Labor Relations Managers Job Description

The Labor Relations Managers plan, direct, and coordinate the labor relations activities of an organization. The Labor Relations Managers analyzes and interpret collective bargaining agreements and advise management and union officials in development, application, and interpretation of labor relations policies and practices.

The Labor Relations Managers have several particular tasks that they must do.

1. The Labor Relations Managers represents management in labor contract negotiations to reconcile opposing claims and recommend concessions, or proposes adoption of new procedures.
2. The Labor Relations Manager analyzes collective bargaining agreements to interpret intent, spirit, and terms of contract.
3. The Labor Relations Managers compiles information on disagreement and determines points of issue, according to knowledge of labor, business, and government responsibilities under law.
4. The Labor Relations Manager advises management and union officials on development, applications, and interpretation of company labor relations policies and practices.
5. The Labor Relations Manager arranges and schedules meetings between parties in labor dispute to investigate and resolve grievances.
6. The Labor Relations Manager monitors implementation of policies concerning wages, hours, and working conditions to ensure compliance to labor contract terms.
7. The Labor Relations Manager supervises work activities of employees involved in labor relations functions of organization.
8. The Labor Relations Manager completes statistical reports on cases, findings, and resolved issues.

The Labor Relations Managers need important skills and they are as follows:

• The Labor Relations Managers must have good negotiation skills. Capable of bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
• The Labor Relations Managers must have good active listening skills. Listening to what other people are saying and asking questions as appropriate.
• The Labor Relations Managers must have the skill of speaking. Talking to others to effectively convey information.
• The Labor Relations Managers must possess the skill of critical thinking. Using logic and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches.
• The Labor Relations Managers must have a good reading comprehension level. Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• The Labor Relations Manager must show that he has good mathematics skills. Using mathematics to solve problems.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have the skill of information gathering. Knowing how to find information and identifying essential information.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have good writing skills. Communicating effectively with others in writing as indicated by the needs of the audience.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have the skill of problem identification. Identifying the nature of problems.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have the skill of time management. Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have the skill of identifying downstream consequences. Determining the long-term outcomes of a change in operations.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have the skill of visioning. Developing an image of how a system should work under ideal conditions.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have the skill of persuasion. Persuading others to approach things differently.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have the skill of judgment and decision making. Weighing the relative costs and benefits of a potential action.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have the skill of identification of key causes. Identifying the things that must be changed to achieve a goal.

The Labor Relations Manager also needs certain knowledge elements in order to perform his job functions. The following is required:

• The Labor Relations Manager needs knowledge of policies and practices involved in personnel/human resource functions. This includes recruitment, selection, training, and promotion regulations and procedures; compensation and benefits packages; labor relations and negotiation strategies; and personnel information systems.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have knowledge of principles and processes involved in business and organizational planning, coordination, and execution. This includes strategic planning, resource allocation, manpower modeling, leadership techniques, and production methods.
• The Labor Relations Manager must have knowledge of numbers, their operations, and interrelationships including arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• The Labor Relations Manager needs knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• The Labor Relations Manager needs knowledge of human behavior and performance, mental processes, psychological research methods, and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and effective disorders.