In order for any organisation to succeed in the deadly business environment today there are many elements within the workplace that all organisations must take into account. Every business needs to know in which direction they are going or what products or services they intend to provide. Also they need to segment their potential customers and gain loyal customers. They also need to make sure they can raise finance in order to survive in the business world. These are the basic elements which every business needs to take into account to ensure that they keep themselves on track.
However there is another element or factor which also plays a very important role within every organisation including Blacks. It is the factor of keeping good employer – employee relations. This very factor could be the difference between Blacks continuing to increase their market share and gaining high profits or losing their loyal customers with result the whole business coming to an end. Employer – employee relations is one of the most important aspects Blacks because if there is a lack of understanding between any of the two the consequences could be disastrous. When talking about having good relations though we know that the disadvantages of having bad relations could badly affect any organisation. What though are the benefits of keeping good relations at Blacks? Let us look at the benefits in detail.
Benefits to the Employer of having good relations The benefits to the employer of having a good relation with an employee are that since rapport and trust has been established between the two, employees are more likely to be happy, which ultimately means reduced labour turnover. Employers should not take on an autocratic or democratic persuasive style, as these management styles can be demeaning and make the workers feel unneeded and incompetent at their jobs. Blacks’ figures on labour turnover are low, so the employers can be assured that they are communicating well with the employees and that they have a good working team and environment.
I can personally say that I have seen this very point being carried out effectively but also badly. When I first began working at Blacks the existing manager was very difficult to get on with and because I was a lot younger than the rest of the workforce I did not want to carry on within the first few weeks. However all the workers had a problem with the manager and he was soon changed in the within the first month I was working there. A new manger then began. She was very good and united us all together and we all enjoyed working together with result many of us have carried on working there and we have a very good workforce who get along very well and work well together as a team.
As workers are happy, it is a good sign for the employer because that means work can be done properly and targets can be met. The more targets the employee’s meet, the more productive the business becomes so in the long run. Blacks are certainly currently satisfying their customers by offering good services and quality products. From this, the employer’s interpersonal and communicational skills can be enhanced as they work together with employees and show that they are there to support each individual worker and help them satisfy basic needs. The output dramatically improves through good communication and this means that fewer mistakes are made. This gives the employer a positive image as it shows that he/she possesses great managerial skills and can look after his/her employees well.
I have noticed that the main customers Blacks have are those who leave the store satisfied, and then return to make more purchases. These customers of course are the loyal customers who are increasing everyday due to the high level of service they receive along with the quality products. This means that the more customers who become loyal to Blacks, the more pressure the competition is under as it will help increase Blacks’ market share. As market share increases, so to does the reputation of store managers, but more importantly Blacks as a whole.
A good reputation for the employer will mean that Blacks can gain national status and in the future possibly worldwide. Blacks is known for supplying specialist equipment and are also the official suppliers of the Duke of Edinburgh award which shows that Blacks have a good working team under them and have a good reputation. Through good relations any customers that walked into any branch would be able to discern whether or not managers and staff communicated effectively by everyone in the store having good product knowledge. This of course would give Blacks a better reputation. The reason I say this is that the with company Blacks recently took over, Outdoors, it was found that staff had little or no product knowledge and in some cases just made as to how certain products worked. Customers are not dim but rather start talking amongst each other and due to this fact Outdoors lost loyal customers to Blacks and their good reputation was lost.
Another benefit arising from good relations is that it can help Blacks to increase its market share. This is also an objective set by Blacks to increase their market share. Through good relations they could be sure of increasing their market share as they would gain full-worker cooperation giving Blacks employees who are willing to work hard and trying desperately to reach their weekly targets.
This leads us onto the next benefit for the employer through good relations. There will be an increase and improvement in productivity. This point links in with the above point. While Blacks is trying to meets its objective of increasing their market share at the same time they would also be improving their chances of reaching the targets they have set over a period of time. An example of this we had recently at Blacks concerns the Christmas that just passed. The previous year was our best intake for Christmas in 2003.
The employers decided that they wanted 2004 Christmas was even better and done this by providing incentives for the employees. Our incentive was to win 5000 for our store for the highest percentage of sales and highest intake. This seemed to have worked and the Christmas that just passed was the best Blacks have had so far even though it was said the Christmas that just passed was the worst for all retail outlets. These are the main benefits for the employer that can be gained through good relations and we could simply summarise them. It would give Blacks a better reputation, help increase their market share, improve productivity and labour turnover would be reduced. Let us now look at the benefits for the employee that can be derived from good relations.
