Challenges for a Better Employee Relationship Management

The relationship between employees working in a common organization is called as employee relationship. Every employee should ideally be comfortable with others to stay motivated and stress free. No conclusion has ever come out of disputes; instead it is just a mere wastage of time and lead to a negative environment at work. The employees should work together as a single unit to come out with more creative plans and accomplish the tasks at a much faster rate.

Employees enjoying a warm relationship with each other tend to discuss things among themselves and always think in the favour of their team which eventually benefits the organization also. Sometimes it is really difficult to satisfy everyone. Someone or the other would have an objection to ideas leading to major unrest in the team and spoling the relationship among themselves.

Let us go through the challenges to an effective employee relationship and ways to overcome them:

• Not all teams can afford to have members of the same sex only. Female employees are also likely to be there in the team and might not be too comfortable with their male counterparts. A male employee trying to be friendly with his female team member just to increase the comfort level between them might not be appreciated by her. She might think otherwise and lose her trust on him. A feeling of insecurity would crop up and thus spoiling the relationship between them.

  One needs to be very careful while dealing with team members of the opposite sex. Think before you speak and do take care of your limits. Too much of interference and a friendly nature might not work well.

  During informal get togethers make sure one does not speak anything which might embarrass the females. Avoid too much boozing or smoking at parties where female team members are also invited. They would feel awkward and would never be able to talk to you or discuss things. The female employees must also understand the corporate culture and should not overreact unnecessarily. It is absolutely normal to go out for meetings with your boss who is a male.

• It is really difficult to meet the expectations of each and every employee. Employees should not expect monetary benefits which exceed the company’s budget. The moment the management refuses to offer the desired incentives or perks to the employees they become negative and tend to spread rumours around. They badmouth their superiors, lose interest in work and hence their relationship suffers. To avoid such a situation, it is essential for the employees to have realistic expectations. Don’t ask for something which you yourself know is not possible and might disturb the budget of the organization. The team leader from the very beginning must prepare an incentive plan after discussing with his team members. The incentive plan must be same for everyone.

• It is human tendency to support someone who speaks well about you or favours you always.

  Jerry’s music academy was near Patrick’s apartment. Jerry went with Patrick almost daily and no doubts always supported him at the workplace. Patrick was the one who had the liberty to take frequent leaves.

  Jerry never ever said anything to him which was not at all acceptable to the other team members. One should never be partial at the workplace. Everyone is working to earn his bread and butter just like you. No one is special in the organization. If anyone is working hard, the company is also paying him well. It is always better to avoid taking unnecessary favours from anyone. Don’t ask your subordinates to pick your son from school, go for a grocery shopping or book your movie tickets. The moment you ask for favours, the other individual starts taking undue advantages.

• You can never change the thought process of any employee. One can never get into anyone’s head to find out what he is thinking. You might speak something in a casual way but the other person might misunderstand it and make an issue out of it.

  One might say something in a light mood but the other person might take it seriously and start arguing. It is always better to be crisp and precise at workplace Avoid lose talks at work and don’t discuss things not related to your work.

• The superior might not always be accessible to his team members. A team leader might have to go for an urgent meeting when his team member walks up to him with a query. In such a scenario the employee should not feel neglected or ignored. It is the team leader’s duty to get back to his team members once he is free.

• Be realistic. Don’t ask any employee to attend his office on his birthday or marriage anniversary. One should never ask any employee to stay back late at office when he knows the other person has a party to attend. Understand other’s problems well. The team member should also not ask for leaves when he is aware of the work pressure.

• Remember life is all about adjustments. Don’t always have a negative approach towards life. Learn to compromise sometimes and make the organization a happy place to work.

Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

The article is Written By “Prachi Juneja” and Reviewed By Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.