Re-naming industrial relations as Employee Relations can only have a cosmetic effect but the skills required to handle this domain remain largely the same. Since it is string of relationship between capital and labour, its nuances have to understood in different dimensions with change of time.
There may not be a critical standoff between employer and labour as it used to be during sixties to eighties or violent demonstrations or fight in present times but that does not mean it has disappeared. Until there is labour to work for capital, relationship management has to be a core function as compulsive necessity. Employee life span in any organization from entry to exit is nothing but all about moving through healthy, sound and genuine relationship and to achieve that HR professional must possess excellent IR/ER skills. Industrial relations cannot be taken for granted because it is an era of informed workers vs less- informed HR professionals. Today, managers and business leaders’ concept may be of managing employee relations through engagement and R&R practices but it should not be forgotten that major junk of workforce is either contract labour through service providers or gig whose issues are not on priority list of organisations as they don’t “belong” to them. Since organization workforce is either in very less number or works in executive cadre, it is wrongfully conceived that industrial relations skills are not required in this workforce management ecosystem. Rather, in fact, it is more required in new working model with new out of box thinking and innovative skills and practices. One more reasoning is given why industrial relations skills are fading away is because of technology penetration in all business and people processes. This holds no water. HR must always keep in mind that relationship cannot be nurtured through technology. People are not mere headcounts. They are living soul contributing to organization growth. It is irony that technology has just reduced people in to numbers.
HR professionals can’t afford to ignore this domain. It is worrying signal that at present there may be numbered HR professionals in the country who possess excellent IR skills. New generation must learn and develop these skills to become a complete HR person and seniors can play an important role of mentors in this respect. Batton has to be passed.
With this edition, your magazine completes twenty-five years of publication and enters in to twenty sixth year. This silver jubilee anniversary issue carrying a cover story on most important aspect of HR function- IR skills to understand from the IR experts who are legends of this domain about present and future relevance of IR skills.
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