Employer-Employee Relationship

When an employer hires a new employee, he is not just bringing a new member of the workforce aboard, he is also starting a new relationship. Because employers and employees often work in close quarters, they necessarily develop relationships. Managing these relationships are vital to business success, as strong relationships can lead to greater employee happiness and even increased productivity.

Generally, employer-employee relationships should be mutually respectful. The degree of closeness in these relationships will depend on both the employer and the employee.

Positive employment relationships occur when employees feel appreciated and understand exactly what the employer expect of them. By defining where one person's duty ends and another's begin, boundaries are established, and a division of labour can occur. The organisation of work depends on the division of labour. The division of labour is contingent upon mutual trust and respect; the foundation of positive employment relationships.

The relationship between employee and employer is sometimes fragile. The worker may feel pressured to keep his job while harbouring unfavourable opinions about his boss, while the boss wonders if the employee is working to the best of his ability. Employers are also concerned about the morale of workers, because low morale could lead to expensive issues with turnover or low productivity.

If an employer disregards the concerns of employees, that could lead to several important and sometimes expensive problems. Besides turnover, workplace violence is also a risk to the business if employees become disgruntled. Employees who feel slighted by managers may also compromise the security of the company's proprietary information by either sharing trade secrets or taking that valuable knowledge to another competing business. A company that doesn't foster a productive relationship between employees and managers may also develop a poor reputation in the industry.

The best employment relationships occur when employees are placed in positions that maximise their skills and talents. When everyone is doing what they love to do best, happy employment relationships occur. When people are happy, they are more apt to function harmoniously as a team. Teamwork necessitates that the employer and employees trust and respect each other. The success of a business hinges on cooperation. Discord in employment relationships cause profits to lag. An employee who is unhappy at work will delay work and achieve less, and an employer who is disgruntled with an employee will tend to be overly fault-finding. "Trust influences the bottom line.”