Some larger organizations, for example IBM and Marks & Spencer, manage
without unions by, in effect, adopting a ‘union substitution’ policy. This offers a
complete employment package, which can be seen by employees as an attractive
alternative to trade union membership. The package is likely to include highly
competitive pay with harmonized employment conditions, recruitment tests
designed to select people who match organizational norms, a focus on employee
communications and information sharing, induction programmes that aim to get
employees to accept the organization’s ethos, an emphasis on training and career
development and a commitment to providing secure and satisfying work. Such busi-
nesses may broadly adhere to the HRM model (although they would not describe it
as such, and this is the approach they used before HRM was invented).
HRM techniques for increasing commitment through involvement and communi-
cation processes provide a route that some organizations without unions follow in
order to maintain a satisfactory employee relations climate. But it is not easy. Unless
HRM fits the core values of the organization and is in accord with its management
style, and unless a coherent and integrated approach is adopted to introducing HRM
processes, it is unlikely to succeed.
794 ❚ Employee relations