Why is it important to handle grievances carefully?

Why is it important to handle grievances carefully? 

Answer: 

It is important to handle grievances carefully as it is a sensitive matter relating to employees state of happiness with the organisation. Employees should have a medium to communicate their grievances to proper channel and there should be listeners. While there may be cases where some grievance many not be very genuine but it should be handled tactfully. 

If grievances are not handled properly: 

• The employee will be unhappy.

• This will affect productivity at work. 

• If grievances are not solved, the work environment will not be conducive. 

• The employee will have negative views of the management. 

• He might share his discontent with his colleagues and may be also with outsiders, friends, relatives, maybe even customers and vendors. 

The following steps discuss how a grievance can be redressed: 

1. Receiving the grievance: 

a. The manner and attitude with which the manager receives the complaint of grievance is important. b. The complaint should not be prejudged on the basis of past experience with this or other employees. 

 c. When an employee approaches the manager with an issue the manager needs to make himself available to listen it all out and provide him/her the undivided attention. 

d. Research confirms that managers who were more task-oriented, as contrasted with managers who were more people-oriented, tended to experience a significantly higher number of grievances being filed in their units. 

 2. Reviewing the grievance: 

a. Once a complaint is received all facts supporting the issue needs to be gathered.

b. In addition, with the increasingly legal implications of modern labour-management relations, the manager should keep records on each

particular grievance. 

c. All action taken, discussions with the employee, summary and what is agreed to all of it needs to be recorded. 

3. Analysis and decision: 

a. With the problem defined and the facts in hand, the manager must now analyze and evaluate them, and come to some decision. 

 b. It is important for the manager to involve others in the process to ensure that it is fair and is the best solution.

c. The manager must include the views of his own manager as he might not be aware of all the implications of the problem and its resolution. Involving HR too is a recommended process in all organizations. 

d. HR can then seek finance or legal counsel if required, before any decision is taken. 

4. Response: 

 a. Not all grievances may be solved. In such as case proper communication and transparency is important. 

b. If the solution decided is adverse to the employee’s views, attention needs to be given to the method of communication. 

 c. The manager can also invite HR or his manager to sit-in on the conversation with the employee. d. As far as possible this should happen in a face-to-face meeting. 

 e. In the event an employee wishes to take the appeal beyond to the next stage of the procedure he must be allowed to do so.

5. Follow up: 

 a. The purpose of phase is to determine whether the employee feels that the problem has been sufficiently redressed. 

b. If follow up reveals that the case has been handled unsatisfactorily, then redefinition of the problem, further fact-finding, analysis, solution and follow up are required. 

 c. At this stage the manager can step aside and allow someone else in a position of authority like the HR or the manager’s manager to lead the process and close it. 

d. Open communication is important for this process.