McCarthy was speaking to HR magazine last night at the launch of The Employee Relations Institute (ERI) at the House of Commons in London.
He praised the launch of the institute and said it will help "bring everyone closer together". He told HR magazine: "There's been problems where businesses have been going it alone to deal with employee relations issues such as conflict and this has only led to increase in situations that can harm engagement levels such as employee tribunals.
"We can no longer just place an issue such as conflict in the hands of HR, it must be outsourced to other parts of the company."
The ERI is a membership organisation that has been set up to improve the knowledge, competence, education and practical skills of managers and representatives in workplace relations throughout the UK. It has already gained support from heads of companies in the private and public sector as well as ministerial and union support.
McCarthy also spoke about combing academia with business. He said: "For me, there is a lot of academic work being done and lots of skills being taught by business from business, but how do you negotiate the two? What about the middle ground, day-to-day problems? Managers just aren't aware of how to deal with these and that's where the ERI can help."
He added: "Organisations like this can help bring all parts of business together and prove to be a real driver for growth."
HR director of global security firm G4S, Tracey Dyer, echoed many of the thoughts on current employee relations in business. She told HR magazine "These sorts of issues don't just belong to HR, they belong to all managers."
She added: "For too long we've had it where only HR will deal with relations issues so it's about time all other managers step forward."