Employee Involvement and Participation

Successful business depends on employee involvement.

Companys objectives are more effectively and efficiently achieved if employees have some say in decision making, especially as it affects their own areas of work.

Managers make better decision with employees involvement.

Employees like being involved satisfaction.

Employee Involvement & Participation

A participative process that uses the input of employees to increase their commitment to the organizations success.

The direct participation of staff to help an organization fulfil its mission and meet its objectives by applying their own ideas, expertise, and efforts towards solving problems and making decisions.

Regular participation of employee in deciding how work is done, making suggestion for improvement, goal setting, planning and monitoring of their performance.

Needs of Employee Participation

Employee participation is in part a response to the quality movement within organizations.

Employee participation is also part of the move towards human resource development in modern organisations.

Employee participation is required to take steps to ensure their own health and safety and that of others.

Successful management of health and safety issues is best achieved through good-faith co-operation in the workplace. In particular, it is achieved through the input of those doing the work.

Employee Involvement

Employee involvement means that every employee is regarded as a unique human being, not just a cog in a machine, and each employee is involved in helping the organization meets its goals.

Each employees input is solicited and valued by his/her management.

Employees and management recognize that each employee is involved in running the business.

Main categories of employee involvement

Examples of related forms Rationale

Communicative involvement: information provision/ downward communication

Team briefing; other briefing groups; corporate newspapers, journals and reports aimed at employees; videos; audiotapes; email; recorded telephone briefings

To provide information; uniform messages; to be educative or re-educative

Communicative involvement: problem-solving involvement and upward, two-way communication

Briefing groups with feedback and managerial response loops; quality improvement teams; suggestion schemes; employee surveys

Explicit access to employees experience and skills; gain cooperation and opinions

Communicative involvement: consultation

Joint consultation committees, working parties or groups; staff forums

Providing information and testing reactions

Task involvement at job and work organizational levels

Job redesign: job enlargement and job enrichment. Work reorganization: (semi) autonomous working groups; problem-solving involvement

To be re-educative; providing greater levels of motivation and satisfaction; empowering

Financial involvement Employee share ownership plans; profit-related pay; performance-related pay; bonus schemes

To be re-educative; providing incentives and promoting effort

Managerial actions and style of leadership

Participative managerial style; being visible; accessible and informal; creating credibility; ensuring actions in line with key messages

To provide support; encourage positive working relationships and trust; reduce barriers

Categories and Forms of Employee Involvement

Outcomes of Employee Involvement

Improved organizational decision-making capability

Improved attitude regarding work

Substantially improved employee well-being

Reduced costs through elimination of waste and reduced product cycle times

Empowerment, job satisfaction, creativity, commitment and motivation, as well as intent to stay

Increased employee productivity across industries

Forms of Employee Involvement

Information sharing

Notice board, email circulation

The degree of information disclosure vs employee involvement

Informed = involved ?

Information hold back

Two way communication

Consultation

Next step up the employee involvement escalator

Employees are asked either directly or through representative to express views

Quality circles

Originated from Japan

Small group of people meet regularly to generate ideas

News sheets

In-house journals or e-electronic form

Limited form

Attitude surveys

Employee engagement (physically and mentally attached)

Major problems : issues not properly addressed

Forms of Employee Involvement

Suggestion schemes

Formal bottom up communication employed by organisation

Encourage staff to make suggestion

Team briefing

Authoritative information

Information gears to achievement of production targets

Forms of Employee Involvement

Overcoming Involvement Challenges

Cultural Differences

Better in collectivist and low power distance cultures

Management Resistance

Educate/train managers to become facilitators

Employee and Union Resistance

Concerns about increased stress, giving up union rights, and union power

Solution is trust and involvement