HR professionals must have capability of negotiating strategically

July 1, 2023

Though the concept of lifetime employment as unionized workman is reducing, new age employee relations have become more complex as the workplaces have become boundaryless with the emergence of gig workforce and service sector.

What reasons do you to attribute to the fact that Industrial relation skills which was considered as one of the most desired and pre-requisite skill for any HR person to succeed, has now become almost extinct?

ED A recent study of the Annual Survey of Industries states that 81% of the factories in India, employ less than 100 employees, which accounts for about 23% of the total workforce. Of this 38% of the factories employ 1 to 14 employees only. This has significantly impacted the collective bargaining power of Unions and the workforce. Though, there has been a growth of factories, the need for people with HR and IR skills has not grown proportionately. Usually the role of IR is played by the owner or contractor owing to the size of the unit.

Factories employing 500 or more employees are a mere 4.74% of the factories. It is in these setups you will find formal IR organisations. In larger organisations, I have noticed shopfloor personnel assuming the IR roles...

Emmanuel David

Emmanuel David is a senior management professional and former Director of Tata Management Training Center where he spearheaded Leadership Development for the Tata Group and select Civil servants.
Currently he is Managing Director of Grid International India, the world authority on Culture Change and Transformation.
With experience in core sectors like Executive Education, Hospitality, Financial Services, Automobiles, Oil and Gas, EPC, Infrastructure, and Waste Management Emmanuel has worked with diverse ownership structures like MNCs, Board Managed Companies, JVs, and Family-owned businesses. He is versatile and agile and understands the interplay between structure, culture, and decision-making.
An experienced coach with multiple certifications, he also serves as an Independent Director and NRC Chairman of Aster DM Health Care and is a mentor at Columbia University's MS Program on Technology Management USA and at North Eastern University' s MS program in Strategic Technology Leadership.

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