How Employee Relations Work Fits Together
The map of the course: the routes an issue can take, who does what, and the skills a competent practitioner needs.
11 min
Activities: 0 of 2
Who this course is for
This course is for line managers, team leaders and human resources (HR) practitioners who already handle people issues and now need to handle them well. You may have sat in a hearing or written a warning letter. The aim now is to make decisions you can explain, defend and repeat.
At intermediate level, knowing the steps of a procedure is not enough. You need to choose the right route, apply the procedure to a messy real case, diagnose what went wrong when a case stalls, and adapt when two issues overlap. Most of the course asks you to make those choices.
One issue, several possible routes
Every employee relations issue starts in the same place: something is not right. A manager notices a pattern, a colleague complains, or an employee raises a concern. From there, the issue can follow one of several routes:
- Informal resolution — a conversation, an agreement and a follow-up.
- Disciplinary procedure — for conduct: the person could meet the standard but did not.
- Capability procedure — for performance or health: the person is trying but cannot currently meet the standard.
- Grievance procedure — for a complaint the employee raises against the organisation or a colleague.
- Whistleblowing route — for a disclosure about wrongdoing that affects others or the public.
Choosing the wrong route at the start is one of the most common reasons a case fails later.
The life of a typical formal case
- 1
Step 1
Issue identified
A manager or employee raises a concern. Someone records what happened and when. - 2
Step 2
Route chosen
The manager, with HR advice, decides whether the matter is conduct, capability, health, a grievance or an organisational problem. - 3
Step 3
Investigation
An independent investigator establishes the facts and decides whether there is a case to answer. - 4
Step 4
Hearing
A decision-maker hears the case, listens to the employee and decides on the facts and any sanction. - 5
Step 5
Appeal
A more senior, uninvolved manager reviews or rehears the case if the employee appeals. - 6
Step 6
Close and learn
Records are completed, the employee is told the outcome in writing, and the organisation reviews what the case teaches.
Two short cases
The skills the course builds
Across the modules you will practise five skills: diagnosing an issue before acting; investigating fairly, including evidence that helps the employee; deciding on a reasonable belief and a proportionate sanction; communicating clearly in writing and in person; and recording in a way that stands up when someone reads it months later. The final module brings all five together in one case.
Match the issue to its usual route
Match each situation to the route it would normally follow.
- An employee shouts abuse at a colleague in front of customers
- A new starter is trying hard but makes many errors on the task
- An employee complains that the rota is unfair to them
- An employee reports that safety checks are being falsified
A manager wants to start a disciplinary procedure for slow work, but the employee says the new system is the cause. What should the manager do first?