotiations.
 Psychological Approach

• The psychologists perceived the problem of the

industrial relations as a result of the varying perception
and mindset of the key participants, i.e., the employees
and the management.
• According to psychologists, issues of industrial relations
have their origin in the differences in the perceptions
of management, unions and rank and file workers. The
perpetual differences arise due to differences in
personalities, attitudes, etc. Similarly, factors like
motivation, leadership, group goals versus individual
goals etc., are responsible for industrial conflicts.
 Human Relations Approach
• Among all the areas of management, perhaps one of the
most delicate and tricky ones is concerned with human
resources management. Their handling is radically different
from that of physical, material and financial resources
because these are not inanimate or passive, but are
composed of pulsating human beings having their own
emotions, perception, attitude, personality etc.
• These characteristics make them complex individuals and
when they interact with others, either individually or in
groups, their complexity further multiplies. So when such
resources are not properly managed, the problem of
industrial relations surfaces which can be only managed by
deciphering and managing the dynamics of human
behaviour both at the individual and group level.
 Human Relations Approach ctd…
• As the management of people at work is an exclusive
prerogative of Human Resources specialists, the
various Human Resources Management policies
including those relating to leadership and motivation
have profound influence on their work behaviour.
Certainly, every style of leadership elicits a peculiar
response from the people.

• For instance, a manager, using an autocratic style,

designs, a close supervision system and feels that
display of authority would drives people to work.
 Human Relations Approach ctd…
• But this style leads to dissatisfaction and
hatred among people, whereas, in a
democratic style, it is held that a desired
organisational behaviour can be cultivated if
employees’ needs and wants are properly
satisfied. The manager working with such a
style positively motivates people. In fact, no
style is good or bad is every situation
demands a specific leadership behaviour on
the part of HR specialist.