Labor Relations: Titles include labor relations specialist and labor relations advisor; these positions frequently require a master's degree in industrial or labor relations. As a labor relations specialist, your primary responsibilities would be grievance handling, arbitration, contract negotiation and administration, legislative analysis, and strike preparation. In order to carry out these responsibilities, you will need to analyze (or develop) the organization's labor relations program. This involves analyzing the text of collective bargaining agreements and developing interpretations of the intent, spirit, and terms of contracts. Another important responsibility is to counsel management, in the development and application of labor relations policies and practices. Labor specialists may help establish bargaining agreements, in which case initial proposals for wages and benefits must be developed, limits for the bargain set, and issues defined regarding which the company can expect a strike.
You would also represent management in investigating, answering, and settling grievances. You would arrange grievance meetings among workers, supervisory and managerial personnel, and representatives of the labor union. The grievance procedure is central to employee-management relations, and thus grievance settlement is an important part of the labor relations specialist's work.
Your other labor relations activities include preparation of statistical reports on the types and frequency of action taken concerning grievances, arbitration, mediation, and related labor relations matters in order to identify problem areas. You must verify adherence to terms of a labor contract by monitoring day-to-day implementation of policies concerning wages, hours, working conditions, and productivity. You often represent management in periodic labor-contract negotiations and serve as an information resource on such matters as the provisions of a current contract and the significance of proposed changes. You furnish reference documents and statistical data concerning labor legislation, labor market conditions, prevailing union and management practices, wage and salary surveys, and employee benefits programs.
You will need in this work an extensive knowledge of economics, labor law, and collective bargaining. Familiarity with the text and implications of the Wagner Act, Taft-Hartley Act, and Tandrum - Griffin Act is required. You must understand union tactics, such as strikes, boycotts, pickets, and lockouts. A law degree is not required for entry-level positions, but those responsible for contract negotiations are often lawyers. A combination of a law degree and labor or industrial relations degree is becoming increasingly desirable. A growing number of people enter the field directly with a master's degree but many also transfer from other areas of HRM. Labor relations specialists tend to be the most highly paid specialists in HRM.
Safely and Health: Since the passage of worker's compensation laws and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), every employer has a legal obligation to provide work in a workplace that is free from recognized hazards to the physical and mental health of its employees. Employers must comply with all safety standards developed under the act and are subject to penalties for noncompliance.
The primary responsibility of a safety coordinator, safety manager, or plant inspector is to prevent accidents or injuries and investigate the causes of those that occur. This involves checking for (1) unsafe work behavior, such as performing operations without supervisory approval, removing safety devices, operating vehicles at unsafe speeds, horseplay, using improper equipment, and failure to use safety attire and devices; (2) unsafe physical conditions, such as inadequate mechanical guarding, defective equipment, unsafe design or construction, hazardous processes, and unsuitable lighting and ventilation; and (3) unsafe environmental conditions such as excessive noise, heat, vibration, and radiation; chemical contamination by fumes, gases, and toxic materials; biological threats due to bacteria, fungi, and insects; and conditions leading to unnecessary physical and psychological stress.
After accident investigations, safety managers must recommend corrective measures, and develop and coordinate an accident prevention program. This includes establishing safety rules, regulations, and standards, and communicating them to employees by way of a safety education program and safety manuals. Records of all accidents must be kept and on-site treatment of injuries given.
As a safety manager you must have thorough knowledge of OSHA and other safety regulations, and often must be a member of a recognized safety organization. Safety instruction and knowledge of first aid are required.
Training And Development
Training and development (T&D), a central tool of human-resource management, is a principal vehicle for developing the skills and abilities of employees other than through job assignments. It also provides a means of influencing employees' values, attitudes, and practices. It is a powerful communications medium controlled by the company.
Positions in T&D usually require a minimum of two or three years' experience in teaching or some professional training experience. As a training specialist, your first responsibility might be to identify the T&D needs of employees through analysis of data collected through questionnaires, interviews, and job analysis. Achievement tests, aptitude tests, and discussion are used to provide data. From the results of a needs analysis, you would define training programs and materials. This involves establishing behavioral or learning objectives for programs; determining program content; evaluating alternative instructional methods, such as books, films, videotapes, role-playing, and demonstrations; preparing scripts for films and videotapes; and determining what training materials are needed-for example, workbooks, special exercises, or business cases.
You would then decide whether to use an existing program, purchase an external program, or create a new one. Existing programs often need to be revised. Choosing an external program involves evaluation and cost/benefit analysis. Creating a new program is more complex, since it involves the development of criteria for selecting program participants, exercises, materials, and self-assessment tools. Appropriate sequencing of courses and programs (e.g. prerequisites, curricula, etc.) is also required. Once you develop the training programs, you must implement them. Behavioral modeling techniques, role-playing, simulations, lectures, discussion, and audio-visual equipment are frequently employed.
In addition to developing, analyzing, and implementing formal training programs, you would counsel individuals on career development, skill development, and other T&D matters. You may also assist managers in implementing on-the-job training.
To coordinate and manage an effective T&D program, you must be able to evaluate instructors, program-resource people, and proposals from outside consultants. Administration, record keeping, and updating duties are fairly heavy in this work. They include preparation of budgets and plans for T&D programs; maintenance of cost benefit information; program logistics, such as facilities, lodging, and meals; recording of training participation; and tuition reimbursement.
T&D departments are generally responsible for marketing their programs within the organization. This requires having good working relationships with managers as clients, and making formal presentations of T&D programs to management personnel. It includes, among other things, the preparation of reports, manuals, proposals, and speeches about T&D programs. Frequently you would write articles for periodicals and internal publications, as well as memos and announcements.
Advanced research in the training field, such as experimenting with new T&D techniques, is common, and you must keep abreast of this and T&D in other organizations. Often you will attend seminars and conferences.
Planning a career in T&D is a complex and individualized process. Many combinations of degree specializations, roles, program areas, and work settings can lead to success in this field. Formal education is important; advanced degrees are held by as many as 50 percent of those in T&D. Participation in continuing education, workshops, seminars, and noncredit courses are the primary source for updating skills and developing new ones. T&D professionals are gaining both in status and importance in their organizations as successful firms turn to developing management talent internally rather than recruiting it from outside.
