Psychological Contract between a Worker and the Employer - Essay Example

Name Institution Lecturer Date Introduction For most companies, workforce is hired on condition that an employment contract is satisfactorily signed between the employer and the employee. The contract carries a set of regulation that are to govern the activities and interaction of the employer and the employee, in addition to specifying the responsibilities of each party in order to ensure undisrupted operation of the company. A legal employment contract is understood as a category of contractor that attributes mandate and responsibility and is governed by law. The contract defines the obligation and terms under which an employer and employee relate. Of concern in this paper is the psychological contract between a worker and the employer. This kind of contract specifies the expectation that each party holds with regard to the other. The parties involved in this kind of contract, just like other contracts are the employer and the employee. This read however covers the issues involved in the psychological contract from the employer point of view. Therefore, the employer expects that the employer is to carry out his expected duties in the workplace, to be obedient to the higher authority above him in the Raffle Hotel and to carry out his responsibilities without unnecessary absenteeism from the workplace. In the case of change of management of an organization, as in the case of Raffles Hotel undergoes a merger, that, the employers have to review the contracts of employment with the employees. The psychological contract of employment this case is then reviewed as well. Its initiation begins with the normal step of hiring new labour into the company. A discussion ensues and both parties exchange views on what they are capable of offering in their relationship. Upon reaching an agreement, the employer then initiates a contract form that is standard, which had the details of the employees duties defined by his work. However, it should be noted that any statement made in the interview process, whether written or not, accounts for the terms of employment thus should not be breached whatsoever, since they stand a chance of being recalled and adding up to expectations of the employer or employee on the other party (Lan Sun, 2011). Effective human resource managers, who have the responsibility of carrying out interviews and hiring new workforce in the organization, do incorporate the terms as spelled out in the contract in order to avoid future allegations with regard to the psychological contract of employment. The selection of this type of contract for analysis and explanation lies in the argument that a worker can only work at his best if he feels that his interests are being taken note and care of. In common practice, the law requires an employee must be trustworthy and loyal to their responsibilities. However, these provisions of the law are impractical and lack specificity in real operation. Such conditions are taken care of by the psychological argument, as expectations of employers that their employees exhibit ultimate trust and loyalty in their activities, and the analysis of the degree of fairness in the arrangements that results from the expectations and promises made during interviewing are vital to the analysis of the level of trust between the parties involved. This implies that the performance appraisal on the employee can be carried out with reference to the promises made during the interview session, and the human resource personnel is able to determine the general trends of employee loyalty by keeping track of the changes in performance with continued service in the company. The promises upon which this judgment can be Psychologically made are either relational; where the socio-emotional aspects with aspects of shared values, ideals, support and respect between the parties are to be upheld in the interpersonal interaction, or transactional, where there is mutual agreement that the employer must respond effectively to the economic promises of compensation to employees for the services delivered or punishment to the employee as a result of inefficiency in service delivery (Coyle-Shapiro, 2004, & Herriot, 2001). The psychological contract of employment plays a significant role in the management of human resources. For a company to achieve success, the employees’ needs must be met. Kaufman’s (2004) view, organizational and management theory proposes that for an employee to deliver their best in the workplace, their attitudes must be nurtured to boost performance. Such attachments to attitude and emotion such as faith, motivation, and trust, being committed and inner satisfaction rely on the psychological contract of employment which has to be fair. Therefore, the psychological contract helps the human resource managers informed of the employee attitudes that lead to their trustworthiness and loyalty to their responsibilities. This is so because when a psychological contract is considered unfair by employees, the attitudes of the employer which form a significant part of a valuable organizational delivery are put at risk. The human resource manager thus ought to ensure that the psychological contract is not subject to breach, so that the attitudes of the employee are maintained. According to Herriot (2001), the human resource management learns to make informed decisions with the adoption of the psychological contract of employment. The human resource managers cannot therefore practice the traditional form of authority which was in a way patronizing and opportunistic in the face of the employees. This form of leadership meant that the details and expectations of the psychological contract of the organizations were largely controlled by those in higher leadership positions. The workers had little if any meaningful contribution in the development of such a psychological contract. Traditional psychological contracts are likely to face opposition from individual or groups of workers who are rebellious towards such domineering methods of management. This not only disrupts the smooth flow of operations within the organisation but also leads to lack of trust on the authorities and the human resource management by workers who always rely on the decisions made by the authorities for the standards of the psychological contract quality. In view of Burke et al. (2011), the human resource management uses the psychological contract to determine the future placement of the organization. The human resource management of such an organization in which employees have shares thus form part of the management does adopt very flexible structures and models for the businesses. As the workforce have a say in the decision making through proper representation in the human resource management, the employees thus indirectly determine the type of psychological contract to run their organization. The human resource managers of the Raffles Hotel, using this technique of listening to workers, have managed to realize increased performance from the workforce (Burden & Roodt, 2008).. The human resource management has also managed to have a plan on the ways to achieve more of delivery from its workers in the future. The management has the revelation that the expectations of employees exist at two major levels. The feelings of the workers in relation to their delivery are affected by the way they are treated in the workplace, and how they regard themselves in line with their interaction with the employer, which is depicted through how they behave and relate with the employer. The human resource management of Raffle Hotel need to better their management by making the employees feel good while in the workplace, as this boosts the posivitive image of the psychological contract from before the analysis of the employee. This is likely to yield positive results. The staff should never be allowed to view the psychological contract negatively, because if they do then they become less motivated to work in togetherness with the management of the Hotel. The management of human resources also gets to keep abreast with the general changes and trends in the organization of businesses. The contemporary issues such as adoption of the psychological contracts in times of employment and through the term of service of an employee raise the chances of an organization to maintaining its place in the market. Raffle Hotel has managed to strategically take up and manage this change in the general organization of the business, although the pace of change has been quite high. The Raffles has learnt on the need for u both on the workers and the managers. The human resource has seen to it that the employees who hold senior positions in the enterprise have no autocratic leadership behavior (Vincent & Grugulis, 2009, & Bal & Bozkurt, 2013). Such leaders may not recognize the need for confidentiality among all workers despite of the rank or position one holds in the organization. The modern leaders such are likely to value the contribution of confidentiality in the growth of the organization, as they understand the need for adoption and respect for the expectations of workers as provided for by the psychological contract of employment. Whereas the traditional dictatorial leader has the mentality that he runs the business and meets the expenses of salaries of the workers, the modern leader has the capacity to realize that workers offer their services for varied and diverse reasons Burden & Roodt, 2008, & Lan Sun, 2011). Thus the comprehension that if these varied reasons and needs of workers are met, there is a high likelihood for increased delivery from the employees. Such an organization is said to have strength in response to the psychological contract, as in the case of Raffles Hotel, that desires to have competitive advantage over their counterparts in the market, and even realize wider market coverage. Interrelated HR policies that could strengthen the psychological contracts between workers and employers as the Raffles undergo a merger The Raffles Hotel is one of the international hotels that face great competition for market. In a bid to outdo the competitors, the hotel has to come up with policies that will help propel the business to the top of the market. However, these policies can only achieve the desired results if they are in agreement with the expectations of the workers, who are the ultimate source of success for most organizations. It therefore implies that the Raffles need to charge its human resource management department with development of policies that are viable and with the capacity to meet the expectations of the workers. Such policies are said to be strengthening the psychological contracts of the Raffles hotel between the workers and the employers. Such policies are satisfactorily discussed in this section of this analytical essay. Training of workers The Raffles has put up a policy of ensuring that its workers are qualified in order to keep up with the international standards of service delivery. The year 2000 graced the setting up of the Raffle International Training Centre (Armstrong, 2007). Situated in Singapore, the institution offers high standard training to staff, both new and old staff. This ensures that customers are attracted to the Raffles Hotel due to the high quality services that are offered in the hotel. This policy has had a great impact to the general outlook of the hotel. The human resource management team has boosted the state of the psychological contract in the hotel. The workers have the feeling that the hotel does not only concern itself with the need to reach wider markets both locally and internationally. The workers feel involved in the general interests of the hotel. This as a result of the skills that the management has decided to impart on the staff and meeting the expenses of their education. Maintaining the touch of uniqueness The Raffles hotel has a touch of uniqueness in the hotel industry business. The hotel has a great sense of class. According to Machado & Davim (2013), Raffles Hotel has effectively managed to target the rich and wealthy class in society for their customers. This means if they offer the very best of their services then they cannot miss out on the market share. The hotel offers distinctive and expensive services to its customers. It has set up a number of the world’s most luxurious brands of names in its shops. The hotel has also kept up with the changes in technology. The hotel now markets its services through its websites. The customers can be able to book for reservation online. They not necessarily need to travel to Singapore in order to book a reservation. The customers can be able to pay for their bills using electronic means. Customers need not carry money in cash. The hotel has quality dress code of the staff, which clearly identifies them for their outspoken efficiency. This policy of maintain uniqueness in the market has earned the hotel enormous success, and with it, the psychological contract in the hotel management and operation levels has been developed. The workers feel good and proud to be associated with one of the world’s best and oldest hotels so far. The hotel is capable of meeting its transactional expectations in terms of salaries and appreciation. Involvement of workers in major decision making. The hotel takes into account the welfare of its workers in every decision that it makes (Vincent & Grugulis, 2009). The hotel management tries to see to it that the culture of the organization is not in conflict with the expectations and the attitude of the workers. A conflict between the attitude of the employees and the culture of the organization may result in the development of a feeling of a dictatorial form of leadership, which is likely to stir open defiance by some workers. Therefore, involvement of the workers in decision gives workers a chance of expression and discourages the feeling of leaders being patronizing. Conclusion In conclusion, for the success of any firm that has undergone structural change, just like Raffle Hotel has undergone change through forming a merger, the organization has to ensure that the psychological contract is not disregarded, since the success of the new business entirely relies on the performance of the workers. The psychological contract represents a vital section of the employee relations, which need to be maintained at all costs. Interaction between the employer and the employee is a significant part of the psychological contract as it sets out the expectations of the employment contract. If the terms of the contract are kept and followed as outlined by the contract, then a desirable environment of trust is developed between the employer and the worker. The environment is characteristic of truthful and loyal workers, motivation and regular=r effective delivery of services. The management has to be fair in its execution of powers in order to maintain this environment. The human resource managers are supposed to know the workers at personal levels. The management should greatly avoid breaching of the psychological contract whatsoever, since such actions lead to employee dissatisfaction. References .ARMSTRONG, M. (2007). A handbook of human resource management practice. [Farmington Hills, Mich.], Thomson Gale. http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?type=aboutBook&prodId=GVRL&eisbn=0749448601&version=1.0&userGroupName=27uos&source=gale. BAL, Y., & BOZKURT, S. (2013). Globalization and Human Resources Management. BURKE, R. J., MARTIN, G., & COOPER, C. L. (2011). 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