Inside the Workplace First Findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey

1
Inside the WorkplaceFirst Findings from the
2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey

• WERS Research Team
• Royal Society of Arts
• London
• 5 July 2005

2
Overview

• What is WERS?
• Design and conduct of WERS 2004
• First Findings
• Timetable for survey outputs

3
What is WERS?

• Survey mapping the state of employment relations
  across Great Britain
• Data are collected from managers, employee
  representatives and employees at the same
  workplace
• Multi-sponsored survey DTI/ESRC/Acas/PSI
• Previous surveys held in 1980, 1984, 1990, 1998

4
Design and conduct of WERS 2004
5
Aims of WERS 2004

• To map workplace employment relations in Britain
  and changes over time
• To inform policy development and stimulate and
  inform debate and practice
• To provide a comprehensive and statistically
  reliable dataset on British workplace employment
  relations
• which is made publicly available and easily
  accessible.

6
Survey structure
7
Survey content

• Management of personnel and employment relations
• Recruitment and training
• Consultation and information
• Employee representation
• Payment systems and pay determination
• Grievance, disciplinary and dispute procedures
• Equal opportunities, work-life balance
• Workplace flexibility
• Workplace performance
• Employee attitudes to work

8
Fieldwork outcomes
Total responses Response rate
Number
2004 Cross-Section
Survey of Managers 2,295 64
Survey of Employee Representatives 991 78
Survey of Employees 22,451 61
Financial Performance Questionnaire 1,069 52

1998-2004 Panel Survey
Survey of Managers 956 77
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First Findings
10
First Findings

• Key dimensions of employment relations are
  explored
• Analysis is based on workplaces with 10
  employees
• Primary focus of the presentation is on change
  since 1998

11
Recruitment, appraisal and training
12
Selection tests, performance appraisals and
off-the-job training, 1998 and 2004
13
Work organisation
14
Work organisation, 1998 and 2004
80
74
72
69
70
66
60
48
50
41
Per cent of workplaces
40
30
21
20
16
10
0
Some core employees
Some core employees
Problem-solving
Some core employees
work in formally
trained to be
groups involving non-
trained in team-
designated teams
functionally flexible
managerial
working,
employees
communication or
problem-solving
1998
2004
15
Employee representation
16
Employee representation, 1998 and 2004
70
64
57
60
50
40
33
Per cent of workplaces
30
27
30
22
20
20
14
10
0
No union
Union recognition
Joint consultative
Any collective
members
committees
bargaining
1998
2004
17
Joint regulation of terms and conditions all
workplaces
70
6
5
18
Pay
75
10
13
3
Training
73
11
6
10
Pensions
Per cent of workplaces
71
9
5
15
Holidays
71
5
8
16
Hours
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Nothing
Inform
Consult
Negotiate
18
Joint regulation of terms and conditions
workplaces with recognised unions only
16
10
13
61
Pay
36
24
31
9
Training
Per cent of workplaces with recognised unions
Pensions
22
25
16
36
19
17
13
52
Holidays
18
10
20
53
Hours
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Nothing
Inform
Consult
Negotiate
19
Extent of trust between managers and employee
representatives

• Managers and employee representatives asked
  to rate each other on 3 dimensions of trust
• whether the other party could be relied on to
  live up to the commitments they had made
• whether the other party was sincere in their
  attempts to understand each others point of view
• whether the other party could be trusted to act
  with honesty and integrity

20
Extent of trust between managers and employee
representatives
Managers and non-union representatives
Managers and union representatives
Reps trust managers
Managers trust reps
13
Reps trust managers
12
No trust
17
23
No trust
7
Managers trust reps
Mutual trust
Mutual trust
33
31
64
21
Addressing workplace conflict
22
Indicators of workplace conflict, 1998 and 2004
23
Incidence of grievance and disciplinary procedures

• 88 per cent of workplaces had grievance
  procedures
• little change since 1998
• 91 per cent had disciplinary procedures
• an increase from 85 per cent in 1998

24
Procedures for handling grievances and
disciplinary actions
25
Equal opportunities
26
Incidence and coverage of equal opportunities
policies
27
Work-life balance
28
Flexible-working and leave arrangements for
non-managerial employees in continuing
workplaces, 1998 and 2004 (1)
24
Special paid leave in
emergencies
31
Paid
48
paternity/discretionary
92
leave for fathers
38
Parental leave
73
31
Job-sharing
41
46
Switching from full to
part-time hours
64
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Per cent of continuing workplaces
2004
1998
29
Flexible-working arrangements for non-managerial
employees in continuing workplaces, 1998 and 2004
(2)
19
Flexitime
26
16
Homeworking
28
14
Term-time only
28
8
Annualised hours
13
3
Zero hours contracts
5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Per cent of continuing workplaces
2004
1998
30
Responsibility for work-life balance

• 65 per cent of managers believed that it was up
  to individual employees to balance their work and
  family responsibilities
• down from 84 per cent in 1998
• 58 per cent of employees considered that managers
  were understanding of their responsibilities
  outside of work
• up slightly from 55 per cent in 1998

31
Job-satisfaction
32
Job satisfaction (1)
100
10
11
11
16
90
19
18
80
19
22
70
60
Per cent of employees
50
40
72
72
70
63
30
20
10
0
Scope for using
Work itself
Sense of
Job security
initiative
achievement
Satisfied
Neither
Dissatisfied
33
Job satisfaction (2)
34
Management-employee relations
35
Managers and employees perceptions
ofmanagement-employee relations, 1998 and 2004
36
Summary
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Stability in a number of ER areas

• Incidence of procedures for handling grievances
• Incidence of industrial action
• Employees satisfaction with pay or
  management-employee relations
• Proportion of workplaces with methods of work
  organisation

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Continued decline of collective organisation

• Employees less likely to be union members in 2004
  
• Decline in the rate of union recognition
• Collective bargaining less prevalent
• However,
• Fall in union recognition had arrested in
  workplaces with 25
• Decline in collective bargaining was confined to
  the private sector.
• Joint regulation remains a reality for many
  employees
• half of employees were in workplaces with a
  recognised union
• 40 per cent had their pay set through collective
  bargaining.

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Work-life balance

• Substantial increase in availability of a number
  of flexible working and paid leave arrangements
• at least amongst continuing workplaces
• Employers increasingly concerned about employees
  needs to balance work and family life
• However, employees did not perceive such a change
  in employer attitudes

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State of employment relations

• Overt workplace conflict remained low
• Managers perceptions of management-employee
  relations have improved
• though there was little change in employees
  views
• Mutual trust appeared in only a minority of
  management/union rep relationships
• but was more prevalent amongst managers and
  non-union reps

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WERS 2004 Timetable
42
Timetable for survey outputs
Activity Timing
WERS 2004 questionnaires December 2004
Data deposited in UK Data Archive November 2005
Sourcebook of findings Spring 2006
Report on ER in small businesses Spring 2006
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Further information

• Further information about the design and
  development of WERS 2004
• www.dti.gov.uk/er/emar/wers5.htm
• Routledge companion website to the sourcebook
  of findings
• www.routledge.com/textbooks/0415378133

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