HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT - V II SEMESTER

1. Physiological: An individual's basic physiological needs are water, shelter, clothing and food.
In a work setting, an employee's salary may fulfil their physiological needs.

2. Safety: This level refers to a feeling of protection that individuals experience. This need may
align with an employee's expectation of job security.

3. Socialization: To meet socialization needs, employees may develop friendships at work to

create a sense of belonging for themselves. Management can fulfil this need by creating
opportunities for employees to bond, by hosting company lunches and team-building activities.

4. Esteem: Employees often reach this level by receiving recognition, which can help them feel
confident in their work and increase their self-esteem. Recognizing a professional's achievements
and providing positive feedback are two methods that can help build their self-esteem.

5. Self-actualization: To reach this level, employees may try to achieve complex, long-term
professional or personal goals. Self-actualized employees can motivate themselves to complete
workplace goals effectively.

HERZBERG'S TWO-FACTOR THEORY

Herzberg's two-factor theory is a content-based theory. It describes two sets of factors that
may lead to either satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Herzberg defines the factors that lead to
satisfaction or dissatisfaction as hygiene and motivating factors:

1. Hygiene factors: These are factors affecting satisfaction, relating to working conditions,
professional relationships, office policies, rules of conduct and attitudes of supervisors. Improving
a few or all hygiene factors can help decrease dissatisfaction and improve motivation among
employees.

2. Motivating factors: Factors like professional achievements, recognition, responsibility and

career and personal growth are motivating factors for professionals. Addressing these factors
increases job satisfaction.

Management can implement Herzberg's two-factor theory by reforming company policies,

offering competitive wages and providing effective supervision, job security and more autonomy.

30
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT - V II SEMESTER

Administrative professionals can take a proactive role in employee welfare initiatives. A company
can reduce dissatisfaction by offering professionals ways to find a sense of purpose, both
professionally and personally.

MCCLELLAND'S THEORY OF NEEDS

This is a content-based theory and it affirms that humans have three motivational drivers,
regardless of age or gender. One of the three drivers may be dominant in every human being,
depending on their life experiences. The three drivers are:

1. Achievement: People who thrive on achievement may have a powerful urge to set and achieve
goals and take calculated risks during the process. They may expect feedback, acknowledgement
and appreciation for their work and may prefer to work alone.

2. Affiliation: People who thrive on affiliation favour collaboration and may prefer to work in a
group. They would want team members and colleagues to like them and may side with the majority
to do what a larger portion of the group insists on.

3. Power: People who thrive on power may show tendencies to control and influence others and
win arguments. They may be highly competitive and may enjoy status and recognition.

This theory helps team managers and hiring managers identify the right candidates for a
job role. Employees who enjoy power may become good leaders, mentors and supervisors.

INCENTIVE THEORY

The incentive theory suggests that management can invoke motivation by reinforcement,
recognition, through incentives and rewards. The incentive theory also proposes that people
display certain behaviours to achieve a specific result, incite a particular action or receive a reward.
Here are a few examples of incentives in the workplace:

1. Bonus: A bonus is a monetary reward that a company may give an employee based on their
performance.

31
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT - V II SEMESTER

2. Praise: Praise can be useful for one-on-one situations, such as quarterly employee reviews.
Praising and appreciating an employee by giving positive feedback about their performance helps
build trust and significantly reduce attrition.

3. Training and education: Providing opportunities such as paid training or continuing education
may give a team an incentive to increase their knowledge in a specific field or develop a skill set.

4. Promotion: Providing an opportunity for career advancement is often one of the most influential
incentives a manager can offer because it can give an employee a feeling of importance and growth.
A promotion may include an advanced role, a new job title and a salary increase.

5. Salary or wage hike: Management teams find that offering a pay raise or a salary increase can
be effective motivators. For optimal results, managers use salary or wage incentives for individual
employees, rather than for all employees and departments within a business.

6. Paid vacation or time off: Consider offering employees compensation for taking days off or
give them additional vacation days every quarter or year. Employees may value this incentive if
they plan for a family vacation or desire some extra time to rest at home.

Managers can use incentive theories to help employees to work on tough or challenging
tasks that many professionals avoid. Some popular incentives are cash, products, experiences, gift
cards and tickets to popular sporting and entertainment events. It is important that a manager uses
these incentives as rewards only for achieving goals and not without reason.

MEANING AND DEFINITION OF GRIEVANCE

Grievance can be referred to as a feeling of discontentment and dissatisfaction that an

employee has regarding his employment. When an employee has a complaint and is neglected,
then a feeling of injustice and discrimination arises in an employee. When this feeling grows up it
takes the form of a grievance. Thus, it is essential to deal with dissatisfaction. For doing this,
organization should take into consideration grievance management. Grievance management is the
procedure through which the manager deals with the grievances of his employees during his
service. Grievance management makes it possible to identify prospective problems of the
employees. Without grievance management, it is impossible for the management to deal with

32
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT - V II SEMESTER

employee problems and respond to them. Thus, grievance management plays an important role in
making organizational working relationships effective.

According to Dale Yoder, "Grievance is a written complaint filed by an employee and

claiming unfair treatment".

According to Keith Davis, "Grievance is any real or imagined feeling of personal injustice
which an employee has, concerning his employment relationship".

According to International Labour Organization, "Grievance is a complaint of one or more

workers in respect of wages, allowances, conditions of work and interpretation of service
stipulations, covering such areas as overtime leave, transfer, promotion, seniority, job
assignment and termination of service".

FORMS OF GRIEVANCES

Forms of grievances are as follows:

1) Factual: The relationship of employer and employee is based on the organization’s employment
contract. It is the employment contract which specifies the norms that define the limits of
employee's expectation from the organization to meet his requirements and expectations. When
these expectations are not met by the organization, the employee gets disappointed with his job.
This type of disappointment is known as factual grievance. These grievances are due to faulty
implementation of organizational policies. For example, salary hike is promised to employee after
one year but not given.

2) Imaginary: Imaginary grievance arises when an employee is dissatisfied due to his wrong
perception, negative attitude and incorrect information. This wrong perception can have long-term
impact on the organization. It may develop a negative image of the organization in front of his
employees which may decrease their work efficiency. Therefore, this type of grievance should be
dealt immediately.

3) Disguised: When an employee is not aware about the reasons for his dissatisfaction, then he has
a disguised grievance. Generally, employee's psychological needs like need for appreciation,
friendliness, authority, success, etc., are not met. For example, an employee who is dissatisfied
with the work conditions of the company may desire some appreciation and praise from his co-

33
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT - V II SEMESTER

workers. Hence, disguised grievance must also be given due consideration because if they are
neglected, they can have harmful consequences.

CAUSES/SOURCES OF GRIEVANCES

Main causes of grievances are as follows:

1) Management Practices: Grievances can arise from the following management practices:

i) Management Style: The autocratic style of management at one end and participative style on
the other may cause grievance among the workforce in an organization. For example, the
workforce composed of extremely qualified people may not appreciate an autocratic style as in the
present scenario, participative style is more appreciated. Thus, the style and practices would need
to be adapted according to the current situation.

ii) Social Distance: The relationship between the workers and manager is characterized by social
distance. This is because there may be differences in class and cultural orientations between
management and workers. Managers view the workers as someone who is on a much lower social
scale. In such circumstances, grievance system would not work in an effective way as the workers
are hesitant with their grievances.

iii) Implementation of Personnel Policies: If the personnel policies do not serve the purpose for
which they are formed, it may be a reason for grievance. There may be several contradictions in
personnel policies which may lead to grievances, e.g., matters related to employee remuneration,
seniority, overtime, assignment of personnel to shifts, etc.

iv) Communication Gap: Lack of communication between the employees and management can
also cause grievance. Matters that concern the employees or group of employees should be
informed to them. For example, information about proposed actions of the management which it
intends to take in future, location of new-plant, lay-offs and mergers, the key decisions about the
introduction of new schemes or new ways of working. If the emplovees are aware about the
proposed actions then they will understand the consequences of the management actions which in
turn will lead to less number of grievances.

V) Supervisory Practices: Faulty supervisory style, such as lack of consistent application of

personnel policies, biasness in applying rules and decisions, etc., carl create pressure on employees

34
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT - V II SEMESTER

and could lead to grievances. For example, setting-up of challenging individual or group task
without consulting the staff members can build pressure and cause grievance.

2) Grievances Resulting from Personal Maladjustment: Various personal maladjustment

factors can lead to grievances which are as follows:

i) Negative Attitude of Employee: It has been observed that employees having a negative attitude
complain frequently and are careless, casual and inconsiderate of others. They provoke others to
join them and give rise to unnecessary grievances.

ii) Health Problems: Employees suffering from health issues like depression, mental tension may
find an outlet by arising their grievances. When a person is already tensed due to ill health, minor
concerns take the form of grievances.

iii) Impractical Expectations: In any organization, employees having high esteem often develop
over-confidence and are over-ambitious. These traits are main causes of grievances.

3) Working Conditions: Employees may be distressed due to following reasons:

i) Rigid production standards,

ii) Mismatch of the skills of the worker and the requirement of the job,

iii) Lack of adequate tools, machines and equipment to successfully complete a given task,

iv) Changes in work-hours or techniques,

V) Poor rapport with the supervisors,

vi) Bad conditions of workplace like, unavailability of drinking water, damaged workstations,
inadequate sanitation facilities, etc., and

vii) Poor disciplinary system (too much or too less discipline, both are equally harmful).

IMPLICATIONS/EFFECTS OF GRIEVANCES

Various effects of grievances are as follows:

1) Production: The adverse effects on production are:

i) Decline in quality of production,

35
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT - V II SEMESTER

ii) Decrease in quality of employees' productivity,

iii) Increase in the wastage of material, spoilage/leakage of machinery, and

iv) Increasing production cost.

2) Employees: Grievances of employees, if unnoticed can:

i) Increase absenteeism and turnover rate,

ii) Lower the commitment level, honesty and discipline,

iii) Increase the chances of accidents, and

iv) Low employee morale.

3) Managers: Managerial grievances can result in the following:

i) Negatively affects the superior-subordinate relations,

ii) Increase in indiscipline cases,

iii) Creates an atmosphere of disturbance or turmoil, and

iv) Increases the degree of supervision, control and follow-up.

GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL PROCEDURE

Grievance handling procedure or grievance redressal procedure is the formal system for
dealing with employee grievances. It involves several steps through which an affected employee
can take his grievance to successively higher levels of management for redressal. It is a valuable
tool in the hands of the management to keep a check or relevant analytical information about the
condition of the organization’s health. A grievance handing procedure is essential in a large
organization because the number of employees and the hierarchical levels are more. As a result,
the manager is unable to keep an eye on each individual or be involved in every working areas of
the organization. In a small organization, communication, knowledge and contact is possible to a
larger extent, therefore, the need of a formal grievance procedure is reduced.

36
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT - V II SEMESTER

STEPS IN GRIEVANCE HANDLING PROCEDURE

Steps involved in grievance handling procedure are as follows:

Identification of Grievances

Define Correctly

Data Collection

Analyze and Solve

Prompt Redressal

Implementation and Follow-Up

Step 1) Identification of Grievances: Those grievances of employees which are not being
disclosed must be recognized by the management.

Step 2) Define Correctly: After identifying the grievances, management should correctly define
them.

Step 3) Data Collection: Every data related to grievance must be gathered from all sources and
after that it should be classified as facts, data, opinions, etc.

Step 4) Analyze and Solve: After data collection, analysis of information must be done in order
to develop alternative solutions and select the best solution.

Step 5) Prompt Redressal: After the analysis of grievances, it must be redressed immediately by
implementing the solution in a speedy manner.

Step 6) Implementation and Follow-Up: There should be follow-up after the implementation of
the solution to check the effectiveness of the solutions.

37
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT - V II SEMESTER

MODEL OF GRIEVANCE HANDLING PROCEDURE

National Commission on Labour has suggested a model grievance redressal procedure

which includes following steps:

Procedure Time frame

Appeal against within a week

Manager 3 Days

Grievance Committee 7 Days unanimous

HOD 3 Days

48 Hours
Supervisor

Foreman

Worker

1) First of all, the distressed worker approaches the foreman and communicates his grievance
verbally.

2) The worker will approach the supervisor, if he is not satisfied by the redressal of his grievance
by the foreman.

3) Within 48 hours, the supervisor must provide a reply. The worker will proceed towards the next
step if the supervisor is unable to provide a satisfactory reply in the given timeframe or if the reply
is not accepted by the worker.

4) In the next step, worker contacts the Head of Department either alone or along with the
representative of his department. He has to respond within three days.

5) If the worker does not get the answer or is not satisfied with the response of the departmental
head, he can appeal to the Grievance Committee. The representatives of the employer and the
employees constitute the Grievance Committee.

38
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT UNIT - V II SEMESTER

6) The committee makes its recommendations and forward it to the manager within seven days
after intimation of grievances.

7) The management shall implement the agreed decisions, if any, decided by the committee.

8) When there is any unanimous decision, the members of the committee place their views before
the manager of the worker for his decision. The worker is informed out the decision within three
days by the manager.

9) When the worker is not satisfied, he can make an appeal against the manager's decision which
has to be again decided within a week.

The worker may be accompanied by the union official for discussion with the manager. If
no decision is taken, then within a week of the receipt of the management's decision, both the union
and management can take the grievance to voluntary arbitration.

GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL METHODS

Methods used to resolve the grievances are as follows:

1) Collective Bargaining: In this method of grievance resolution, issues of various employees are
resolved together.

2) Mediation: It is a voluntary method of grievance handling which comes into play when the
grievance stays as it is even after the formal procedure is undertaken to resolve it. But it is used
before opting for an unbiased third-party redressal, i.e., arbitration.

3) Conciliation: According to The International Labour Organization, “conciliation is the practice

by which the services of a neutral third party are used in a dispute as a means of helping the
disputing parties to reduce the extent of their differences and to arrive at an amicable settlement or
agreed solution. It is a process of rational and orderly discussion of differences between the parties
to a dispute under the guidance of a conciliator". In other words, it is a process in which a third
party, after analyzing the conflict, proposes a solution to the conflict with an intent that both the
parties involved in conflict give their consent to it. Main motive behind this method is to resolve
the disputes as soon as possible in order to avoid lock-outs, strikes, etc. or to reduce its duration,
if it happened.

39