Drivers of Cordial Employee Relations: The Study of a State-owned Public Sector Undertaking

Abstract

The wave of change and rigorous competition has compelled the power sector to adopt a proactive resolution-oriented employee relations (ER) approach towards employee satisfaction and organizational performance. A cordial ER is based on fairness, trust and mutual respect and leads to motivated, loyal and high-performing employees and facilitates them to achieve the optimum results for their organization. Therefore, the study aims to examine the employer–employee relations prevalent in power sector. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect the data from a sample of 175 full-time working members including both executives and non-executives and were analysed using SPSS. For this study, a hypothesized research model was developed to investigate the relationship between drivers of ER and cordial ER. The regression analysis entails that the variables such as: interpersonal relationships, safe and healthy work environment, and employee welfare were significant predictors of cordial ER. The research will add practical insights for managers to realize the importance of these drivers of ER and to design appropriate strategies and policies for maintaining better ER.