Google in China free essay sample

In 2006, China endeavored to move away from communism and pronounced itself focused on financial change and to opening itself to the outside world. Extended individual flexibilities for its residents, in any case, China despite everything kept up a cruel authorization of political and strict guidelines ? Enrollment in the WTO set China back up for life as a potential market for Western organizations ? Hurray! first American Internet organization to enter China in 1999. Uncensored Internet data was not invited by Chinese specialists and government authorities quickly actualized rules confining access to content esteemed inappropriate or unsafe, and observed Internet utilization of its residents ? Remembered numerous private residents for their reconnaissance endeavors, and executed open purposeful publicity battles to make environment of dread from response and self-restriction ? Tom MacLean executive of International Business for Google Inc. or on the other hand most recent nine months; beginning to stress over his professional stability after a tempest of analysis coming about because of choice to consent to subject Google’s query items to Chinese power examination ? Felt that he and his group had been aware of political traps they could look in actualizing their key arrangement in China; level and power of resulting kickback and objection was sudden ? Elliot Schrage, Google’s VP of Global Communications and Public Affairs, efended G oogle’s restriction understanding as important, while simultaneously conceding choice clashed profoundly with Google’s center standards, and that it was something they were not pleased with ? Congressional hearing planted seeds of uncertainty in MacLean about Google in China choice. We will compose a custom paper test on Google in China or on the other hand any comparative point explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page Beginning to address if Google was underwriting oversight by adjusting to the Chinese authorities’ rules, if Google was going about as a device for the legislature, if Chinese residents were in reality happier after Google’s choice to enter China, and whether restriction choice went against their expressed corporate way of thinking ? Top administration guarantee Google’s choice was made dependent on data at present accessible at that point; were not hesitant to return to that choice if vital ? MacLean has just a single day before going to a gathering where he would be addressed on the turn of events and usage of Google’s China procedure and requested his recommendations for future game-plans ? MacLean under a ton of strain to act, however his sense is to stay by his system and let it play out somewhat more; trusting that Senate hearing would be the last piece of exposure for some time Issue Identification: (Write in complete sentences starting now and into the foreseeable future) Key Identify serious problem(s) and any minor contributing problem(s) ? Google’s propelling of Google China and concurring with Chinese government’s control requests has discolored their notoriety and open picture (major) ? Loads of terrible exposure created comprehensively; makes them look like wolves in sheep's clothing ? Gotten between distance of a possibly incredibly rewarding universal market and a moral situation of worldwide extent ? Organization mocked for its pronounced â€Å"don’t be evil† maxim; pundits censure Google for supporting a nation with a system known for its various, very much archived maltreatment of human rights and harsh measures; infringement of globally perceived standards (minor) ? What ought to MacLean say at the gathering to legitimize his system? ? Has it gotten important for Google’s top administration group to return to choice considering new data and conditions? What would it be a good idea for us to do? Under a great deal of strain to act†¦. before long Inferences: Key Read between the lines and make a few suspicions about the case that re recommended yet not expressly gave (set out to find the real story) ? Choice by Google to choose China as its worldwide objective at this specific point in their political and social history is suspect, in any case, as per their drawn out worldwide procedure, they couldn't leave behind such a huge open door ? Restriction cho ice was important to keep up their situation as worldwide web crawler showcase pioneers and to fight off advances from significant contenders, for example, Yahoo! (who as of now have a set up solid footing in China) and Microsoft ? Fit for enduring out the tempest of analysis without significant negative money related ramifications ? In time, whole scene will just â€Å"blow over† as media proceeds onward to something different ? For long haul increase, worth enduring transient agony ? Activities can be defended whenever given the correct â€Å"spin† ? No unsalvageable harm has been done to the company’s notoriety ? Universal business chance related with choice can be overseen General Case Ideas: Key Link pertinent course material/hypothesis to the case State relevant hypothesis (the â€Å"what†) ? The worldwide economy (Chapter 1, pages XX) Cultural impacts on worldwide business (Chapter 3, pages XX) ? Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Market Screening Process presents ? Morals and Corporate Social Responsibility in International Business present ? Government and political impacts on worldwide business (Chapter 4, pages XX) ? Overseeing universal business chance (Chapter 21, pag es XX) Make pertinent associations between course hypothesis and the case (the â€Å"so what†) ? There are four significant classifications of the worldwide business condition that MNCs ought to consider when settling on potential development markets: 1. Geographic Conditions (atmosphere, landscape, seaways, normal assets) 2. Social Factors (acknowledged practices, qualities, and customs; language, instruction, religion, social connections) 3. Political and Legal Factors (kind of government, political solidness, government arrangements toward business) 4. Monetary Conditions (kind of financial framework, general training level of the populace, sorts of businesses, level of innovation) ? The two of these that are generally relevant to this case are: Cultural Social Factors The more comparative one’s own way of life is to another ever, language, religion and so forth , the less troublesome it is to direct business in that society. Be that as it may, when social orders vary on the vast majority of these attributes, the potential for trouble develops exponentially. For most American organizations in China, this potential is high. There will be countless, unanticipated difficulties, in any event, when there is a genuine exertion to find out about and get China and its kin. While working together in China, numerous social and social contemplations must be tended to. Political and Legal Factors China hosts been under the socialist gathering rule for a long time. The socialist party practices total control over enactments and financial and social organizations. Dissimilar to western economies where the administration advances straightforwardness for working together, in China rules and guidelines are not all that straightforward. Exacting laws and licenses in economies of the west ensure household and remote organizations, while in China, the legitimate framework is approximately characterized, offering ascend to different escape clauses in the law. While working together in China, numerous political and legitimate contemplations must be thought of. End and Recommendations: Key Suggest explicit and implementable answers for take care of distinguished issues ? Keep up the state of affairs with respect to choice †¦but go into harm control mode ? Recruit a universally experienced and prestigious advertising firm to introduce the circumstance in an increasingly positive light (â€Å"spin doctors†) ? Counter terrible exposure by utilizing the media for your potential benefit. Issue a progression of official statements contending that it would be all the more harming to pull out of China inside and out; address reactions straightforwardly and obviously clarify the justification of your choice ? Contend that restriction is important to shield the Chinese government from blocking Google through and through, and that Google can assume a job increasingly helpful to the reason with the expectation of complimentary discourse by taking an interest in Chinas data innovation industry than by declining to go along and being denied admission to the terrain Chinese market ? Feature the way that Chinese specialists have confined residents to opular web crawlers, for example, Altavista and Yahoo! before, and that while evacuating indexed lists is conflicting with Googles crucial, no data at all would be considerably increasingly conflicting with their main goal ? Increasingly open perceivability of Yahoo originators Page and Brin just as CEO Eric Schmidt. Conveyance of steady message through deliberately organized TV and print promotion crusades and appearances at national and worldwide industry discussions ? Change open discernment through expanded advancement of Google’s altruistic work ? It isn't Google’s employment to fix governments yet to give the best assistance to clients and the most ideal come back to its partners. By deciding to work together in China, they must serve the Chinese individuals in their best, yet confined, way given current political atmosphere ? On the off chance that we didnt do it, another person would have ? Underscore that oversight issues are not confined to China and that Google likewise needed to do comparable things in Germany just as in their own nation of origin to meet lawful necessities ? Stand together as an industry. Enroll rival’s help with comparable issues and basic interests. Get Bill Gates, very rich person author of Microsoft, to go to bat for chief opponent Google and contend that state control was no purpose behind innovation organizations not to work together in China. Get Gates to give open articulation that the Internet is adding to Chinese political commitment, as access to the outside world is forestalling more restriction ? Close its China workplaces and forsake advertise

Procter and Gamble Case Study free essay sample

1.) LAUNDRY PG: 46.0% Tide (33.2%) Mr. Clean (7.9%) Unilever Phils.: 32.5% Surf (19.2%) Breeze (10.7%) Superior: 5.6% Champion (5.6%) 2.) FABRIC CONDITIONERS PG: 63.9% Wool (63.9%) Unilever Phils.: 27.7% Solace (27.72%) Henkel Phils.: 4.8% Vernell (4.8%) 3.) TOILET SOAPS PG: 63.9% Defend (57.0%) Ivory (5.0%) CPP: 13.4% Palmolive Naturals (8.3%) Delicate Care (3.8%) JJ Phils.: 4.6% 4.) HAIR CONDITIONER Unilever: 82.5% Creamsilk (82.5%) PG: 11.0% Pantene (7.5%) Ivory (3.5%) Bristol-Myers: 4.9% Home grown Essence (4.9%) 5.) SHAMPOOS PG: 41.0% Celebrate (16.9%) Pantene (9.1%) HeadShoulders (8.9%) Ivory (6.0%) Unilever: 11.0% Sunsilk (23.5%) Lux (6.8%) CPP: 23.1% Palmolive (16.5%) Optima (3.3%) 6.) BABY DIAPERS PG: 41.0% Spoils Comfort (29.2%) Spoils Dry (12.6%) Kimberly-Clark Phils.: 37.5% Huggies (21.4%) Kimbies (16.1%) Unitrade: 12.7% Prokids (9.4%) Lovesome (1.1%) 7.) CATAMENIALS JJ Phils.: 52.9% Modess (36.8%) Joyful (16.0%) PG: 25.6% Murmur (25.6%) Kimberly-Clark Phils.: 18.5% Newtex (18.5%) Targets To expand piece of the pie of hair conditioner classification from 11% with 10% dynamic increment in each quarter. To build piece of the pie of catamenials classification from 25% to half. To build up a superior item separation for catamenials and hair conditioner portfolio to rival the main rivals. Outer Environment Dangers: Proceeding with decrease of the Philippines economy and political unsteadiness The result of contenders has just settled a devoted market that PG may think that its hard to infiltrate the objective market The contenders are worldwide organization too that keeps up a forceful promoting techniques There is a development of modest private-name brands of retailers like the SM reward There is bringing down of costs of contenders because of expanding between Asian association (AFTA) There is an inundation of merger-fever of huge contenders Openings: Noteworthy increment in populace which gives an open door for a bigger market Growth in the mechanical and administration division There is a wide exhibit of market in Hair Conditioner classification since anyone youthful and old can utilize it People are getting progressively aware of individual consideration that opens to a huge market. Interior Environment Shortcomings: Keeps up wide assortment of items coming about to certain items appear to be unnoticed by the customers Skills, preparing and improvement on occasion deprioritized/deferred No genuine cognizant exertion to look for cost decrease openings in territories of: OPERATING EXPENSES, ASSETS UTILIZATION, MARKETING, CONSUMER RESEARCH, TECHNICAL TESTING, MERCHANDISING, ETC., STRENGTHS: One of the top organizations in the nation Has built up brand names and considered as market pioneer in family unit necessities and individual consideration Maintains high honesty as far as item quality and looks forward consistently to win in the commercial center Vicious in building unrivaled associations with the objective market including clients, providers, the private and government parts. Elective Courses of Action Activity Focal points Weaknesses Concentrate on Product Development - Will improve consumer loyalty furthermore, keep up item unwaveringness among shopper - Create item separation and build up a superior item picture - Efficient usage of assembled information - Additional expense - Focus on Research and Development (RD) Enter the market through monstrous tri-media battle (print, communicate, TV) with concentrating on customer fulfillment - Promote item and become a commonly recognized name among shoppers - Vast assets of P G could be put to use with a forceful advertising procedure that is pointed of keeping up its serious edge over different organizations. - Additional expense - Would confront hardened rivalry with other worldwide organizations that give hair conditioner and catamenials item. Set up an all around arranged administration of item conveyance in every aspect of the nation - Increase piece of the overall industry through creation the item helpfully accessible in every aspect of appropriation outlets - This will improve the advertising of the item Organize the progression of the conveyance of items - Additional workforce implies extra cost Methodologies Need to fortify the attractiveness of the two items by building up our incentive in addition to an enormous publicizing and special crusades just as creating dispersion inclusion to arrive at item development. Consumer loyalty Improvement of item quality to concoct the best item separation to be offered to the customer on which the R D will be entrusted to execute. Correspondence TO CONSUMERS 1. Publicizing Thorough publicizing effort utilizing print advertisement, TV/Radio media, announcement, flyers, pennants and so forth. Will commission top promoting organization to make another face to the brands. 2. Picture Models Every product offering would have a model that would typify the item separation. In catamenial classification, the endorser should speak to tenable ability like well known star that shows excitement, magnificence and tastefulness in all viewpoints. For hair conditioner classification, the picture model ought to be a mainstream star that is being loved both by youthful and old. 3. Spending plan A. Catamenial Category ( Whisper ) Starting financial plan for year is P100,000,000.00 Spreads Production, TV advertisements, radio and print B.Hair Conditioner ( Pantene ) Starting Budget for the year is P130,000,000.00 Covers all tri-media costs Covers ability charge just as creation of advertisements Comfort A. Deals Force: Fortify its business power by giving enough commissions to urge them to cover across the nation dissemination Trainings and courses will be directed routinely to sales reps so as to accomplish item information and how to settle a negotiation. B. Wholesalers/Dealers We will be giving better edge of limits for significant wholesaler just as sellers to convey the items Would stretch out a decent credit line to large wholesalers C. Nearby Satellites Build up a branch in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao to oversee appropriately the dispersion of stocks accessible whenever required by the wholesalers Action Plans/Programs A.Launching of new advertisements advancements (tri-media) Key Dates:1st Quarter of the Year (January †March) Re-propelling of the result of its new promotions and a new endorser by means of formal item notices through the media †radio, TV, and print. The limited time battle for the item will be in to the max Holding of question and answer session and issue public statements with its new endorser Nationwide visit will be done to be secured by a significant TV station B.Summer Special Big Event Key Dates:2nd Quarter (April June) Ceaseless tri-media commercial Screen showcase acknowledgment Support significant summer exercises like excellence expos, sports exercises, and so on. Structuring new idea on advertisements and advancement Arrangement of prepared deals power C.Introduction of New Ads through TV stations Key Dates:3rd Quarter (July September) Presentation of new advertisements in all TV stations Make a jingle in through TV advertisements that any individual would appreciate to copy Continuous print promotions and radio situations Assessment of every circulation communities across the nation D.Year End Special Key Dates:4th Quarter (October December) Appraisal of 3 quarters execution Direct a stock review and item assessment development versus the financial plan Sustain its ads to guarantee proceeded with item support Culmination of the vital plans through a Christmas extraordinary, for example, party, money reward or any motivating forces for top performing workers. Acknowledgment of buyer of its proceeded with support of item through wager draw. Potential Problem Usage of the previously mentioned techniques and plans will urge the contending organizations to concentrate likewise on the most proficient method to keep up its market initiative in catamenials and hair conditioner class. They would address too the conveyance of the ideal fulfillment of shoppers more viably and effectively than what they did in the standard advertising practice. The difficulties that would rise will be a difficulty on consumer’s reaction and how to conform to the different promoting contributions of each contending organizations. Alternate course of action Every product offering directors of catamenials and hair conditioner class will be dynamic in the month to month evaluation and understanding of the money related information dependent on deals/advertise reaction. Thorough research studies and conveyance focuses checking will be attempted. This will give estimation with regards to the adequacy of the plans actualized and the yield would determine what vital and prompt change or improvement steps to be completed.

Effective Ways Of Handling Employee Grievance

Effective Ways Of Handling Employee Grievance We all complain about our bosses (mostly behind their backs).With that in mind, it would be silly to expect our employees (or juniors) not to complain about one thing or another in the workplace.To hear an employee complaining about having a hard time with their tasks, or even day to day interaction with other employees, is already something that happens in many different companies. How you handle these complaints can easily mean the difference between being the superboss everyone wants to work for and the dictator responsible for everybody’s problems. Most companies have measures in place to deal with those complaints and resolve any problems. These measures could be in the form of company policies or programs that specifically focus on resolving issues employees have within the workplace, whether it has something to do with their job or with their co-workers.The perspective shifts greatly when the complaints from employees are directed towards their employers. There has always been a stigma attached to employees complaining against their employer, and this goes back to the old times. Stories of masters and slaves have been told through the ages. If a slave openly expressed their opinions on what they considered to be the shortcomings of their masters, things did not end well.Don’t get excited. Your employees are not your slaves.Stories like those have been retold over and over as time went by, even as corporate and workplace cultures have evolved. Employees who complain against their employers were, more often than not, viewed as ungrateful, showing no gratitude because the act seems dangerously close to “biting the hand that feeds them”. That’s probably the reason why for a long time most employees would exploit all possible avenues of solving a problem before approaching the boss.Today, times have changed in favor of these employees and workers. Worker rights have certainly gained more recognition, and one indication is how complaints are now given more attention and actually taken seriously. Now, employees can make their complaints formal and they even have the right avenues and platforms to formally air their concerns.WHAT IS EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCE?Employee grievance is one of the many aspects of personnel management. If you try to go over the company policies and employee handbooks of companies, you are bound to find extensive discussion on employee grievance. But what is a grievance in the first place?Grievance is generally defined as a “real or imagined wrong, or other cause for protest that is a cause of distress”. In legalese, grievance is any “injury, injustice or wrong that affords reason for resistance, and its formal expression is in the form of a complaint”.In the context of bosses and their juniors, there is a more specific definition provided by HR practitioners. They define “employee grievance” as a specific complaint or formal notice of employee dissatisfaction related to the adequacy of pay or compensation, the job requirements, the current work conditions, or other aspects of their employment. Often, you will also hear employee grievance when employers are accused by employees to have committed a violation of the terms of an existing collective bargaining agreement.It is a complaint when the employee merely expresses his thoughts and opinions verbally, talking about it to anyone who cares to listen. It becomes a grievance when the employee formalizes it, mostly through putting the complaint in writing and submitting it to the appropriate authority t asked to look into the resolution of the complaint.It is comparable to a university setting. Students dissatisfied with certain aspects of the school administration can complain all they want, but it becomes a grievance once they file a collective petition against the university’s administration. Usually, the formal airing of the grievances is the only thing that results in action from the authorities.Handling employee grievances is a function of the company human resource management department. It makes sense, since the employees can hardly file their complaints against the person they are complaining about, can they? In these instances, the HR department acts as a semi-independent body. It is “semi” independent because, although they are part of the company’s administrative structure, their actions in investigating and helping resolve employee grievances must be independent and unbiased, with respect to the employer or the subject of the complaint.Employee grievance, altho ugh integrated into many company policies, remains to be a heavy and very sensitive issue. Each grievance must be given serious attention, and that falls on the shoulders of the HR or a grievance committee, if there is one formed within the organizational structure. The main task of these grievance committees is to look into the validity of the complaint.We are talking about having to air your dissatisfaction against the employer that essentially signs your paycheck, so it definitely takes a lot of guts to get out there and make your complaint formal. However, it is also a fact that there are some employees that make baseless accusations against their employers because they have their own agendas in mind. This is why employee grievance must be dealt with fairly and properly. TYPES OF EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCESEmployees will not complain for no reason. By identifying the types of employee grievances, we can immediately identify the reasons or causes of such complaints. The types of grievanc es are based on the nature of the complaint, and we will take a look at the most common ones.Employee compensation and benefitsA great bulk of employee grievance cases has something to do with the pay and benefit packages that employees receive â€" or do not receive â€" from their employers. This is the topic most unions take up with the management of the companies they belong to.For example, you may feel like you are undercompensated, or that your salary is not proportional to the level of your responsibilities combined with the bulk and complexity of the work you are actually doing. Other times, you may also feel that there are benefits that you are entitled to but are not being given. This is reason enough for employees to complain against their employers, and no doubt, if you feel that your employer is dong one of these, you’ll not hesitate to lodge your complaint.Attention may also be fixed on pay equity within the organization, with respect to the amount of work and the natu re of the job. In instances when the company grants pay increases or bonuses, if the incentives are not balanced, the group receiving lower incentives will make complaints that they will feel compelled to take to a formal level.Employment and personnel policiesEmployees’ complaints may also be spurred by layoffs, transfers and assignments. If you feel that you have been unfairly transferred to, say, a division or department where your skills are not really required, and your earlier efforts to ask for a reconsideration fail, chances are that you will feel compelled to formalize the complaint into a grievance.The grievance could also be due to some areas or clauses contained in the company’s personnel policies, such as the hiring and recruitment procedures, leave administration, and merit and promotion plans, to name a few.Workload and work distributionYou can also feel that you have been unfairly given more work than other people in the same rank. This clearly shows that there i s a problem with how the workload is distributed among the employees. All employees getting the same compensation should also get roughly the same volume of work and responsibilities.Aside from unfair distribution of work, the complaint may arise simply from the employees’ opinion that the company is working them to the ground. This is especially true in the case of companies that are going through lean times and have to employ cost-cutting measures. For example, efforts of the company to bring down costs could lead to you and the other employees in your department to put in more work outside your usual work hours.Here’s the catch: if the extra responsibilities will not be treated as overtime, you won’t be receiving any extra compensation and as a result, you will most certainly protest. You will definitely not listen to the explanation that the company is simply cutting down on costs. In other cases, you may be asked to take on more work, so that you are technically going to perform the work of two or three people. If you are asked to do so without a corresponding increase in your compensation, there is bound to be a problem.Your employer may have appealed to your good conscience to “sacrifice that much” for the company during tough times. During the first few months, you’re probably going to be all right with it. However, if that situation drags on longer, and it seems that the employer is getting comfortable and he shows no clear plans or intentions of setting it right after the company has regained its footing, then clearly, these are causes for concern.Work conditionsUnsafe workplaces and offices that pose potential physical harm and health problems to employees are also seen as valid reasons for a formal complaint. One of the best indicators of a company caring about its employees is the provision of a safe and clean working environment.Are you provided with the tools necessary to carry out your tasks? Are you working with well-functioning to ols, machinery and equipment? Is the workplace well-ventilated and properly lit? Needless to say, if these are not satisfactory, not only will they cause potential harm and injury to the employees, they will also bring about frustration and dissatisfaction.Management-employee relationsIn some cases, it is possible for you as an employee to feel a divide or a gap with management or your employer. Maybe you are having trouble gaining access to, and communicating with, the employer. One way to bridge that gap is to file a grievance.Unions exist to represent the interest of the employees to the management, and their primary focus is on unfair labor practices that harm the relationship between the management and employees.[slideshare id=64703087doc=managingdisciplineandgrievance-160804152859w=640h=330]THE EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCE PROCESSIn order to handle employee grievances, there must be a set of procedures or a process to be followed. The process may vary depending on the company, specifica lly its culture. Usually, we hear of grievance procedures being developed as part of collective bargaining agreements or company policies designed as a means of internal dispute resolutions. These are often contained in companies’ Formal Grievance Procedures and employee Handbooks.No matter what the differences are, however, these processes mostly follow a basic flow. The grievance process is set in motion once the grievance committee or HR has received the grievance of the employee in writing. Resolving it is done, generally, through a five-step process, as described below.1. The supervisor or a manager takes informal action.If you are the HR representative, or the person in charge of handling grievances in the company, you are supposed to inform the manager or supervisor that the employee directly reports to about it. You are basically letting them take the first step or first informal action, which is usually through a casual and discreet conversation with the employee who made the complaint.The purpose of this informal action is to try to settle the problem early on, without involving other members of the grievance committee. Perhaps a resolution can be reached before the problem becomes more serious and the grievance reaches a higher stage.It is also during this step that the grievance of the employee is acknowledged. The mere fact that you called the attention of his or her immediate supervisor is already an acknowledgement on your part that the employee has a grievance, and it has reached the proper eyes and ears. It is important to let the employee know that his thoughts or concerns are not being outright ignored, and that steps are going to be taken to address them.The supervisor or the person having the talk with the employee should demonstrate sensitivity and the ability to actually listen to what the employee has to say. No matter how, initially, the complaint may seem silly or nonsensical, there is a need to treat it seriously.If no settlement h as been reached at this early stage, the grievance will proceed to the next step. Often, the employee will be required to submit a grievance letter to formalize the whole thing.2. A formal meeting is held with the employee.The formal stage of the process begins and, this time, the grievance committee will take the reins. You will schedule a formal meeting with the employee, and it is in that venue where his grievance will be discussed in greater detail.The meeting should be held private. There are two parties that must be present during the meeting: you as a representative (and other representatives, if any) from the grievance committee and the employee who filed the grievance. In most cases, the employee may be accompanied by another co-worker.Witnesses may be invited. In the course of conducting the meeting, you may deem it necessary to call or invite other employees as witnesses that may provide valuable input regarding the grievance.Confidentiality is a must. The details about t he meeting taking place must be kept under wraps, strictly among the people involved. Thus, the location of the meeting should also be kept off-limits to outsiders or uninvolved individuals.The formal meeting is the appropriate venue to fully discuss the grievance of the employee, focusing on who, what, where, when, why and how the issue came to being. All accounts made by the employee as well as those of any witnesses during the meeting will be the basis in ascertaining whether the grievance is valid or not.Depending on its nature and complexity, the grievance may be resolved at this step. If it’s not solved, the process proceeds to the third step.3. Further investigation is conducted.If the grievance is so complex that it cannot be resolved during the formal meeting, there is a need to conduct further investigation.Fact and data gathering tasks are going to be conducted by members of the grievance committee. You may have already obtained more than the bare facts during the forma l meeting, but those are mostly one-sided, since the input was mainly from the employee. There might be a need to verify some facts that will support any decision that will be made about validity of the complaint.Usually, you will be going about it using the typical data-gathering methods, such as the conduct of interviews with other employees and key personalities to get more information that may shed some light on the grievance.4. A decision is made and communicated to the employee.The results of the formal meeting, and any further investigations conducted, will be the basis for the committee to decide whether the grievance is valid or not. Once a decision has been reached, you must communicate it to the employee.It is important to keep the employee informed of the progress of the investigation â€" and the entire grievance management procedure â€" every step of the way. It’s a matter of fairness and respect for the employee, and to ensure transparency in how the grievance is bei ng handled. This will also help him decide on the next steps to take regarding the complaint.If the grievance is valid, it may be resolved at this stage and your job is done. If the resolution is not to the employee’s satisfaction, you may have to take it to the next step.5. If the grievance is rejected, or it was resolved but the employee was not satisfied with the resolution, the grievance may be taken to the next level in the management hierarchy.The facts will be reviewed, and a decision will again have to be made to resolve the grievance. If, again, it is not resolved at that stage, it will be taken to another, higher, level of management. It may even reach a point where an outsider will be called in to arbitrate and provide a fresh perspective.The higher the level of management that the grievance goes up to, the more people will be involved. This is why, at the beginning, all efforts should be geared to settling the complaint as early as possible. This is because taking it f urther is bound to take more time and company resources.HOW TO MANAGE EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCEResolving employee grievance is usually not an easy task. The one thing that will assure handling it effectively is to approach it systematically, and that is through following the employee grievance process.On top of implementing a systematic grievance process, here are a few other things that you can do to ensure grievances of employees are properly managed and resolved.Find a permanent solution.Solve, do not troubleshoot. Your goal should be to come up with a solution that will, as much as possible, put the grievance brought by the employee to rest, rather than provide a temporary fix. A temporary fix is no solution at all, since the problem is bound to come up again, probably on a bigger scale, since the root cause is still there.Therefore, your goal should be to eliminate the root cause of the problem. Remove the reason for the employee’s complaint.Listen, and listen well.Remember, all gri evances put forth by employees must be heard and listened to. Even if they do not seem plausible at first, and even if they are brought up in very casual conversations, as if in passing. A complaint is a complaint, and it denotes dissatisfaction of an employee. No one wants a dissatisfied and frustrated employee.It is important for people who are in charge of carrying out the grievance process to be good listeners. This is the first step toward finding a resolution to the grievance. By listening, you are also encouraging the employee to be more confident in resolving his complaint. If the employee feels that he is simply being patronized and that he is not being taken seriously, he might take his complaint outside the company, resulting in litigation that will prove to be far more tedious, costly, and damaging to the company and its reputation.One mistake that you should avoid is to treat the employee with hostility and be wholly unwelcome about the fact that he is taking his concer ns forward. Three possible outcomes can be expected from this scenario. The first may involve the employee cowering and slinking away with his complaints. He may even start to feel guilty about trying to air his complaints, and he will feel guarded around others. You will then find him still working, but with dissatisfaction that continuously eats away at him, eventually affecting his job performance and productivity.The second possible outcome involves the courts, with the employee taking legal action against his employers if it is a violation that is against labor law. Finally, the employee can look for a different company to work for and you will have to restart the hiring process to look for a replacement.Clearly, we know what choice the company will prefer. It’s bad rep if your business is suddenly painted as a company that is so problematic its own employees are taking it to court in a legal battle.Respond quickly.This pertains to how swift and decisive the action will be on ce the grievance has been received. Some companies may take their time and drag their feet, probably hoping that the passage of time will eventually convince the employee to just forget about his complaint and give it up. But this approach may backfire, and the employee may add another complaint to the list, and that is on the slow progress in the handling of his grievance.Grievance proceedings should not be allowed to go on for months. Think about all the work that will be affected in the interim. Most likely, the employee will not be able to perform at his peak when it comes to his assigned tasks because a huge chunk of his attention is occupied by the question on when his concerns will be tackled by the grievance committee.In the same vein, as discussed earlier, once a decision has been arrived at, communicating the decision to the employee should also be done quickly. Do not put it off for later.Keep an open mind.This is in line with acknowledging that a grievance exists, even i f you are still in the process of determining whether it is valid or not. By showing skepticism and doubt, you are also showing that you already have prejudged the situation. This means that your objectivity will be shot, and the decision may not be as unbiased as you will later represent it to be.Being antagonistic and hostile is also counterproductive. Anyone tasked to handle employee grievance must maintain a degree of independence from their employer. Throughout the whole process, you should keep an open mind and get all the facts before arriving at conclusions and making decisions. Leave all your prejudices outside the door whenever you are sitting down to investigate the facts.Come up with alternative courses of actions.It is not enough to come up with a single course of action to resolve the issue. As much as possible, identify other options, just so you will have alternatives in the event that the first course of action will not be acceptable to the concerned parties. This i s so that you can cover all your bases and avoid wasting time in thinking of other solutions.If you already have a number of alternatives to choose from, the time to resolve the issue â€" as well as the costs and resources involved â€"will be cut down considerably.Keep all communication lines open.And not just during the investigation period. The employee should be able to connect and communicate with you and the other members of the grievance committee throughout the whole process, and even when it is over and the issue has been resolved, in case there are other things to follow up on.Be responsive whenever the employee reaches out to you. Schedule follow-up meetings when necessary, and ensure that the people involved are truly involved. Think of the grievance committee as one of the bridges that link employees to their employers, and if they are unable to communicate with the people in charge of handling grievances, then the essence of that “link” is gone.Document every step o f the grievance process.This is very important, not just as a matter of record or for future reference, but to be kept apprised and up to date on the progress of the process. A similar grievance may crop up in the future, and so you already have something to start on.The documentation will also come in handy when management decides to develop or improve its internal policies on personnel administration, worker and employee welfare, and similar management aspects and issues.Establish and implement good policies on handling employee grievance.Finally, the best thing that a company can do to handle employee grievances is to have a sound grievance machinery or system in place. This is to avoid complications in the future when employees file more complaints, because there is already a guide or a roadmap that can be followed by the grievance committee.This is also an indication of the acceptance of the company that there are bound to be grievances in the future, so the most logical thing to do is to be prepared for them. This preparedness actually puts the company in a good light, since it shows that they do pay attention to their employees, and they are making every effort to ensure that their people remain satisfied under their employ.Once these policies are established, it is even more important to see to it that they are fully and properly implemented. It will be a complete waste if perfectly sound grievance policies are there, but they are not used properly, so no problems are actually resolved. It goes without saying that post-implementation reviews must be conducted from time to time. The changing nature of the business landscape dictates that management must also ensure that policies are kept current and up to date.Handling employee grievance is perhaps one of the most undesirable aspects of human resource and business management. However, it plays a very crucial role in ensuring the smooth flow of operations and business processes in a company.All companies should aim for zero grievances from employees. In reality, however, this is too good to be true. What they can do is to handle these grievances smartly, swiftly and successfully, so that the normal operations of the business will not be disrupted, and the working environment remains harmonious.