Wages and Performance Linkages in Agreements with Trade Unions

At the Business Standard Smart Business panel discussion on ‘Wages and Performance Linkages in Agreements with Trade Unions’ organised in association with the Mysore unit of  the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the panellists were of the view that large organisations should ensure transparency of information about the business scenario to all employees, irrespective of their cadre. This would build trust with workers and help trade unions understand the business reality, enabling them to participate with open minds in negotiations on wages and performance linked incentives.

"The only way you can gain trust is by being transparent and sharing as much information you can with the workers," said D Keshava Kumar, chief executive officer, L&T Construction Equipment Ltd. 

Umesh K Shenoy, Vice President - Works, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd, Mysore, said that organisations also needed to look at automation to reduce dependency on people. He emphasised that, at the same time, increase in productivity is a necessity from employees. "The reality is that workers need to understand the changing business dynamics. If the company ceases to exist, then there are no jobs to stake," he said.

K Anantha Gowda, convenor - HR panel, CII Mysore, and General Manager - Human Resources, Jubilant Generics Limited, Nanjangud, said that the only way to achieve a wage settlement harmoniously is to build a relationship with the workers and keep engaging with them.