AC3.3 Explain the skills required for effective grievance and discipline-handling procedures
Topic: Understanding the essential skills needed for the effective handling of grievance and discipline procedures.
Guideline:
This question’s aim is for learners to explain the skills required for effectively managing grievance and discipline-handling procedures. Learners are required to demonstrate the importance of complaints management skills, including discussing legal requirements or codes of conduct. The negative effects of handling complaints must be acknowledged. Learners should provide guidance on the benefits of informality and early conflict resolution. They are required to discuss the following:
- Discuss various skills required in handling grievances such as active listening, questioning skills, investigation skills, interviewing skills, note-taking and mediating.
- Discuss how to be objective and minimising biases.
- Give examples.
- Provide references.
Skills required in handling grievances:
- Active Listening: Learners should begin by emphasizing the importance of active listening in grievance handling. They should explain how people professionals should attentively hear and understand employees’ concerns.
- Questioning Skills: Learners should discuss the ability to ask probing and relevant questions to gather necessary information and clarify details during the grievance process.
- Investigation Skills: Learners should explain the significance of effective investigation techniques, which include collecting evidence, interviewing relevant parties, and reviewing documentation.
- Interviewing Techniques: Learners should discuss how effective interviewing skills, such as conducting impartial interviews and maintaining a non-confrontational approach, are essential for gathering information.
- Note-Taking: Learners should put stress on the importance of maintaining accurate and comprehensive notes throughout the grievance and discipline procedures to document key information.
- Mediation Skills: Learners should highlight the need for mediation skills when helping parties resolve their disputes. This includes facilitating communication, managing emotions, and guiding negotiations.
Objectivity and Minimising Bias:
Learners should discuss the significance of remaining objective and minimising bias in the grievance and discipline process to ensure fairness and impartiality. Discussions and examples, together with the importance of fairness and justice, should show the way to reach a fair resolution and encourage equitable and beneficial resolution of complaints.
Real-Life Example:
Among the examples that learners can give includes how a people professional who is skilled in active listening could effectively resolve a grievance by attentively hearing an employee’s concerns and addressing them constructively. An example of effective questioning skills that learners can give is how it can help a people professional gather necessary details when investigating a complaint, ultimately leading to a fair resolution.
Sources of Evidence:
Learners can reference HR management and dispute resolution literature for insight into the skills required for effective grievance handling. They can also draw evidence from case studies and blogs that provide real-world examples of people professionals applying these skills in the workplace. Among the sources that can be used are:
- CIPD, (2018) Investigating the untapped potential of UK skills. Available from https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/reports/untapped-potential-uk-skills/
- Peters, R. (2023) Employee communication. Available from https://www.cipd.org/en/knowledge/factsheets/employee-communication/
Must Read:
5HR01 Employment Relationship Management Assignment Guideline Task One
