How to get employees to work with you, not just for you: an action model and propositions

Employee needs in the work place are constantly evolving. Once traditional demands are being replaced with less tangible requests for autonomy, flexible work, respect from management and a greater voice in the organisation. This paper articulates the five actions model of human resource management to help management bring employee behaviours in line with the goals of the organisation and ensure that employees feel valued and involved in the organisation's operation. In the presence of unions, the five actions model will provide management with a tool to work successfully with the union. Research has shown that honesty, trust and employee cooperation are vital to a productive employee-management relationship. The five actions of communication, building trust, encouraging employee involvement, maximising positive and compromising on negative effects of unionisation will be discussed and the relationships between those five actions explored. Finally, a number of propositions for further research will be presented.