EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCE, MANAGEMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON ORGANIZATIONS IN CAMEROON. CASE STUDY; FAKO BAKERY LIMBE

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

A Grievance is any discontent or dissatisfaction rising from a feeling or a belief of unfairness felt by an employee or a set of employees in connection with the work environment (Opatha, 1994), the progress in collective bargaining for public and private employees has been appealing to public and scholarly attention worldwide. In South Africa, the Public and private Service Commission is, in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 (Act 108 of 1996),required to investigate complaints of employees in the Public Service regarding official acts or omissions, and recommend suitable remedies. To give result to this decree the Public and private Service Commission has in relations of section 196 of the Constitution and section 11 of the Public Service Commission Act, 1997 (Act 46 of 1997) circulated the Rules for Dealing with the Complaints of Workers in the Public Service (No. R 1012 of 2003). Government Gazette No. 25209 of 2004 which are referred to as Grievances According to the British academy of management by Bernard Walker and Robert T Hamilton, employer- employee conflict is demanding more attention from both managers and scholars.

In Cameroon, a good example can be taken from the strike that broke out in March 2006 by workers of Tole Tea Plantation, near Buea in the South West Region and this broke out as a result of employee grievances. The grievances included a 50 percent slash of their wages without justification and the fact that leave dues for 2003, 2004, 2005 have not been paid. There are numerous factors both interior and exterior that influence workers performance in an organization. Grievance is one of the factors which deals with employees and as concerns their working environment (Gupta, 2006). The most vital element of an organization is its workforces. This is because machines and other technological appliances cannot operate by themselves without the required personnel. Personnel who want to efficiently use these equipment to produce desired results must have the spirit to perform, this means he or she must be pleased. The reverse is true as an unsatisfied worker has grievance which hinders his/her ability to perform well.

Grievance is an experienced issue that has eaten deep into the cloths of every well-organized business establishment, be it in private or public establishments. Employee grievance suggests that the workers of that organization are not happy with the scheme of things in the said organization. For example, workers of Nexttel Buea in June 2020, had a protest against their employer. The workers had the protest asking for their arrears as well as a creation of a workers union, the disgruntled workers have also criticized the company’s administration for a 100 million FCFA contribution made for the fight against COVID-19 without first paying them. An aggrieved employee who feels he has a complaint against the manager or administrator is in contradiction with the company as a whole and so, cannot do active work. He becomes unhappy. He’s morale is low and as a consequence his efficiency drops. Satisfaction at work in terms of all Circumstances that surround the job is important to high morale. It doesn’t matter how well Paid and interesting a job may be, unless the individual performing the job feels that he is being fairly treated his morals is adversely affected.

These complains are strong feelings that a worker expresses when he or she has not been treated fairly, however not all employees complaints are defensible in that the action complained of may be legitimate behavior within the terms and spirit of a communal agreement amongst the employee and the management. Grievances happen in every workplace and handing hem appropriately is important for maintaining a pleasant-sounding and Creative work environment. Grievance management is all about how well the difficulties are addressed (and solved). It is very important in the present world. Now-a-days there are many establishments who declare that their human resources are their greatest important assets and it is no more human resources but Human Capital. This can be completed by measuring how faster the employees difficulties are addressed and Solved. If it is done faster, then it can be concluded by saying that the employee concern is significantly present in the association. The grievances of the workers are linked to the agreement, work rule or regulation, policy or process, health and safety regulation, past practice, altering the cultural norms singly, individual victimization, wage, bonus, etc. Here, the attitude on the part of administration in their effort to know the problems of employees and resolve the issues harmoniously have better chance to maintain a culture of high performance (Ohira A.U 2002:100).

Managers must be educated about the importance of the complainant process and their role in maintaining satisfactory relations with the union. Effective grievance Handling is an essential part of cultivating good worker relations and running a fair, positive, and productive workplace. Relationship building is the key to fruitful labour relations. This can be done by measuring how fast the employee’s difficulties are talked and solved: If it is done faster, then it can be concluded by saying that the employee concern is significantly present in the organization. Grievances in the organization is not an easy thing to perceive, because many grievances go unspoken and unexposed for a long period of time and require only a competent manager to diagnose and properly handle it before it turns to a grave situation. Numbers of organization have set up grievance machinery at their working places and making use of trade union activities that work hand in hand with their respective institutions. The existence of grievance in an association is inevitable because for an organization to have grievance-free relationship, it means that they will have no relationship at all. Consequently, inappropriate handling of complaint leads to disruption of work in the form of protest, violence, strike and resignation which ultimately amount to low Labour turn over, a negative effect on the overall performance of the organization e.g. the case of the workers at Tole tea who protested because their grievances were not looked into by management in March 2006. Therefore an organization wishing meaningful productivity and improved Labor management relationship must design a just and equitable grievance handling system. Management is expected to know how to solve grievances and endeavor to treat them on their merits (that is treating them fairly).

The use of Grievance Procedures are used to serve the needs of both employers and employees (Nurse, 2006). It is necessary for organizations to employ effective grievance settlement procedure to control complaints, grievances and disputes raised by employees in the interest of promoting justice while mitigating disputes. There are factors that will exhibit whether the employees’ grievances are addressed and solved properly or not. The aspects considered here include the awareness of the problem, the awareness of the employees or whom to report, the availability of the concern person, discussion of the problems, causes and effects, methods to avoid such problems in future, directions and instructions regarding how to deal with a problem, awareness programs to avoid them for fresh employees. Most employers believe that the only way to motivate employees and increase their performance is to pay them high wages and on a regular basis. Very few employers include their employees in decision making procedures. According to John Gennard and Grahan Judge (2005), Employees grievance on a wide variety of issues (including discrimination, harassment and bullying) arise even in the best managed organizations. If grievances are not dealt with, or handled quickly, they are likely to aggravate and harm the employment relationship. In every organization, there are bound to be problems related to employees and their respective functions in the organization. When they occur, they should not be swept under the carpet but looked into immediately as failure to do so could result in employee dissatisfaction and grievance

1.2 Statement of the problem

1.3 Research Questions

1.3.1 Main research Question

What are the main impacts of effective management of employee grievance on organization performance?

1.3.2 Sub Research Questions

1. What are the types of employee grievances at Fako Bakery Limbe and how do they affect organizational performance?

2. What is the level of effectiveness of the procedures used is handling employee grievances?

3. What is the impact of effective grievance management on organizational performance in Fako Bakery Limbe?

4-What are challenges faced by management in handling employee grievances?

1.4 Research Objectives

1.4.1 Main Objectives

-The main objective of this study is to assess the impact of effective management of employee grievance on organizational performance in Fako Bakery Limbe

1.4.2 Specific Objectives

1. To identify the types of employee grievances in Fako Bakery Limbe and how it affects their performance.
2. To examine the level of effectiveness of the procedures used in handling employee grievances in Fako Bakery Limbe

, 3. To examine the impact of effective grievance management on organizational performance in Fako bakery Limbe.

4. To evaluate the challenges faced by management in handling employee grievances