The increasing significance of employment relations (ER) in the workplace has prompted this study, which explores how leadership positions ER as a strategic role player within the human capital (HC) function. A qualitative research approach was employed to investigate the role of leadership in ER, utilizing grounded theory as the research strategy. Data were collected through purposive sampling from 12 participants using semi-structured interviews, and the findings were analyzed using thematic analysis. The study revealed that integrating functions within the HC environment is crucial for creating strategic value in the workplace. It also highlighted that the strategic positioning of ER requires strategic leadership and creativity to achieve organizational vision and harmonious employment relations. The study proposed an ER strategic positioning model, offering practical guidelines for aligning the ER function with other HC functions to promote harmony and strategic value. This research contributes significantly to the ER field by providing both theoretical and empirical insights into the leadership qualities and strategies required to implement effective employment relations in organizations.

strategic leadership; harmony; organizational anxiety; conflict management

Abecassis-Moedas, C., & Gilson, L. L. (2018). Drivers and levels of creative leadership: An examination of choreographers as directive and integrative leaders. Innovation, 20(2), 122-138.

Adham, T. K. I. (2023). Conflict Resolution in Team: Analyzing the of Conflicts and Best Skills for Resolution. Scholars Journal of Engineering and Technology, 11(08), 152–162. https://doi.org/10.36347/sjet.2023.v11i08.001

Alvesson, M., & Skoldberg, K. (2018). Reflexive methodology: New vistas for qualitative research (3rd ed.). London, UK: Sage.

Ansah, R. H., Osei, J., Sorooshian, S., & Aikhuele, D. O. (2018). Importance of employer-employee relationship towards the growth of a business. Quality—Access to Success, 19(166), 42–49.

Argus, D., & Samson, D. (2021). Strategic leadership for business value creation: Principles and case studies. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2023). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice: A guide to the theory and practice of people management. Kogan Page Publishers.

Asenath, K., Wario, G., & Odhiambo, R. (2017). Arbitration Mechanism and itsInfluence on Labour Relations Equilibrium in Public Education Sector in Kenya.Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 3(9), 177–186.

Aylott, E. (2018). Employee relations: A practical introduction, 2nd ed. London, UK: Kogan Page.

Balsvik, E. (2017). Interpretivism, first-person authority, and confabulation. Philosophy of the social sciences, 47(4-5), 311-329.

Bendix, R. (2019). Work and authority in industry: Managerial ideologies in the course of industrialization. Routledge.

Bhattacharya, K. (2017). Fundamentals of qualitative research: A practical guide. London, UK: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315231747

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: Theory and practice, 6th ed. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58668-1

Brhane, H., & Zewdie, S. (2018). Effects of employee relation on improving employee performance. International Journal in Management and Social Science, 6(4).

Brundin, E., Liu, F., & Cyron, T. (2022). Emotion in strategic management: A review and future research agenda. Long Range Planning, 55(4), 102144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2021.102144

Burke, C. M., & Morley, M. J. (2023). Toward a non-organizational theory of human resource management? A complex adaptive systems perspective on the human resource management ecosystem in (con) temporary organising. Human Resource Management, 62(1), 31-53. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22132

Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. sage.

Collings, D. G., Scullion, H., Caligiuri, P. (2019). Global talent management. New York, NY: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315200170

Cooper, C. L., & Leiter, M. P. (2017). The Routledge companion to well-being at work. Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315665979

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

de Araujo, L. M., Priadana, S., Paramarta, V., et al. (2021). Digital leadership in business organizations. International Journal of Educational Administration, Management, and Leadership, 45-56. https://doi.org/10.51629/ijeamal.v2i1.18

Deemie, G. (2024). A critical look into leadership now and the future. Independently published.

Dobbins, T., Hughes, E., & Dundon, T. (2020). ‘Zones of contention’ in industrial relations: Framing pluralism as praxis. Journal of Industrial Relations, 63(2), 149–176. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185620957700

Dong, Y., Bartol, K. M., Zhang, Z.-X., et al. (2017). Enhancing employee creativity via individual skill development and team knowledge sharing: Influences of dual-focused transformational leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(3), 439–458. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2134

Faugoo, D. (2024). Human Capital as Strategic Valued Assets: Core drivers of Organizational Success in the Modern-Day Workplace. International Journal of Business and Technology Management, 6(3), 617-628.

Finkelstein, L. M., Truxillo, D. M., Fraccaroli, F., et al. (2021). Ageless talent: Enhancing the performance and well-being of your age-diverse workforce. Routledge.

Finnemore, M., Koekemoer, G.M., & Joubert, Y. (2018). Introduction to labour relationsin South Africa (12th ed.). LexisNexis SA

Frege, C., & Kelly, J. (2020). Comparative employment relations in the global economy, 2nd ed. London, UK: Routledge.

Gennard, J., Judge, G., Bennett, A., et al. (2016). Managing employment relations, 6th ed. London, UK: The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Gupta, V. (2020). Relationships between leadership, motivation and employee-level innovation: evidence from India. Personnel Review, 49(7), 1363-1379.

Halkias, D., Santora, J. C., Harkiolakis, N., et al. (2017). Leadership and change management: A cross-cultural perspective. Taylor & Francis.

Hall, E. D. (2020). Communicate to connect: Interpersonal communication for today’s relationships. San Diego, CA: Cognella Academic.

Hodges, J. (2019). Employee engagement for organizational change. London, UK: Routledge.

Hyman, J. (2018). Employee voice and participation: Contested past, troubled present, uncertain future. Routledge.

Iphofen, R., & Tolich, M. (2018). Foundational issues in qualitative research ethics. The Sage handbook of qualitative research ethics, 1-18.

Islam, T., Khatoon, A., Cheema, A. U., et al. (2024). How does ethical leadership enhance employee work engagement? The roles of trust in leader and harmonious work passion. Kybernetes, 53(6), 2090-2106. https://doi.org/10.1108/k-09-2022-1343

Kaliannan, M., Darmalinggam, D., Dorasamy, M., et al. (2023). Inclusive talent development as a key talent management approach: A systematic literature review. Human Resource Management Review, 33(1), 100926. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2022.100926

Kamalaveni, M. S., Ramesh, S., & Vetrivel, T. (2019) A review of literature on employee retention. International Journal of Innovative Research in Management Studies, 4(4), 1–10.

Kaufman, B. E., Barry, M., Wilkinson, A., et al. (2021). Alternative balanced scorecards built from paradigm models in strategic HRM and employment/industrial relations and used to measure the state of employment relations and HR system performance across US workplaces. Human Resource Management Journal, 31(1), 65-92. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12271

Krajcsák, Z. (2022). Modelling organizational conflict processes: the organizational value of employee commitment and the moderating role of transformational leadership. Journal of Modelling in Management, 17(2), 746-763. https://doi.org/10.1108/jm2-08-2020-0221

Liddle, D. (2017). Managing conflict: A practical guide to resolution in the workplace. London, UK: Kogan Page.

Maguire, M., & Delahunt, B. (2017). Doing a thematic analysis: A practical, step-by-step guide for learning and teaching scholars. All Ireland Journal of Higher Education, 9(3).

Malik, A. (2022). Strategic human resource management and employment relations: An international perspective. Springer Nature.

Marcucci, G., Antomarioni, S., Ciarapica, F. E., et al. (2022). The impact of Operations and IT-related Industry 4.0 key technologies on organizational resilience. Production Planning & Control, 33(15), 1417-1431. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2021.1874702

McCorkle, S., & Reese, M. J. (2017). Personal conflict management: Theory and practice, 2nd ed. Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge.

McKay, A. S., Reiter-Palmon, R., & Kaufman J. C. (2021) Creative success in teams. Cambridge, MA: Academic Press.

Merriam, S. B., & Grenier, R. S. (2019). Qualitative research in practice: Examples for discussion and analysis. John Wiley & Sons

Mickahail, B. K., & de Aquino, C. T. E. (2019). Effective and Creative Leadership in Diverse Workforce. Springer.

Mickahail, B. K., & de Aquino, C. T. E. (2019). Effective and Creative Leadership in Diverse Workforce. Springer.

Mubarak, M. F., & Yusoff, W. F. N. (2019). Impact of strategic leadership on strategy implementation. British Journal of Management and Marketing Studies, 2(1), 32-43.

Mukhezakule, M., & Tefera, O. (2019). The relationship between corporate strategy, strategic leadership and sustainable organizational performance: Proposing a conceptual framework for the South African aviation industry. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 8 (3).

Nel, P. S., Kirsten, M., Swanepoel, B. J., et al. (2016). South African employment relations—theory and practice, 8th ed. Hatfield, Pretoria: Van Schaik.

Nkala, B., & Chiware, M. (2022). Balancing the Twin Challenges of Performance Management and Culture Transformation in the Public Sector. In: Transformational Human Resources Management in Zimbabwe: Solutions for the Public Sector in the 21st Century. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. pp. 99-116.

Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., et al. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847

Nuraini, B. (2023). Employee Performance Optimisation: The Synergy of Leadership and Compensation. Asadel Publisher.

O’Donovan, D. (2018). Diversity and inclusion in the workplace. In: Machado, C., &Davim, J. P. (editors). Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management. Management and Industrial Engineering. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.

Ogunola, A. (2018). Harmonising the employment relationship for sustainable organizational and personal development. Journal of Advanced Research in Psychology & Psychotherapy, 1(3/4). https://doi.org/10.24321/2581.5822.201801

Ozenc, K., & Hagan, M. (2019). Rituals for work: 50 ways to create engagement, shared purpose, and a culture that can adapt to change. John Wiley & Sons.

Perez, E. (2022). Investigating the foresight and strategic thinking capabilities of Australian agricultural leaders: A mixed methods work-based study. University of Southern Queensland.

Pitelis, C. N., & Wagner, J. D. (2018). Strategic shared leadership and organizational dynamic capabilities. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(2), 233–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.08.002

Pitney, W. A., & Parker, J. (2019). Qualitative research in the health professions. Slack Incorporated.

Proksch, S. (2016) Recognising and resolving conflicts. In: Conflict management for professionals. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.

Rajhans, K., Pawar, R., & Bibve, P. (2022). Navigating leadership challenges in modern organizations through ancient Indian values. International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 25(3), 378-402. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijicbm.2022.122727

Razali, N. S. M., Zahari, M. S. M., Ismail, T. A. T., et al. (2018). Relationship between organizational culture and job loyalty among five-star and four-star hotel employees. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(15), 14–32. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v8-i15/5090

Resanovich, S. L., Hopthrow, T., & de Moura, G. R. (2024). Growing Greener: Cultivating Organisational Sustainability Through Leadership Development. Behavioral Sciences, 14(11), 998. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14110998

Rousseau, D. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations: Understanding written and unwritten agreements. Sage.

Sayed, Z., Proches, C. N. G., Kader, A., et al. (2025). Design Thinking and Leadership. In: Emotionally Intelligent Methods for Meaningful Leadership. IGI Global Scientific Publishing. pp. 31-62.

Schmid, L., Wörn, J., Hank, K., et al. (2021). Changes in employment and relationship satisfaction in times of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the German family Panel. European Societies, 23(sup1), S743-S758. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1836385

Setyaningrum, R. P., & Muafi, M. (2022, March). The role of digital HRM: contribution to the improvement of business sustainability. In International Conference on Business and Technology (pp. 840-848). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Slabbert, J. A., & Swanepoel, B. J. (2011). Introduction to employment-relations management: A global perspective. South Africa: Lexis Nexis.

Strobel, L. T., Strobel, M., Welpe, I. M., & Korsgaard, M. A. (2024). The Role of Creative Leadership Manifestations in Creativity and Innovation. Creativity Research Journal, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2024.2321734

Triana, M. (2017). Managing diversity in organizations. New York, NY: Routledge.

van Gramberg, B., Teicher, J., Bamber, G. J., & Cooper, B. (2020) Employee Voice, Intention to quit, and conflict resolution: Evidence from Australia. ILR Review, 73(2), 393–410. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793919876643

Van Yoder, S., & Purcell, J. (2023). Workplace Wellness: Best Practices Study. The Journal of Total Rewards, 32(4), 1-2.

Wang, V. C. X. (2018). Strategic leadership. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.

Willig, C., & Rogers, W. S. (2017). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research in psychology. Sage.

Zhang, J. (2021). Research on employee relationship management innovation of SMEs in China. In: Proceedings of the 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Economic Research and Management Innovation (ERMI 2021). pp. 94-99.