Evaluating in-company industrial relations climate

Abstract

The aim of the study was to develop, validate and implement a measure of in-company industrial relations climate (IRC). A model of in-company industrial relations (IR) was formulated within the context of an open IR system. Key in-company IR dimensions of employee representation, grievance and disciplinary procedures, communications, supervision and peer group were identified. The effective functioning of these components was seen as necessary if an overall policy strategy to deal with in-company IR was to be operational. The use of IR climate (IRC) as a specific type of organisational climate was proposed as a suitable form of analysis of in-company IR. The need for a psychometrically reliable and valid instrument was indicated and an appropriate procedure for establishing a reliable and valid in-company IRC scale was formulated and implemented. The validation procedure was implemented through the application of an initial form of the in-company IRC scale (IIRCS) to a sample of 16 subjects in a pilot study. The scale was revised and administered as part of a battery, which included scales establishing organisational commitment and job satisfaction, to a sample of subjects ( n ■ 393) at a South African gold mine. A separate sample of 32 employees was drawn from the organisation to establish teat-retest reliability. The IIRCS was refined through the elimination of items which reduced the reliability of the sub-scales. The sub-scale of peer group was eliminated because of limitations of reliability and construct validity. Results for the revised sub-scales assessing the remaining in-company IRC dimensions indicated acceptable levels of internal-consistency and test-retest reliability coefficients. Correlations between IIRCS