Employee relations is a term used to describe relations between employers and employees. Today’s organizations are striving to become more agile, faster, and transparent. For that reason, the focus on employee communications is bigger than ever before.
The main goal of every employee relations strategy is to improve relationships and collaboration in the workplace.
Good leadership is ranked as one of the most important factors that attract new candidates and keep existing employees. In that sense, employee relations often focus on helping line managers truly connect with their employees.
Employee Relations vs. Employee Relationship Management (ERM)
While employee relations is a term used to describe employee relationships within an organization, employee relationship management is used to describe the process of creating good relations in the workplace.
Employee relationship management happens when an employer manages the relationship between all employees in the company. It covers the entire employee journey – it starts from an employee’s first day and lasts until they leave the company.
Good employee relationship management goes far beyond whether or not you and your employees get along. Proper employee relationship management must include effective communication, employee engagement initiatives, a structured employee experience plan, and the implementation of the right tools and technology.
7 Reasons Why Employee Relations Are Important
Companies with good employee relationships enjoy many benefits. In general, it is easier for them to engage, motivate, understand and keep their employees.
Here are just a few benefits of building a positive employee relations workplace.
According to research about employee engagement, 90% of leaders understand how important employee engagement is. However, only 50% of them know how to address this issue.