Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
254 The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015
Employee Grievances Handling
The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015 255
Babu Thomas & Sameer Pingle
in a shift, only 3 cases of emergencies are munication from the organization. In other
attended by each ambulance crew and rest cases there are processes whereby an em-
of their time they remain idle and wait for ployee can raise a grievance through his
assignment from the control room. This supervisor or HR/welfare department.
idling time might give opportunity for the
staff to identify various grievances and Theoretical Background
spread among their fraternity. Therefore,
existence of a robust, employee friendly There are no complete theories be-
and effective system to capture grievances hind grievance handling systems, though
real time and resolve them effectively for various theories have focused on differ-
this dispersed manpower would definitely ent dimensions of grievances. Exit, loy-
help build a healthy environment. alty and voice theory of Hirchsman (1970)
is one of the most popular theories for
Grievances Handling studying employee grievance handling sys-
tem. According to this theory, employees
Various organizations follow different have primarily two responses when they
mechanisms to identify and resolve griev- perceive that the organization is decreas-
ances among employees. In modern or- ing benefits given to them. They withdraw
ganizations there are various formal and from the relationship (exit), or they try to
informal methods to address the issue. If communicate their concerns by complain-
the organization is unionized, the manage- ing. The decision to voice or exit depends
ment team comprising the chief operating on loyalty. Where there is loyalty to the
officer, relevant heads of department organization, exit may be reduced, espe-
(HODs), together with the senior HR pro- cially when the employees have limited op-
fessional would first meet and share data tions available. Industrial discipline theory
with the organization official and mem- is another important theory where
bers of the trade union. There is often the Wheeler has categorized discipline as
need for a written agreement obligation positive and negative. Positive discipline
once the associate leader acknowledges means discipline without punishment and
a union; it acknowledges that the union negative discipline calls for punishment and
represents all workers inside the scope of it adheres to rules and regulations.
the contract, in matters concerning all
terms and conditions of service. Commu- Theory defines distributive justice as
nication with the workers will be adminis- evaluation of the allocation outcome which
trated through notices or circulars, fol- depends on several factors like equity,
lowed by employees conferences for equality and the rule itself. Distributive
feedback, addressing considerations and justice is concerned with the fair distribu-
providing assurances in an exceedingly tion of benefits and burdens, such as in-
unionized organization. The management come, bonuses, and taxes. Jasso (1978)
ought to settle for the trade unions help carried out research in distributive justice
in communication as a result of typical, in which inputs and outcomes are given
workers additional receptivity to have com- and the subject is asked to evaluate the
256 The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015
Employee Grievances Handling
fairness of the combination of inputs and ing the sources of the grievance. Activity
outcomes. According to Rawls (1971) a analysis of grievances will profit the in-
pie can be divided between two persons vestigator and professional person by pro-
as fairly as possible. He suggested the use viding insight into the structure of conflict
of a procedure in which the allocator, di- and into employees most elementary be-
vides the pie and the other person chooses liefs regarding the organizations values.
which piece s/he wants. This leads to According to Knight (1986a, 1986b) griev-
theory of procedural justice. Lind and Tyler ance resolution contributes to the quality
(1988) and Tyler and Lind(1992) con- of relationship between the parties. As per
cluded that procedures are not only Mamoria (1991) Most grievances seri-
important with regard to outcomes, but ously disturb the employees. This may
have an important function of their affect their morale, productivity and their
owna self-expressing function. willingness to cooperate with the organi-
zation. If an explosive situation develops,
this can be promptly attended to if a griev-
Procedures are not only impor-
ance handling procedure is already in ex-
tant with regard to outcomes,
istence.
but have an important function
of their own.
Nurse and Devenish (2007) explored
the influence of workers demographic
Review of Literature characteristics on their perceptions of pro-
cedural justice from grievance manage-
Salipante and Bouwen, (1990) in their ment. A connected aim is to work out
study have reported less use of activity whether or not procedural justice percep-
ideas developed on structure conflict. Such tions have a bearing on the perceptions of
ideas develop the premise for a model of distributive justice. Walker and Hamilton
grievance behavior that relates the sources (2011) have reported that the main target
of grievances to grievance actions and of commercial conflict has shifted from
outcomes. Sources of grievance leading collective confrontation to grievances be-
to conflict were explored by analyzing in- tween the worker and leader. This narra-
terviews with Belgian and yank workers tive review encompasses a spread of in-
regarding their complaints within the geo- ternational analysis on individual em-
graphical unit. As an alternative to the lim- ployeeemployer grievances.
iting substantive classifications historically
used, a categorization of grievances is According to Daud and Yahya (2011)
bestowed that corresponds to grievant own research on grievance is an ongoing pro-
formulations of the causes of conflict. cess and it is a dynamic concept which
Applying this categorization theme to the keeps on evolving. This research dis-
interview knowledge discovered that the cusses the styles in handling grievances
majority of grievances have multiple among heads of departments at a Tele-
sources which a grievant generally dis- communication headquarters and
torts in his/her public statements regard- branches located in Peninsular Malaysia
The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015 257
Babu Thomas & Sameer Pingle
along with determination of personalities They are the pioneers of integrated emer-
in selecting the appropriate styles. gency management in India using three
digit toll free number and ambulances.
Sundaram and Saranaya (2013) have The service is popularly known as 108
highlighted the importance of people in emergency services. They follow model
organizations and that there can be no of Sense, Reach, Care and Follow up,
survival of organization without its em- which means sensing the emergency by
ployees. All resources (money, materi- receiving call of 108 toll free number at
als, methods, markets and machinery) are their Emergency Response Centers
coordinated by human resource of an or- (ERC), reaching the victim by their am-
ganization. The combined efforts lead to bulances and trained staff, and caring the
fulfillment of organizational objectives victim by their emergency medical tech-
and individual objectives. Survival in a nician ( paramedic) and pilot ( driver).
tough competitive market depends on The services have become very popular
productivity of human resources in the in India during last 9 years and currently
organization. they operate the services in 17 states and
UTs. Their operation is labor intensive
There are three types of grievances: due to round the clock operation of ERC
1) Factual: A factual grievance originates and ambulances. In a state like Gujarat
because of non-fulfillment of any genuine 3200 employees are working to operate
cause such as poor working conditions, 531 ambulances. 95.2% of these em-
lack of basic safety measures, forced ployees are working in ERC and ambu-
overtime, etc. 2) Imaginary: An imaginary lances round the clock. Another unique-
grievance originates because of invalid ness of this manpower is that all EMTs
causes, wrong perception, wrong attitude and pilots, which form around 90% of
or misleading information. 3) Disguised: total manpower, are based in 531 dis-
A disguised grievance originates not from persed locations across the state and
employee himself but from immediate sur- connected through mobile communication
roundings. This type of grievance is the and a vehicle tracking GPS system. While
result of employees inability to cope with 10% of the remaining workforce are
certain situations but it also affects job based out of the state head office and
performance significantly and therefore, can access various functions to resolve
management must provide employee as- their grievances, EMTs and pilots who
sistance programs and counseling facili- are posted at the ambulances are work-
ties to its employees (Deb, 2009). Litera- ing day and night shifts and would be in
ture shows that most studies are done in a difficult situation to raise their concerns
manufacturing firms in India and less stud- and receive a satisfactory reply.
ies are conducted in service organizations.
GVK EMRI has been experiencing
Company Profile difficulties in managing the employee
grievances emanated mainly from its dis-
GVK EMRI is a not-for-profit orga- persed manpower working in various
nization and a CSR wing of GVK group. ambulance locations. For instance, their
258 The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015
Employee Grievances Handling
Gujarat operation has currently 531 op- EMTs and pilots are connected with
erational locations where the ambulances supervisors or state head quarter through
are dynamically located. Employees at mobile communication. Being a labor in-
the cadre of EMTs and pilots are posted tensive dispersed operation there were
at these locations. Moreover, as they are many employee grievances going unre-
into emergency service almost 60% of solved or unattended in the initial time of
their shift duty, the employees are free their operation. In order to address this
and waiting for any emergency call to issue, the organization implemented an
their control centre. On an average, they innovative grievance handling tool in the
attend only 3-4 emergencies only in a year 2010, which they call V-Care (fig.1).
shift session of 12 hours.
Fig.1 V Care Management Process This is a simple computer application
enabled in their ERC, which works round
the clock. The organization leveraged
their 24X7 call centre facility at ERC and
ensured that any grievance of employ-
ees working in the dispersed locations can
be captured round the clock for redressel
within 24 hours.
The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015 259
Babu Thomas & Sameer Pingle
cess is the quick identification & resolu- H1: There is significant relationship be-
tion (redress) of any technical/non-tech- tween the employee role and gath-
nical issue faced by field staff which can ering of information about griev-
affect the daily operations. ance.
Hypothesis 4
Objectives of the Study
H0: There is no significant relationship
1. To know the employees perception of between the employee role and
grievances redressing mechanism by Simple Easy Grievance procedure.
analyzing numerous aspects associ- H1: There is significant relationship be-
ated with operating atmosphere. tween the employee role and Simple
Easy Grievance procedure
2. To seek out whether or not the
workforce is happy with the manage- Hypothesis 5
ment and subordinates.
H0: There is no significant relationship
Hypotheses between the employee role and em-
pathy and care in the grievance pro-
Hypothesis 1 cedure.
H0: There is no significant relationship H1: There is significant relationship be-
between the employee role and sat- tween the employee role and empa-
isfaction of grievance redressal sys- thy and care in the grievance proce-
tem of V- Care. dure.
H1: There is significant relationship be- Hypothesis 6
tween the employee role and satis-
faction of grievance redressal sys- H0: There is no significant relationship
tem of V- Care. between the employee role and no
shouting from immediate supervisor
Hypothesis 2 in the grievance procedure.
H0: There is no significant relationship H1: There is significant relationship be-
between the employee role and time tween the employee role and no
taken to resolve in grievance
shouting from immediate supervisor
redressal system of V- Care.
in the grievance procedure.
H1: There is significant relationship be-
Hypothesis 7
tween the employee role and time
taken to resolve in grievance H0: There is no significant relationship
redressal system of V- Care. between the employee role and top
Hypothesis 3 management serious view and ac-
tion in the grievance procedure.
H0: There is no significant relationship
between the employee role and gath- H1: There is significant relationship be-
ering of information about grievance. tween the employee role and top
260 The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015
Employee Grievances Handling
The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015 261
Babu Thomas & Sameer Pingle
262 The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015
Employee Grievances Handling
cant factor along with respective factor & Pilot) was conducted on compnents
loadings. To check the suitability of the extracted in Factor Analysis- Principal
data, KMO and Bartletts test were used Compnent with Varimax Rotation
which gave sampling adequacy Mtehod. All nine variables hypothesis
above.871 which is above par of the value testing of Component 1 and Compnenet
of .05 (Table 5) 2 have been taken for one way ANOVA.
The results are shown in Table 9. The
Principal Component Analysis when relationships are not significant. Hence
applied initially resulted in two factors hav- we accept Ho for all hypotheses. Thus
ing a variance of 55.993 percent. First fac- there is no signigficant relationship be-
tor has an EIGEN value of 4.35 having a tween the variables.
variance 43.516 percent. Second factor Table 7 Rotated Component Matrixa
has an EIGEN value of value of 1.248
having a variance of 12.477 percent. Only Component
factors having an EIGEN value of greater 1 2
than one are accepted as per principles
of Factor Analysis Method. VAR00008 .814
VAR00001 .773
VAR00007 .772
Rotation method explained the signifi- VAR00002 .697
cant factor loadings associated with the VAR00009 .627
two factors given in Table 7. Component VAR00003
1 has five factor loadings from .814 to VAR00004 .769
.627. Second component has four factor VAR00006 .761
VAR00005 .730
loadings from .769 to .583. The compo- VAR000010 .583
nents are termed as Loyalty and
Extraction Method: Principle Component
Commitment(Table 8).
Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normal-
Further one way analysis of variance ization
on the basis of employee role i.e. (EMT a. Rotation converged in 3 iterations.
Component
1 LOYALTY 2 COMITMENT
Genuine Concerns are resolved 0.814
Satisfied with G.R.S 0.773
Top Management Views and Concerns in delay 0.772
Satisfied with time taken to resolve 0.697
Encourage colleagues to raise their genuine needs 0.627
Procedure is easy and simple 0.769
Immediate Supervisor shows no negativity 0.761
Empathy and proper care from G.R.S 0.730
Belief in G.D.R system 0.583
The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015 263
Babu Thomas & Sameer Pingle
Table 9 Hypothesis Testing Result from One Way ANOVA for Component 1 & 2
264 The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015
Employee Grievances Handling
The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015 265
Babu Thomas & Sameer Pingle
Salipante, Paul F. & Rene Bouwen (1990), Be- Sekaran, Uma (2006), Research Methods for Busi-
havioral Analysis of Grievances: Conflict, ness, Wiley India, New Delhi
Complexity & Transformation, Employee
Relations, 12 (3) Sundaram, V. Mohan & N. Saranaya (2013), Em-
ployee Grievance, Journal of Business.
Rawls, J. (1971), A Theory of Justice, MA:
Harvard University Press Walker, Bernard & Hamilton, Robert (2011), Em-
ployeeEmployer Grievances, Interna-
Thomas, Knight R. (1986a), Correlates of In- tional Journal of Management Review,
formal Grievance Resolution among First- 13(1): 40-58.
Line Supervisors, Relations Industrielles,
41(2): 28198. Wheeler, H. N. (2008), Punishment Theory and
Industrial Discipline, Industrial Relation:
Thomas, Knight R. (1986b), Feedback and A Journal of Economy & Society, 15: 235-
Grievance Resolution, Industrial and La- 43
bor Relations Review, 39 (4): 58589
Zulkifee, Bin Daud & Khulida KiranaYahya
Tyler, T. & Lind, E.A. (1992), A Relational (2011), The Influence of Heads of De-
Model of Authority in Groups in Zanna, partments Personalities on Selection of
M.P. (ed.), Advances in Experimental So- Grievance Handling Styles, International
cial Psychology, CA: Academic Press Journal of Humanities and Social Science,
1 (7)
266 The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 2, October 2015
Copyright of Indian Journal of Industrial Relations is the property of Shri Ram Centre for
Industrial Relations, Human Resources, Economic & Social Development and its content may
not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's
express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for
individual use.