Career as an Industrial Relations Manager

Industrial relations managers are frequently engaged to serve as liaisons between management and the labour force. As we all know conflict between employers and employees is unavoidable in any company, but it is especially so in huge corporations.

Let us discover Career as an Industrial Relations Manager!

Who is Industrial Relations Manager?

An Industrial Relations Manager is in charge of ensuring that the organization’s employees and management have a positive working relationship. He also assists the company in hiring the best staff and negotiates their salaries on its behalf. To maintain a healthy relationship with employees, a Relations Manager is frequently required to mediate disputes between the employee and the organisation. He also assists the Director and Manager in the development and creation of policies relating to the company’s labour relations. Candidates interested in pursuing this as a career should be familiar with labour relations and corporate strategy.

Labor Relations covers various aspects of employee relations covering –

Labour and Compensation Laws
Grievance Handling
Discipline
Employee Exit
Industrial Disputes
Collective Bargaining
Worker’s participation in management
Conflict and Negotiation Skills

Responsibilities of a Industrial Relations Manager

Some of the responsibilities include –

Creating labour policies in collaboration with business owners
Taking charge of all discussions between employees and the company.
Creating a positive working environment for staff
Creating and amending collective bargaining agreements
When it comes to personnel policies, consulting with HR managers is a good idea.
Disputes between management, employees, government agencies, unions, and organisations must be resolved.

Types of Job Roles Labour Relations Manager

A good understanding of the collective bargaining process, labour law, and economics is required of a Labour Relations Manager. His responsibilities include administering and interpreting employee contracts relating to wages/salaries, pension benefits, labour practises, employee grievances, and healthcare benefits. In this domain, several job profiles include:

Labour Relations Manager
Employee Relations Manager
Community Relations Manager
HR Manager
HR Consultant
HR Assistant

Steps to Become an Industrial Relations Manager

Due to the complexities of the job, industrial relations managers must have at least a bachelor’s degree in labour relations, business management, or human resources. While a bachelor’s degree is required for entry-level positions in this broad labour relation area, many employers prefer to hire people with a master’s degree in human resource management or industrial/labor relation.

Bachelor’s degrees

Although there are few bachelor’s degree programmes in labour relations, there are several minors, specialisations, and focuses in human resource management. A bachelor’s degree in business administration with a specialty in human resource management is one option for an aspiring relations manager.

Master’s degrees

It’s not uncommon for someone in this industry to work as a personnel specialist for a few years, then receive a master’s degree and rise to the position of industrial/labor relations manager. The following are some degree options for aspiring industrial relations managers:

Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Human Resource Management (MBA-HRM)
Master of Industrial and Labor Relations MBA (a dual degree)
Master of Arts in Human Resources and Industrial Relations (MBA-HR/IR)

Students in a master’s degree in labour relations programme can usually choose from emphases in international law, conflict resolution, or market policies, all of which are useful for people who want to work as industrial relations managers. The majority of MBA programmes in human resource management include modules that cover both corporate and labour relations.

Working Conditions & Average Salary

Working with government agencies, unions, employees, and other groups to assure pleasant working environments, fair pay, complete benefits, and other aspects of occupations to make employment places fair and productive on all sides is a rewarding career path within the Human Resources field. Because this is such a crucial function in the realm of HR, you may expect salary to reflect this.

According to Salary.com’s March 2018 compensation survey, labour relations managers earned a median yearly wage of $117,202. The worst ten percent of earners took in $84,730, while the top 90 percent took home $146,126. Employer, work experience, education, and geography are all factors that might affect salaries. Human resource managers, such as labour relations managers, should see 9% job growth between 2016 and 2026, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Resources for Industrial Relations Manager

Before you can become an expert in desired areas, you must first build a solid base. Before you can move on to practical teaching, you’ll need to have the right applied skills. To gain a full understanding of the domain, you can use the following tools:

Firstly, Online Tutorials for Industrial or Labour Relations
MBA in Human Resources
Also, Certification Courses from verified sources such as Vskills, Coursera, Udemy and so on.
In addition, Online communities
Moreover, Blogs and study material from experts in this field and many more.

Here are some examples of how you can improve your abilities:

Freelancing
Internships
Apprenticeship programs

The above steps will help you to get this domain started. It’s a long way to go, however. You can take an advanced course to reach a new level of skills.

Some resources offered by Vskills

Vskills offer Industrial Relations Manager certification for all those interested in working in this field. This certification course covers the following topics –

Industrial Relations
Labour Laws
Compensation Laws
Grievance Handling
Discipline
Employee Exit
Industrial Disputes
Collective Bargaining
Worker’s participation in management
Safety and Health
Conflict and Negotiation Skills
International Industrial Relations

Vskills also offers free practice tests and online tutorials to supplement the learning process. You can check them by clicking on the following links –

Discover the career opportunities and other prospects of career as an Industrial Relations Manager. Hurry up and start preparing now with Vskills.in!