Employment Relations Theories

Employment Relationships- Problems and Perspectives
Introduction
The employment relationship is the heart of any industrial relations system. It is the relationship between the employer and the employee. A successful employment relationship has always been the foundation of any successful business or organisation no matter how big or small. Variety of philosophers and writers of management have written a lot of theories relating to employment relationship. These theories have changed vastly from the classical era to the modern era, addressing issues that have evolved through changes driven by the nature of work, technology, and globalisation. Managers have adapted diverse management styles as the time has passed by which reflect the environment in which work is carried out. In this paper I will be analysing classical and modern theories of employee relationship and various management styles and discussing the different factors that have brought about changes in these theories and styles of management. Before industrialization, industries and companies had an environment in which the employees were basically ruled on by the employers, submitting themselves to the rules and regulations imposed on them by the management. Interests of the employers always prevailed over the interests of the employees. In the post war era there was little globalisation and technology, which hadn't played a big role in the industrial world. The employees had to bear the entire workload, which included mental and physical labour, on top of that they had minimum support by their managers due to the management styles they had adapted. Compared to the post modernisation era and nowadays there have been vast improvement in the industries. Today a number of forces influence the workplace environment, such as: political systems, legislation, economics, technology, globalisation, labor unions, and professional organisations, which includes remarkable new technological advances, enhanced