Employee Relations | Meaning and Definition

What are Employee Relations?

Employee Relations, also known as ER, can be defined as the relationship between the employer and the employee. To be precise, it is the level of an employer’s efforts to facilitate a healthy environment to nurture positive relationships within the organization. Employee relations encompasses a vast range of emotions that includes the physical, emotional, and practical phases of the employer-employee relationship; as such, it is extremely crucial to ensure a healthy HR-Employee Relation in the workforce. Similar to the Customer Relationship Management (CRM), which is known to play a key role in business success, Employee Relations is also an essential factor that has a considerable effect on the business performance. 

Hence, Employee Relationship Management must be given the same weightage as other managerial practices to ensure a company’s success irrespective of its size. A healthy environment encourages the employees to work at the best level and deliver optimal performance. The happiness and satisfaction of an employee at work are directly reflected in the level of commitment to the assigned work. Smoothly functioning employer-employee relationships deliver productive outcomes and foster loyalty to the company. According to experts, an average individual spends almost half of their life either working or commuting to and from the workplace, so it is crucial to maintain a healthy work environment. Misunderstandings, arguments, and miscommunication at the workplace lead to an unhealthy environment that can decline the quality of the work, leading to strained relationships between the employee and the employer.