Building Employment Relations Teams

The appropriate organisation design for an employment relations team will be influenced by the external environment, the type of organisation including its strategic approach to employment relations, whether the team has a global or national remit and how it fits within the wider Human Resources (HR) function. In this chapter we discuss the purpose and structure of the employment relations team, the key roles within the team and the activities the team undertakes. We explore the variety and scope of employment relations roles in organisations, using case studies to explore key themes around organisational design and implementation. This will help those who are considering the management of collective employment relations for the first time and establishing a new team. It also provides important guidance to practitioners who need to make changes to an existing operating model.