Employee relations: 15 strategies to improve it early on

Employee relations = Managing interpersonal relationships between coworkers, teams, and leadership. It focuses on optimizing employee experience, engagement, morale, and satisfaction through workplace relationships and culture initiatives.

Employee relations (ER) vs. human resources (HR): Know the difference

While human resources handles broad employment-related policies, compliance, compensation, and talent acquisition, employee relations specializes in:

• Fostering inclusion and belonging
• Managing conflict resolution
• Building employee engagement and recognition programs
• Cultivating a positive workplace culture and values
• Facilitating strong performance management
• Promoting professional development and career growth

Depending on the organization, ER may be a function within HR or its own dedicated department.

Why employee relations matter

Effective employee relations strategies provide many benefits:

• Increased employee productivity, performance, and work quality
• Reduced turnover by…