Source: E-mail dt.
7 June 2012
A Study on the Effectiveness of Grievance Handling System in Madurai
City
Dr.R.Karuppasamy, M.Com., MBA., M.Phil., Ph.D., PLME(IIM) Ahmedabad
Director, Department of Management Studies,
SNS College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu,
India
Mr.K.Rajesh Kumar, B.E.,M.B.A.,M.Phil.,PGDFRM.,
Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies,
NPR College of Engineering & Technology, Natham,
Tamilnadu, India
Abstract
In
the ancient period man was deemed as an individual man. In the middle he was
thought of as a social man. But now he is considered as a complex man. Owing to
the complexities a lot of friction arises in the industrial world. They accrue
as a grievance. Since employees are the most
expensive as well as the most important resource in any company, it would be to
the best advantage of both employer and employee to ensure the latter’s
satisfaction performance. The area of study chosen is Madurai city and the sample
size chosen is 70. Convenience sampling technique has been used for collecting
data. Sufficient results were obtained using Percentage Analysis, Chi-Square
Analysis & McNemar Test. This research would
definitely serve as an eye opener for adopting suitable grievance handling
procedures in Madurai city.
Keywords
Grievance
procedure, suggestion box, stating of grievance, proper investigation,
unsettled grievance
1) Introduction
In the ancient period man was deemed as an individual man. In the middle he was thought of as a social man. But now he is considered as a complex man. Owing to the complexities a lot of friction arises in the industrial world. They accrue as a grievance. Grievance is a second stage of complaint. That is unattained complaint grow into grievance. The unsettled grievances grow into dispute so the grievance should be nipped into the bud. This type of grievance procedure may vary from organization to organization. That depends on the size and style of the organization. The cost of the grievance can be high in terms of time lost, poor work, damage to costly machine by neglect, employee resentment, poor customer services, resistance to change, union management conflict and so on. The organization that does not provide such complaint processing mechanism for their employees may suffer from consequences, which could enfeeble the organization process.
In the maintenance of peace in industrial unit, a well- defined and adequate procedure for redressed for day to day grievance is an essential pre-requisite. There is hardly a company where the employees do not have grievances of one kind or other.
2) Grievance Procedures
A grievance is a complaint by an employee regarding the interpretation or application of College rules and regulations, working conditions, or alleged improper treatment. There are two types of Grievance Procedures:
2.1) Informal Grievance Procedure
You should make every attempt to resolve issues you encounter at work informally, through discussion with the persons involved, and in the spirit of goodwill and cooperation. If you address potential problems early, they are less likely to escalate into grievances. Your supervisor or department head may be able to help you resolve complaints and other problems informally and with as little disruption and distress possible.
You should first attempt to resolve grievances with your immediate supervisor and as necessary, with the supervisor of your immediate supervisor.
All supervisors, to the best of their ability, are required to inform, listen to and counsel employees on all matters affecting them and to resolve informally, if possible, all grievances. In the event the informal attempts to resolve the grievance are not successful and you wish to pursue the matter, you should initiate a meeting with the Director of Human Resources.
The Director of Human Resources shall work with the appropriate parties in an attempt to resolve the grievance informally. If this process fails to bring about a satisfactory resolution, you may initiate the formal grievance procedure.
2.2) Formal Grievance Procedure
A formal grievance is one that has not been resolved satisfactorily in an informal manner between the employee and the immediate supervisor. These should be taken up in the following manner:
You must present the grievance in writing to your immediate supervisor, clearly identifying this action as a formal complaint and as the first step in the grievance procedure and describing the resolution desired. You must present the written grievance to your immediate supervisor within 10 working days of the last informal meeting to resolve the grievance. Upon receipt of the written grievance, the immediate supervisor shall have 30 working days in which to provide you with a written answer to your grievance. If you are not satisfied with the answer from your immediate supervisor, you may, within the next 10 working days of receiving the reply from your immediate supervisor, present the grievance in writing to your immediate supervisor’s supervisor and/or the department head, with a copy forwarded to the Director of Human Resources. Upon receipt of this written grievance, this administrator shall have 30 working days in which to provide you with an answer in writing, with a copy forwarded to the Director of Human Resources.
If good faith efforts to resolve the grievance within the department are not successful, you should, within the next 10 working days, direct the complaint to the Office of Human Resources. At your discretion, the Director of Human Resources will review the complaint in an objective, confidential manner and attempt to mediate the situation in light of all the relevant facts
If upon receipt of the answer from the Director of Human Resources you remain unsatisfied, you may take the grievance to the final level of review by the Vice President or Vice Provost in charge of your area. To do so, you must provide written notification of such dissatisfaction to the Vice President or Vice Provost in charge of your area, with a copy to the Director of Human Resources within 10 days after receiving the answer from the Director of Human Resources. The Vice President or Vice Provost in charge of your area shall promptly investigate and, if necessary, conduct a hearing upon the grievance. The Vice President or Vice Provost in charge of your area shall render a written decision concerning the matter within 30 calendar days and furnish copies thereof to the parties involved, including the Director of Human Resources. The decision of the Vice President or Vice Provost in charge of your area will be final unless the President exercises the right to review the decision and to modify or reverse it.
If at the conclusion of this formal grievance procedure, you are still not satisfied with the outcome and you want to seek legal recourse, the case may be brought to arbitration. By mutual agreement, the time limits provided for in this procedure may be extended. If you are involved in the grievance procedure and still on the job, you will be expected to maintain acceptable performance levels in the discharge of your duties and departmental responsibilities, and are assured freedom from reprisal as a result of the airing of your grievance.
3)
Statement of problem
Since
employees are the most expensive as well as the most important resource in any
company, it would be to the best advantage of both employer and employee to
ensure the latter’s satisfaction performance. This can be attained and be made
possible only when management has provided healthy climate for individual
growth and development in the company. There should be a good relationship
between employer and employee. Normally industries in South India do not have a
standardized procedure for handling the grievance. The existing handling
procedure is normally reported to supervisor and in rare cases to the co worker
and union. The researcher has undertaken the study to analyse
the effectiveness of grievance handling system in Madurai city.
4) Objectives of the study
Ø To study the perception of workers towards the existing grievance handling procedure.
Ø To study the influence of leader’s behavior, time limit on the grievance received.
Ø To study the level of satisfaction with the various systems provided like suggestion box to the workers.
5) Research design
The research design states the
conceptual structure within which the research was conducted. It is a plan for
a study that is used to ensure that all relevant data are collected in the most
economic way. Hence a thoughtfully framed research design ensures accuracy in
the data collected. The research design for this study is of descriptive
method.
5.1) Period of the study
The study was conducted for a period of 2 months
5.2) Area of the study
This study is based to special reference to Perception of workers towards grievance handling
system
in Madurai city.
5.3) Sample size
The Sample size representing Madurai city was 70. Convenient sampling and snow ball sampling method was adopted while selecting the sample. Most accessible population members were selected to obtain the required information. A structured questionnaire was used for collecting data from the employees.
5.4) Sampling technique:
The sampling method used in this study can be defined as convenience sampling as the number of workers are huge in number.
5.5) Data collection
For carrying on the study both primary and secondary data were used.
5.5.1) Primary data
The primary data are those which are
being collected for the first time and thus happen to be original. As it’s a
descriptive study the method used here is interview through questionnaires.
5.5.2)
Secondary data
The secondary data are those which have been collected by someone else and which have already been passed through the statistical process. Data were also collected from various other sources like newspaper, magazines and through cyber search.
5.6) Frame work of
analysis:
A brief description on the various tools and techniques used in the study are given below.
Ø Percentage analysis.
Ø Chi- Square Analysis
Ø McNemar Test
6) Data analysis and interpretation
6.1) Percentage analysis
TABLE
6.1.1
Year of service
|
SR.No |
Year
of service |
Number
of respondents |
Percentage
% |
|
1 |
Below 2 years |
29 |
41 |
|
2 |
2-5 years |
28 |
40 |
|
3 |
Above 5yrs |
13 |
13 |
Source:
Primary data
The above table shows that 41%
have below 2 years of service, 40% have 2-5 years of service and 13% have above
5 years of service.
TABLE 6.1.2
Perception of workers
towards the time limits for the settlement of grievance
|
S.No |
Particulars |
Number
of respondents |
Percentage
% |
|
1 |
Highly satisfied |
21 |
30 |
|
2 |
Satisfied |
38 |
54 |
|
3 |
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied |
9 |
13 |
|
4 |
Dissatisfied |
2 |
3 |
|
5 |
Highly dissatisfied |
0 |
0 |
Source:
Primary data
The above table shows that 30% of the
respondents are highly satisfied, 54% are satisfied, 13% are neither satisfied
nor dissatisfied, 3% are dissatisfied & none are highly dissatisfied
regarding the tile limits for the settlement of grievance
TABLE 6.1.3
Proper investigation
|
S.No |
Particulars |
Number
of Respondents |
Percentage
% |
|
1 |
Yes |
52 |
74 |
|
2 |
No |
18 |
26 |
Source: primary data
The
above table shows that 74% of the respondents agree the presence of proper
investigation towards grievance settlement and 26% do not agree.
TABLE 6.1.4
Unresolved grievances
|
S.No |
Particulars |
Number
of Respondents |
Percentage
% |
|
1 |
Highly disturbs |
26 |
37 |
|
2 |
Some what |
24 |
34 |
|
3 |
Not at all |
20 |
29 |
Source: Primary data
The above table shows that 37% of the respondents are highly disturbed,
34% are somewhat disturbed & 29% of the respondents are not at all disturbed
with unresolved grievances.
TABLE 6.1.5
Stating of grievance
|
S.No |
Particulars |
Number
of respondents |
Percentage
% |
|
1 |
Orally |
49 |
70 |
|
2 |
Written |
21 |
30 |
Source:
Primary data
The above table shows that 70% of the respondents state their grievances orally and 30% state in written format.
6.2 Chi-Square Analysis
6.2.1 Marital status and disturbance of unresolved grievance
Ho: There is no significant difference between marital status and disturbance of unresolved grievance
H1: There is a significant difference between marital status and disturbance of unresolved grievance
|
|
Disturbance of unresolved grievance |
Total |
|||
|
|
|
highly disturb |
somewhat |
not at all |
|
|
MS of respondents |
Married |
61 |
3 |
0 |
64 |
|
Unmarried |
0 |
25 |
11 |
36 |
|
|
Total |
61 |
28 |
11 |
100 |
|
|
|
Value |
df |
Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) |
|
Pearson Chi-Square |
88.374 |
2 |
.000 |
|
Likelihood Ratio |
111.616 |
2 |
.000 |
|
Linear-by-Linear Association |
76.887 |
1 |
.000 |
|
N of Valid Cases |
100 |
|
|
|
|
|||
The above table shows that the Chi-Square value for marital status and disturbance of unresolved grievance is 88.374 and the corresponding significant value is .000. As the calculated significant value is less than 0.05, we accept the alternative hypothesis and reject the null hypothesis. Hence, is can be concluded that there is a significant difference between marital status and disturbance of unresolved grievance
6.2.2 Education level and person approached during grievance
Ho: There is no significant difference between education level and person approached during grievance
H1: There is a significant difference between education level and person approached during grievance
|
|
Person approached during grievance |
Total |
||||
|
|
|
Supervisor |
Industrial Relation Officer |
Co-worker |
union |
|
|
Education Level |
SSLC |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
|
HSC |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
|
|
UG |
26 |
10 |
18 |
0 |
54 |
|
|
PG |
0 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
20 |
|
|
Others |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
|
|
Total |
46 |
10 |
18 |
26 |
100 |
|
|
|
Value |
df |
Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) |
|
Pearson Chi-Square |
1.225 |
12 |
.000 |
|
Likelihood Ratio |
137.989 |
12 |
.000 |
|
Linear-by-Linear Association |
57.158 |
1 |
.000 |
|
N of Valid Cases |
100 |
|
|
The above table shows that the Chi-Square value for education level and person approached during grievance is 1.225 and the corresponding significant value is .000. As the calculated significant value is less than 0.05, we accept the alternative hypothesis and reject the null hypothesis. Hence, is can be concluded that there is a significant difference between education level and person approached during grievance
6.3 McNemar Test
6.3.1 Gender & mode of stating grievance
Ho: There is no association between gender & mode of stating grievance
H1: There is an association between gender & mode of stating grievance
|
Gender of respondents |
Mode of stating grievance |
|
|
Orally |
Written |
|
|
Male |
61 |
12 |
|
Female |
0 |
27 |
|
Test Statistics |
|
|
|
Gender of respondents & Mode of stating
grievance |
|
N |
100 |
|
Exact Sig. (2-tailed) |
.000 |
The above table shows that the calculated significant value for gender & mode of stating grievance is .000, and is less than .05. Hence, we accept the alternative hypothesis and reject the null hypothesis. Hereby, we conclude that there is an association between gender & mode of stating grievance.
6.3.2 Marital status & efforts towards
employee needs satisfaction
Gender & mode of stating grievance
Ho: There is no association between marital status & efforts towards employee needs satisfaction
H1: There is an association between marital status & efforts towards employee needs satisfaction
|
MS of respondents |
Efforts towards employee needs satisfaction |
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
|
Married |
53 |
11 |
|
Unmarried |
0 |
36 |
|
Test Statistics |
|
|
|
MS of respondents & Efforts towards
employee needs satisfaction |
|
N |
100 |
|
Exact Sig. (2-tailed) |
.001 |
The above table shows that the calculated significant value for marital status & efforts towards employee needs satisfaction is .001, and is less than .05. Hence, we accept the alternative hypothesis and reject the null hypothesis. Hereby, we conclude that there is an association between marital status & efforts towards employee needs satisfaction.
7) Conclusion
Every employee comes across some sort of grievance at some point of time. Some are represented and others are ignored. Some are satisfied using a formal procedure and others are done in an informal manner. Definitely, this would remain a critical topic for research for years to come. This paper has amply portrayed the mode of stating grievance, the relationship between marital status and disturbance of unsettled grievance, education level and person approached during grievance, association between gender and grievance stating mode, marital status and efforts towards employee needs satisfaction. This would definitely serve as an eye opener for adopting suitable grievance handling system in Madurai City.
References
1. David A. Decenzo & Stephen P. Robbins, PERSONAL MANAGEMENT, Pearson Publications, Third edition, pp 86-157
2. Tripathy, PERSONAL MANAGEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATION, Sultan Chand & Sons Educational Publishers, Fifth edition, pp 23-46
3. Yoder & Dale, PERSONAL MANAGEMENT AND INDUSTRIAL RELATION, Tata Mcgraw Hill, Seventh edition, pp 123-147
4. Edwin B. Flippo, PERSONAL MANAGEMENT, Excel Publications, Third edition, pp 15-78
5. www.indianmba.com/faculty_column/fc338/fc338.html
6. www.citehr.com/79858-grievance
7. www.blurtit.com/q2366350.html
8. www.google.co.in/interstitial?url=http://kerc.org/grievancepro.pdf