Energex Employee Relations Strategy - Case Study Example

Student: Course: Instructor: Date: Energex Employee Relations Strategy Report Company Overview and Description Energex is a fully-owned subsidiary of Energy Queensland Limited. The later is a State-owned corporation with the mandate to build, operate and maintain electricity distribution infrastructure in South East Queensland including Brisbane, Sunshine coast, Logan, Redlands, Gold coast, Moreton bay and Ipswich. Energex has provided its services to homes and businesses in the South East Queensland area for more than 100 years. Energex delivers electricity and related services to about 3.4 million people. To offer reliable services to this huge population, Energex has an extensive network of assets, plant and equipment worth $12 billion [Ene17]. Notably, the company’s focus on innovation, advanced management systems, proactive customer engagement, sustainability and continuous improvement have played a crucial role in the successful delivery of electricity services to its clientele. The company generated $2.6 billion in revenue in 2016 financial year from its services [Ene16]. Energex Mission Statement Energex mission is captured by its purpose statement: “To deliver choice and affordability to meet our customers’ evolving energy needs”. The company’s vision is to “Be the preferred supplier of connected electricity services” [Ene16]. Energex Employee Relations Strategy Energex’s employee relations vision is “To create a positive employee climate that supports workforce safety and capability, staff engagement and high-performance customer service culture. In order to achieve this vision, the company’s employee relations strategy is critically aligned with its overall strategic direction including its values and objectives. The strategy also places a strong emphasis on compliance with legislative and company’s policy framework. The strategy also focuses on how employee relations contribute to attainment the company’s business goals and constructive workplace relations [Ene07]. Recruitment and Selection Energex is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to the principle of merit-based recruitment and selection. The company’s selection policies and practices are designed to protect job candidates from discrimination based on gender, race, relationship status, religion, disability, age and any other reason that is unrelated to professional competency . Energex relies on various methodologies and tools to gather information relating to job applicants. This includes written applications, work simulation tests, objective psychological tests and aptitude tests. Job applicants can find vital information relating to the required skills, expertise, experience, competencies and requirements on the company’s Job adverts in online sources and print media. Successful applicants to a job position may be invited for interview sessions at Energex. This, according to the company is meant to evaluate applicants’ qualifications, experience, personal attributes and skills in relations to the job requirements and selection criteria. Employee Benefits Energex offers its employees one of the most progressive and friendly workplaces in Australia. Energex is reputed as one of the safest places to work in the industry. Former employees on indeed.com job search site rate the company highly on flexible working hours, positive culture, fair remuneration and management support [Ind17]. The company has a comprehensive learning and development program that among other things consists of a study leave. Employees are also recognized for their performance and compensated with promotions and a commensurate pay rise. Energex is also committed to holistic development of its employees through its wellness program and an active social club dedicated to promoting participation of workers in recreational activities. Employee Safety and Wellbeing Energex health and safety policy in place outlines the company’s commitment and employees’ role in ensuring the health and safety of the involved stakeholders. Part of the company’s commitment is to comply with statutory health and safety requirements and facilitate implementation of initiatives dedicated to upholding the health and safety of workers, contractors, customer and community. Employees are expected to adhere to safe workplace practices and demonstrate responsible behaviour as outlined in the safety codes and manuals. Energex employs a number of strategies to achieve its goals such as use of audits, coaching and continuous improvement activities. The company also regularly trains its employees in high risk areas to ensure their safety and that of others. Such employees should be proactive in identification of potential hazards and dangers and follow the appropriate procedures in preventing their occurrence. The company also maintains a safety operational committee to review and provide feedback on safety policies and procedures. In addition, Energex aids its employees in improving their health and wellbeing through initiatives such as influenza vaccinations, mental health awareness, health assessments and free short-term counselling in relation to personal or work stress [Ene171]. Performance Development and Training at Energex Energex identifies training and development as one of the most important initiatives that can guarantee the future success of the company. As part of advancing training and development at Energex, the company offers apprenticeships for prospective tradespeople, technical traineeships and a four year Energex Graduate Engineering Development Program. The apprenticeships offer a practical on-the-job paid training that imparts valuable expertise and experience in successful applicants. The technical traineeship initiatives enable workers to better understand Energex business and gain valuable technical skills through advanced electrical and business diplomas. Energex graduate trainee program is an equally a great opportunity for fresh graduates to gain expertise and experience working for a reputable organization with advanced management systems [Ene172]. Stakeholders in Energex Employee Relations In order to achieve its goals such as safety in the workplace, Energex should seek the participation and positive contribution of employees, managers and union officials. The three stakeholders have to work together in addressing workplace challenges and ensuring the company achieves its goals and mandate. Electrical Trades Union represents a substantial segment of Energex workers. The company also commits to working with the government, industry and business partners in developing and implementing initiatives that improve employee relations at Energex. It is important to note that communication and close cooperation between the identified stakeholders are critical at arriving at mutually acceptable outcomes. Review of Energex Diversity Policy with Recommendations According to Energex’s Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity policy, the company is committed to achieving a workplace that is free of discrimination, vilification, victimisation and harassment [Ene05]. The policy also guarantees potential and existing employees access to equal opportunities based on merit. Energex commits to implement measures that ensure people from different social-cultural, race, ethnicities and demography benefit from employment, contractual and business partnership opportunities with the company. Such measures include disciplinary actions for engagement in the identified forms of discrimination, harassment, victimisation and vilification. Energex encourages informal solutions to issues relating to violation of equal employment opportunities legislation [Ene051]. While this may be a faster solution to such violations, it is prone to abuse as offenders may get a light punishment for a repeat offence. Energex should adopt a strict approach in addressing violations of diversity policies in order to discourage the occurrence of even the softest form of the offence. Review of Energex Employee Relations Strategy Energex employee relations vision is to create a positive employee relations climate that supports workplace safety and capability, staff engagement and high-performance customer service culture. To achieve this vision, the company’s employee relations strategy is underpinned by four key elements: alignment with strategic direction; governance and compliance; focus on business outcomes; constructive workplace relationships. The four key elements ensure that Energex can intensively involve all the concerned stakeholders to ensure positive employee relations. The strategy ensures the company complies with all the relevant legislations and aligns human resource decisions with the overall vision and mission of Energex. The strategy also ensures that employees understand their specific obligation towards achieving business goals such as profitability, efficiency and high-quality service delivery. Indeed, the strategy offers the management and employees an opportunity to develop positive relation at the local level through collaboration, collective decision-making, union involvement, open communication and creative dispute resolution initiatives. Proposed Employee Relations Risk Management Strategy for Energex Energex is exposed to several risks arising from its employee relations. Such risks include employee relations aspirations losing connection with the business values and vision. For instance, the objectives of unions may be unaligned with the strategic vision of Energex in relation to matters such as remuneration, performance management and employment benefits. Other risks include non-compliance with legislation and policies, disconnect between employee relations and business outcomes, and deterioration of positive relations between employees and management at Energex. In order to address the above mentioned risks, the following strategy may prove to be important for Energex. The company will adopt a proactive approach towards aligning the interests of the employees with the values and goals of the company. For instance, Energex should only hire employees who understand and are ready to fully support the company, its values and ambitions. The company should also maintain a joint labour committee comprising of representatives of employees, management and union. The committee should meet regularly to prevent deterioration of labour relation between labour and the employer. This will as well align the workers aspiration and company’s vision. The company will maintain a full-time compliance function that will conduct regular audits and review of compliance issues to ensure that the business fulfils all the legislative and policy issues that regulate employee relations. This multi-strategic approach will be an effective way of maintaining positive employee-employer relations at Energex. Review of Energex Union Collective Employment Agreement Energex has an existing collective agreement between it and several unions (AMWU, APESMA, QSU, ETU, and ASU) that represent its workers. The objective of the agreement is to enhance productivity and efficiency, provide equitable employment conditions and sustain regular consultation between parties. The Collective agreement outlines the employment relationship between Energex and its workers including employment terms relating to pay, benefits and contracts. The agreement also covers wage and allowances issues, working hours, leaves, employee safety, training and union delegates’ rights and responsibilities. The collective agreement has set out a pay schedule to guide the salary expectations of all workers within its departments. The Energex collective agreement is a well-structured document that strikes a balance between the company, union and workers on major issues that may affect a positive relationship between labour and capital. Such areas include, work terms, salary, employee benefits, performance measurement and union recognition. Review of Energex HR Services to Employees Energex offers several HR services to its employees in its commitment to maintain positive relations between the company and its workforce. These services include, short-term confidential counselling to workers and their immediate family members, study assistance and career guidance programs. The company also offers guidance to employees who may want to informally resolve cases of equal employment opportunity and other discriminatory issues. Termination and Disciplinary Issues at Energex According to the existing collective agreement between Energex and representative unions, the company is obligated to provide up to four-week notices notices to terminated employees depending on the duration of employment contract and age of affected workers. The company must pay the total amount that the worker would have received over the course of the remaining period. All Energex employees and managers must adhere to codes of conduct and employment contract terms. Any failure to comply may lead to possible dismissal. Energex Union collective agreement outlines a three-stage dispute resolution process that guides employees and the management on how to handle disciplinary issues. The three stages include (1) workplace resolution between involved parties and management, (2) conciliation involving Fair Work Australia, and (3) arbitration in case of failure to resolve dispute via stage one and two [Ene11]. Overall recommendations From the body of analysis made in this report, it is evident that Energex has made considerable progress in establishing and maintaining positive employee relations. The company’s employee relations strategy is aligned with its vision and objectives. The strategy is also focused on ensuring compliance with legislative and regulatory industry framework relating to labour issues. Indeed, the company through its benefits, dispute resolutions mechanism, performance development and training and its diversity policy seeks to establish and maintain a workplace environment that fosters constructive relations that lead to attainment of its business goals such as productivity and efficiency. Through its health and safety policy, collective agreement, recruitment and selection process and HR services to employees, Energex is able to involve employees extensively in decision-making and participation in crucial initiatives that improve the relations between management and workers. Going forward, it will be important to Energex to develop a well-structured plan to accommodate the emerging employee needs including flexible work hours and need for autonomy at work. This will require a critical balance between the values, goals and vision of the company and employees need for a fulfilling job design that accommodates their aspirations. The company may be required to retain the beneficial aspects of the existing employee relations strategy including the dispute resolution mechanism, collective agreement, diversity policy and employee benefits in order to retain the current positive ratings of Energex workplace. Works Cited Ene17: , (Energex), Ene16: , (Energex Limited), Ene07: , (Energex), Ind17: , (Indeed), Ene171: , (Energex), Ene172: , (Energex), Ene05: , (Energex ), Ene051: , (Energex), Ene11: , (Energex), Read More