Employee Relations
Employee Relations Advisory
Strong employee relations are not about avoiding conflict — they are about managing people, behaviour and risk well when pressure arises.
Robust Leaders provides independent, defensible employee relations advisory to support organisations navigating complex people matters, leadership challenges and workplace disputes. We help organisations create and maintain employee relations frameworks that protect the business when issues arise — and before they do.
Our work is grounded in Human Resources practice, employment and WHS obligations, governance expectations and an understanding of how people think, react and behave under stress.
Why Employee Relations Matter
Employee relations shape every aspect of an organisation — from performance and retention to culture, safety and reputation. While conflict and disagreement are inevitable in any workplace, unmanaged or poorly handled issues can quickly escalate into complaints, claims, regulatory scrutiny or leadership failure.
Employee relations covers the full range of interactions and systems between employers and employees, including:
employment contracts and workplace policies
performance management and conduct
disciplinary processes
complaints, disputes and investigations
restructures, redundancies and exits
Robust Leaders approaches employee relations as a strategic risk and capability function, not simply an operational HR task.
Our Employee Relations Approach
We recognise that people issues are rarely just procedural. Fear, power dynamics, uncertainty and cognitive overload all influence how individuals respond when conflict arises. Neuroscience informs our approach — not to excuse behaviour, but to support fair, proportionate and defensible decision-making.
We work alongside leaders, HR teams and Boards to:
reduce escalation and harm
support psychologically safe processes
ensure compliance with legal and WHS obligations
protect organisational integrity and trust
Our role is often to provide calm, independent guidance where internal processes are strained or conflicted.
Employee Relations Services
Performance Management
We support organisations to design and implement performance management frameworks that clarify expectations, support learning and capability, and enable the fair management of underperformance. Our approach avoids one-size-fits-all models and focuses on consistency, psychological safety and defensibility.
Restructures & Redundancy
Restructures and redundancies involve legal complexity, organisational risk and significant human impact. Robust Leaders supports organisations through planning, consultation and implementation, ensuring processes are lawful, respectful and aligned with governance obligations.
Terminations & Separation
Exiting an employee can be necessary but carries risk if handled poorly. We provide advisory support to help leaders manage terminations with clarity, fairness and confidence — protecting workplace morale while supporting sound decision-making.
Workplace Disputes & Conflict
We assist organisations to manage workplace disputes effectively and early, reducing disruption and escalation. Our focus is on understanding behavioural drivers, system contributors and leadership dynamics, not just the presenting issue.
Workplace Mediation
Robust Leaders provides independent workplace mediation to support constructive resolution of conflict. Mediation is not about fault-finding — it is about communication, restoring working relationships where possible, and establishing clear pathways forward.
Investigations & Complaints Support
Where formal complaints or allegations arise, we support or conduct independent, procedurally fair investigations. Our work considers psychosocial risk, power imbalance and governance exposure while ensuring findings are evidence-based and defensible.
When Organisations Engage Robust Leaders
We are often engaged when:
employee relations issues involve senior leaders or complex dynamics
internal HR teams require independent support
complaints, disputes or exits carry legal or reputational risk
organisations need confidence their response is lawful and proportionate
Boards require assurance that reasonable steps have been taken
A Final Word
Employee relations are not about avoiding difficult conversations.
They are about having the right frameworks, capability and judgement to handle them well.
Robust Leaders supports organisations to manage employee relations lawfully, responsibly and with clarity — protecting people, leaders and the business when it matters most.