- Title
- Dualistic role of the Employee Relations Office and its influence on labour relations at the University of Fort Hare
- Creator
- Mnqayi, Leon M
- Subject
- Industrial relations--South Africa
- Date Issued
- 2021-12
- Date
- 2021-12
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23416
- Identifier
- vital:57729
- Description
- Employee relations are important for the success of any organisation. Maintaining healthy cordial employee relations usually involves creating understanding and harmony between the employees and the employer. However, due to several dynamics within the work environment, employee relations become complex. The employee relations unit in the human resources management department is tasked with handling this complex situation by dealing with different grievances in organisations. In this regard, in organisations like the University of Fort Hare, the employee relations office represents both the employees and employer. The dualistic role assumed by the employee relations office is associated with several challenges, such as employees not trusting the employee relations office. The employee relations office is deemed to be safeguarding the interests of the management, which complicates employee relations at the university. Therefore, this study sought to explore perceptions on the dualistic role of the employee relations office and its influence on labour relations at the University of Fort Hare. The study utilised a qualitative research methodology to find out perceptions of participants on the dualistic role of the employee relations office and its influence on labour relations at the University of Fort Hare. The research used semi-structured interviews to collect data. The participants were purposively selected from the University of Fort Hare. The Human Relations Theory was used as the main theory, and it provided underpinning arguments regarding employee relations at the University of Fort Hare. The data gathered were thematically analysed. The main findings revealed that there are fragmented employee relations at the university, mainly due to lack of clarity about the standard working conditions that should be expected and that are acceptable by the university. Furthermore, the study also established that the employee relations office is largely seen as biased against employees and seems to favour employers most of the times, leading to disputes being taken to an external party. Based on these findings, the study recommends that to improve objectivity, the employee relations office can create an oversight team that independently provides insights on specific issues faced by employees and management. Improving objectivity should include making decisions based on facts or data, focusing on the vision and mission of the institution, increasing the ratio of positive against negative feedback, improving on transparency during decision-making and the creation of an anonymous human resources engagement system.
- Description
- Thesis (MPA) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2021
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (xiii, 121 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Management and Commerce
- Language
- English
- Rights
- rights holder
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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Collections
UFH Department of Public Administration
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Mnqayi_200054465_Public Administration.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |