Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Employee relationsEmployment lawDiscipline and grievances

Bad employee relations cited as main cause of grievances between staff and managers

by Kat Baker 29 Jan 2010
by Kat Baker 29 Jan 2010

The number of HR chiefs who have blamed poor relations between line managers and staff as the main reason grievances were lodged last year has shot up dramatically, a survey published today reveals.

Nearly four in 10 (39%) HR professionals blamed the downfall in relationships between managers and workers as being the main reason grievances were lodged last year, a survey by law firm Speechly Bircham and King’s College London found. This compares to just 1% in 2008.

Those who reported bullying and harassment as the main cause of grievance also more than doubled during the recession – from 15% to 31%, the State of HR survey of 5,000 senior HR professionals, seen by Personnel Today, found.

Overall, 29% of functions reported an increase in grievances in 2009.

Stuart Woollard, managing director of King’s College London HR Management Learning Board and co-author of the survey, told Personnel Today the rise in grievances could be attributed to stressful working environments during the recession. The survey showed an 8% increase (to 38%) in HR staff who reported rising levels of stress among staff. He said: “There’s a very strong picture that a lot of employers have large aspects of their workforce who are discontented and not satisfied.

“Management have had to be tougher, conditions are more stressful, and there are higher levels of uncertainty, so there has been deterioration between senior and line managers and the people being asked to make sacrifices.”

Woollard added HR was already focused on limiting these grievances through improved staff engagement.

The survey showed 79% of those trying to improve engagement were working to develop better staff relationships with line managers, while 91% were trying to create more effective leadership and management.

He said: “If you could re-motivate and energise the workforce, then it’s likely grievances will come down.”

Meanwhile, the survey also revealed HR chiefs were confused about workforce planning over the next two years. Some 85% were uncertain about the number of staff their organisations would need, while nearly three-quarters (72%) were unclear about the skills that were required.

HR experts blamed the confusion on continued anxiety about the nature of the economic recovery and the insecurity of not knowing how many employees would abandon their firms when the jobs market picked up.

Karen Horne, chief operating officer for the human capital department at professional services firm Ernst and Young, said HR staff were “hedging their bets and waiting” to see what happened with the economy before pursuing set workforce strategies.

She said: “There is uncertainty over the direction of business and HR can’t be certain the people they have got will stay [at the company].”

Horne predicted employers could experience turnover rates of up to 30% as the economy starts to recover.

“A lot of HR professionals recognise the problem but are not in a position to formulate firm strategies,” she added. “HR could develop strategies only to find the needs of the business have shifted.”

But Nick Holley, director of the HR centre of excellence at Henley Business School, warned “not enough [HR] people were focusing on workforce planning” in preparation for the upturn.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

What HR professionals said about their function



  • 44% expect some increase in workforce in 2010
  • 32% expect relations with managers to be main cause of grievances in 2010
  • 22% still have a shortage of key staff
  • 68% see employee engagement as major challenge for 2010
  • 54% reduced their workforce in 2009

Source: Speechly Bircham/King’s College London

Kat Baker

previous post
General election 2010: HR’s wishes and worries
next post
Fit notes will not allow doctors to declare a patient ‘fit for work’

You may also like

Company director wins £15k after being told to...

4 Jul 2025

How can HR prepare for changes to the...

3 Jul 2025

Government publishes ‘roadmap’ for Employment Rights Bill

2 Jul 2025

‘Be direct’ to avoid escalating conflict, advises Acas

30 Jun 2025

Employers’ duty of care: keeping workers safe in...

27 Jun 2025

When will the Employment Rights Bill become law?

26 Jun 2025

Fear of confrontation means disputes escalate – research

25 Jun 2025

Seven ways to prepare now for the Employment...

20 Jun 2025

Sleeping security officer wins £20k for unfair dismissal

16 Jun 2025

The employer strikes back: the rise of ‘quiet...

13 Jun 2025

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+