NEW PARADIGM OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONSHIP IN INDIA

Introduction

Industrial relationship is a field, which basically deals with the

relationship between the management and work force. Like any other
field of social science it has been subject to change since its inception,
initially labor was thought just as a mean for production, and the idea was
to exploit it to the highest degree possible, this kind of mindless
exploitation gave rise to militant unionism, strikes and gheraos .

With time it was realized that that labor is not a resource to be exploited
but an ally to be utilized in a proper way to achieve higher goals and
gradually there was a change in the dynamics of industrial relations. In
present scenario when the Indian economy is globalizing very rapidly
followed by the massive influx of technology, capital and ideas the
dynamics of Industrial relationship in India again calls for a paradigm
shift.

One fifth of all those born between 2007 and 2030 will be an Indian. By
2030, India will become the biggest source of labor thereby attracting a
huge degree of investments from the global market. Under such a
scenario, Industrial relations in India will require major changes to
streamline itself with the needs of vast globalization.

This change has to be implemented from both sides that is from the end
of management as well as from the end of labor force so that it can
become a win- win situation for both, along with the growth of the
nation.

Paradigm Shifts in Negotiations:

As we know that globalization is followed by huge investments of

capital, technology and ideas, so one of the major aspect on which
globalization survives is Competitiveness. If India wants to leverage its
potential in the classic age of globalization, Indian companies need to be
highly competitive.

This competitiveness has to be shown in every aspect of the organization

ranging from innovative measures to process alignment to efficiency of
workforce. If the workforce will remain unsatisfied, and will exert means
like strikes and gheraos, then productivity will be hugely affected and a
lot of man-hours will be lost along with incurring bureaucratic costs to
deal with it. Practically speaking, modern Indian industries simply cannot
afford this kind of wastage.

So the new Industrial policies call for minimizing to a large extent this
unwarranted loss. To have almost a zero rate of such activities is easier
said than done. Given the kind of history Capitalism has, this neo-
Capitalism will have some sort of inclination to exploit the labor force,
which might create unrest in the workforce. They need some means to
address their grievances.

For this they need to design such intelligent ways, which will not only
solve their problems but will also avoid man-hour loss. An excellent
example would be the case of strikes in Japanese shoe factories where if
the workforce has to protest, they simply dont go for a strike as their
Indian counterparts, but they produce shoes for only one leg.

Once their grievances are addressed, they produce the shoes for the other
leg to complete the pair. Thus during the time of their so called strike,
they hamper the sales of the company temporarily, thereby gaining the
attention of the top management, but the best part is that once their
problems are resolved it doesnt lead to any man-hour losses and the
company doesnt lose out on its Competitive advantage.

Paradigm in Labor rules:

Globalization calls for flexible labor rules with hiring and firing as a
norm. So our labor rules has to be flexible enough to give proper room to
the process of rapid hiring and firing, so that the industry may not lose
out on its competitiveness. But at the same time, the industry also has
some obligations towards its employees. One beautiful aspect of
Globalization is that it generates a lot of new and diversified avenues for
employment. With the help of ample technical knowledge as well as soft
skills, anyone can leverage on it.

What the industry needs to do is that it should keep on innovating as well

as providing the required training for its workforce. This will not only
ensure better opportunities for a fired employee to search for a new
source of employment but will also help in the productivity of the
company. One important point to be noted over here is that since
globalization calls for flexibility in hiring and firing, it has to be played
on a level ground where the rules are same for the employer as well as the
employee.

Generally it is often seen in Indian IT companies that before hiring an

employee the company signs a bond with the new recruit, according to
which if the employee quits the company within a particular time period
he needs to pay a bond amount. Such kind of practices are not only highly
biased against the employee but are also a mis-fit in the world of
globalization. If a company has the right to fire an unproductive
employee for reducing its losses, so should an employee have the right to
switch from one company to another smoothly for his individual growth.

Paradigm shifts in Reporting Relations:

To gain a high degree of efficiency in a globalizing economy it is vital for

the Indian industries to have a workforce that is highly motivated and
which sees an alignment in their personal interest and the goals of the
company. This can only be done when employees have a say in the
decision making process as well as vital functions and processes. This
can be implemented with the help of an organic, non bureaucratic and
informal structure that does not differentiate between management and
the workforce and facilitates smooth flow of information from the
workforce to the management.

This will not only result in psychological satisfaction (as important as

economic satisfaction)of the work force but will also have a lot of
positive impact on the industry itself. One of them could be the detection
of changes in the market. As we know that globalization is always
accompanied with a great degree of frequent changes, so it is imperative
that such changes be detected as soon as possible so that the proper
course of action be followed.

It is not the top management but the common workforce which has the
direct link with the market that detects such changes. But unfortunately
due to mechanistic and bureaucratic structure, the information doesnt go
upwards which in some cases might end up in huge losses.

An example that supports this is the Sony Way, which encourages the
product engineers to self promote in the company by seeking projects in
different departments of the company where they feel can contribute
more and hence promote the flow of ideas in the company.
Paradigm shifts in managing cultural diversity:

Unrestricted flow of labor is one of the pillars on which globalization is

based upon. Today mainly we see outflow of labor from India. But with
time we should be ready for considerable amount of labor inflow also. So
far our industrial relation policies are not accustomed to deal with a
diversified workforce, with varying backgrounds in geographies, culture
and thoughts. So we need to adapt our industrial policies in view of these
demographic shifts.

Our policy should be modified in such a way that it can accommodate

workforce from various geographies amicably and can extract the best
out of each of them. Since the philosophy of India has always been Unity
in Diversity, this will not be a very tough task. So far we have dealt with
our own regional diversities, now we need to deal with diversity across
borders.