NitikaThakral_HRLP021_TransformationalIndustrialRelations

Tragedy case of Manesar  Maruti plant helps us to introspect the importance of task focus versus employee focus, satisfied employees and satisfied customers in terms of cause-effect relationship and the role of effective HR in a organization which is way beyond being just another formality of arranging meetings and planning recruitments.

The gruesome act was a sum total of unrest at various levels in the organization.

Japanese Management

• ·         Emotional quotient was very low
• ·         Action on feedback was not taken
• ·         More focus on system and processes
• ·         Micro management

Indian Management

• ·         Missing action and empowerment
• ·         Lesser degree of influence
• ·         Inability to understand workforce
• ·         Tightened Communication channel

Supervisors

• ·         Decreased understanding of supervisors and associated
• ·         Sandwiched between management and associates
• ·         Witnessed disrespect from associates

Associates

• ·         Felt cheated by the management
• ·         Union was the only solution according to them
• ·         Dissatisfied with systems and policies
• ·         Work pressure was quite high

Considering the above factors at different levels in the organization I can conclude the relationship between productivity and employee satisfaction in the following way:

Productivity and profitability is the overall objective of any organization. Among the various variables determining productivity is employee satisfaction.

Employee satisfaction has various independent variables:

Motivation: Management has to keep the employee force motivated to get the best results. It needs to identify the factors which keep its employees motivated and it also gives a clear picture of the areas which need to be worked upon. Like Maruti ignored the security, hygiene needs( far off toilets, water coolers), leverage on the sense of pride the associates already had and created trust deficit.

Work Culture:  Organization should build a culture of trust and transparency.  Employee should feel happy to go to work place, good interpersonal relationship between superiors and subordinates. Management should be participative in nature and should provide work life balance.  Maruti  put excessive pressure  on workers with extended shifts. Supervisor and management showed unfavorable behavior towards associates.

Fair System and Policies: Policies and systems should be modified with respect to workforce dynamics, geographic, economical and social factors. Policies should be kept simple and easy to understand. Proper communication/educating workers on systems and policies should be done in order to avoid misinterpretations which in turn lead to mistrust. Policies should be fair in terms of work and compensation and should be equitable internally and externally. Manesar had the best systems and policies of Japanese but failed to tailor it to local associates, lack of communication on policies and system, no evaluation was done for the improvement steps implemented post strike, no laid down system for grievance addressal was there and feedback was not taken seriously. Gurgaon and Manesar had different management style and salary structures.

Conclusion:  As it is rightly said ‘Prevention is better than cure’, every organization should measure its pulse form time to time. Should set up proper evaluation methodology for every system and process and should give utmost importance to the ‘Human Resource’ that is the lifeline of any system or process. Every organization should build a culture that suits the collective goals of management and employees.  The end result should be of management and employees being on same page either through participative management or positive collective bargaining through unions.