As a business owner, you will be very aware that the extent of your income essentially relies on the level of your productivity. Whether you’re a one-man band, an SMME or a large business with employees that have a union to represent them, the equation always remains the same – Income = Productivity.
We are standing right now on the threshold of a new year, a good time to re-assess your operations and look at ways that your annual income could be improved. Because Income = Productivity, it stands to reason that as you set your business goals this year your first consideration should be to ensure that the source of your productivity, your workforce, is happy, so set a goal to build good workplace relationships in 2024.
Building good relationships with employees and Unions
Peace in the workplace, and subsequently the level of your business’s productivity, involves doing certain things to improve relationships with both your employees and, if applicable, their unions. Either way, whether it is directly with employees, or with Unions, there are a few basic principles for building better workplace relationships. These are…
Communication is king
Have an open door policy to ensure that employees or their representatives always have a voice when they are not happy. Listen intently, respectfully and empathise with your people – and most importantly always be totally honest with them regarding work-related matters.
Be open and involved
Check in from time to time on your employee representatives or Union representatives. Don’t always wait for them to come to you. Ensuring that everyone is happy all the time can often diffuse potentially difficult future situations. If you are asked for documentation provide it promptly and remain engaged and involved – or if you don’t have the time hire professional labour relationship experts to do so.
Create a team mentality
Don’t ever let employees or labour Unions feel that it is an ‘’Us Vs. them’’ situation. At the outset build a business that operates with Owners, Managers, Employees and Unions all feeling like you are a team working towards a common goal. Prosperity for the business should feel like prosperity for all and the outcome of negotiations should always feel like a win-win situation where all have gained.
Consult the professionals
We have covered just the tip of the iceberg here and of course, workplace relationships, even if you are pretty good at them, are sometimes very complicated, involving a lot of legal knowledge. They can also take up a huge amount of time, that you, as the head of your operations simply can’t afford. It makes sense, therefore, to put such matters into the hands of professional Labour and Industrial relations experts like Platinum Business Solutions (PBS).
We offer expert ways to manage employee relations and secure excellent human resources. We have sound knowledge and an understanding of all the labour laws and how they impact labour relations and devise strategic and practical ways to deal with conflict management in the workplace.
Set a goal to build good workplace relationships in 2024 and talk to us today to ensure that you implement this expertly and seamlessly. We wish you and your workplace team a prosperous and productive new year!