Employee Participation and Involvement Schemes
The world is constantly facing changes with globalizations and socialization, this is an indication that the employee base is ever changing. Human Resource Management (HRM) has been sensitive in analyzing the trends of the human capital in making sure that organizations address the specific needs and wants of the employees in facilitating motivation of employees. There are different problems involved in identifying the impact connected to employee involvement and employee participation schemes in organizations. Employee involvement and participation are part of employee motivation, a model that affects the performance of organizations.
Companies in the twenty first century are facing diverse employees more than ever before. Companies are also facing the challenges associated with globalization and socialization. In the traditional setup, organizations were hierarchical but today’s organizations are flat, where employees are allowed to participate and get involved in the decision making processes (Lashley, 2001 p. 32). Companies in the modern world are more connected than in earlier decades and employees are also more connected more than ever before. Technological disruptions are a reality and this has forced organizations to develop new mechanisms of handling the digital employees (Lashley, 2000 p. 799). Executives are forced to learn new ways of dealing with multicultural employees, information networks and in spotting specific skills and talents with employees. The customer base has experienced drastic changes, an indication that organizations have to change with the needs and wants of the customers and employees.
Employee participation and involvement is part of employee empowerment in the workplaces. It is argued that human capital is one of vital resources within an organization, a concept disputed in the traditional business setup (Cheney, 2002 p. 178). Surveys conducted by the (CIPD) Chartered Institute and Development argued that employee participation is characterized with processes that engage understanding, support and optimum contributions of the human capital within an organization, a model that facilitates total commitment directed at the objectives (Gross, 2010 p. 200).
Employee participation offers employees with choices in defining the employment relationship, where employees have rights of influencing and questioning the decisions made by the organization, mainly pegged on democracy in the representation of the workplace. Surveys have indicated that employee involvement and employee participation are different terminologies depending on context. Employee participation does not necessarily mean employee control or employee involvement (Gross, 2010 p. 205). Examples of employee participative mechanism and processes identify with workers councils, collective bargaining, joint consultative committees, worker directors, employee share schemes and European work councils among others (Cheney, 2002 p. 99).
Employee involvement is fused with individualism, where employees on individual bases are motivated in communicating the objectives of the organization. Employee involvement is more influenced by the management control, which is connected to soft approaches of the human resources management. Employee involvement is mostly characterized with downward and upward communication flows (Lashley, 2000 p. 809).
Downward communication flows is characterized with communication from the top management teams to the employees at the bottom-line. Examples of common models involved in downward communication flows are communication through: notice boards, staff forums, team briefings, staff newsletters, house journals, emails and staff handbooks among others. Upward communication flows is characterized by suggestion schemes that originate from the employees such as: surveys of staff on attitudes or a general survey, appraisal schemes, quality management and level of motivation among others.
Employee participation and involvement schemes influence the motivation of employees in the workplaces. Motivating employees in the modern workplaces has become complex and expensive (Psimmenos, 2007 p. 81). Different people are motivated by different things, which becomes complex satisfying each and every employee, particularly in the multicultural setups. Empowerment involves giving employees power in the decision making processes, which is facilitated by participation and involvement. Scholars argue that empowerment is part of the management manipulation and control tool practiced in soft human resources management.
Empowerment of the employees is focused at encouraging employees at the front line in solving smaller problems within an organization, without constantly referring to the approval by the management, which is part of shared decision making processes within an organization. Surveys indicated that some employees believe that employees have ‘powers’ in dealing with problems facing organizations, an indication that empowerment is just a management tool just like any other (Hyman, 2005 p. 230). It is argued that real power is in the hands of the organization, and in most cases, employees are given ‘powers’ of solving small issues affecting the customer base, which is more on a responsibility in the line of duty.
It is also argued that some organizations burden employees through ‘empowerment’ without necessarily considering other variables affecting the employees. Empowered employees seems to have greater control of situations, but in the real sense, it is the organization with the overall control of all the situations; under this context, it can be argued that empowerment is just an illusion from the reality (Hyman & Mason, 2005 p. 152).
Organizations need people, examples of organizations identify with industrial, educational, business, government, health care, military and service and all involve people in spearheading their objectives. People are characterized with diverse problems depending on context. People in organizations provide followership, leadership and stewardship (Merrill & Reid, 2001 p. 25). The objectives and strategies observed by organizations are formulated by people. People at the same time develop innovative and new ideas that transform organizations from small entities to multinational companies; an example is the Coca-Cola Company.
People influence and make things change and happen in organizations, it is critical understanding employee participation and employee involvement in building a competitive edge in organizations. Organizations are characterized as social units where people from different backgrounds meet in achieving common objectives. In the places of work, top management teams meet different types of people; some support the objectives of the organization while some employees sabotage the objectives of organizations (Kramlinger, 2011 p. 61).
Surveys have indicated that employees produce work and other times sabotage work. Employees learn new things and at times forget; at times employees make decisions and at other times procrastinate; employees at time create rules and at times conform to the rules; employees despair in failures and at other times exult in accomplishments; employees report to work early while at times they are absent; employees at times cause accidents and in other time avert catastrophes; employees at times are sober while at other times they are drunk; employees reconcile and at times fight; employees at times get left out while at times form teams; employees clam up while at times build confidence; employees misinterpret messages while at other times understand messages and employees avoid risks while at times take risks (Merrill & Reid, 2001 p. 81).
In addition, employees stereotype the organization while at times market the organization; employees discriminate while at times emphasize; employees compete while at times cooperate; employees threaten while at times bargain; employees follow while at times lead and employees disrupt activities in the workplace while at times harmonize activities in the workplaces. The above analysis on employees has indicated that employees are responsible for the good of an organization and for the worse of an organization depending on how the employees handle issues (Warigon, 2012 p. 4).
Human behaviours in organizations are counterproductive and at the same time productive depending on context, which is a common phenomenon in the modern organizations. Despite the contributions of people in organizations, they are part of the most ignored resources. A number of organizations take people for granted and in a number of cases, employees are mistreated by the top management teams (Kramlinger, 2011 p. 80). De-motivated employees affect the bottom-line of organization. Engaging employee participation and involvement is part of motivating employees, a practice that results to better performance of organizations.
A number of leaders receive recognition for the success of an organization, but the truth of the matter is that the employees are the ones who should be congratulated for the success of an organization. Subordinate employees in most cases are blamed for incompetence and failure of the organization, in this case, the ‘boss’ is not blamed for the poor performance of the organization (Bruce, 2011 p. 53); this is not right, both failures and successes of an organization are connected by the behaviours of the employees. In a number of organizations, stewardship or accountability are foreign to most top management teams.
Globalization and socialization is changing this concept of managing organizations. Motivating employees in the workplace is taking different shapes depending on the employees. It is argued that motivated employees achieve high levels of organizational performance; twenty first century is characterized with empowered workforce, information focused economy and on knowledge management (Cloke, 2002 p. 167). Effective management of the human capital in organizations is part of satisfying the customer base, which is critical to the survival of the business entity. It is argued that organizations that are slow in understanding employees are wrongly positioned in the global marketplace. Satisfying the needs and wants of the internal environment of the business is part of satisfying the needs and the wants of the external environment (Hyman, 2005 p. 300).
It has been noted that some organizations support the notion that people are the drivers of organizations, and that the organizations value the human contribution to the successes of the organizations. Surveys indicated that diverse organizations mention the contribution of people in their vision, mission and in the annual reports among other publications (Bruce, 2011 p. 187). In a number of cases, organizations state the importance of employees, but at the same time practice discrimination, layoffs, downsizing of the employees; there is a need of harmonizing treatment of employees.
The world is facing high standards of competition, in building a competitive edge, employees are critical in facilitating the change. It is argued that the way organizations manage people influence the position of the organization in the target market (Kearins, 2007 p. 7). Organizations will not realize their potential if they fail to recognize the effort and the importance of employees within the organization. People in organizations have faces, aspirations and feelings. People in organizations must be facilitated in doing the best so that the organization realizes its potential (Cloke, 2002 p. 300). Top management teams must realize that organizations are made of people, and there is no way an organization can avoid interacting with people. Hierarchies in organizations are made of people, isolating leaders from people is an indication that the organization will be doomed.
Employees in the workplace should be treated in the same way as the top management teams would like to be treated. In the same concept, dissatisfied and unhappy employees contribute to the downfall of the organization. The satisfaction of the customers is directly linked to employee satisfaction (Warigon, 2012 p. 4). Employee participation and involvement is part of satisfying the needs and the wants of the employees, which is critical in improving profitability, customer value and brand image. Employee satisfaction can only be facilitated by sustaining and creating a workplace that is motivating employees. Motivation is either intrinsic or extrinsic; employees of the twenty first century are better informed than employees of the earlier decades, an indication that the current employee base is sophisticated and manipulative at the same time (Hyman & Mason, 2005 p. 177).
Employees are after greater satisfaction in the places of work, where the satisfaction is not only effected by artificial rewards and money. In sustaining organizations, top management teams have the responsibility of assessing, identifying and attacking de-motivators. De-motivators are activities and practices that turn off the working environment. Motivation is characterized with organizations setting the workforce on ‘fire’, where clear objectives are critical in meeting the objectives of an organization (Sturdy, 2001 p. 88). Traditional managers never valued the human face as part of resources, but organizations in the twenty first century value the human face. Employees are partly inspired by participation and involvement in the decision making processes, where solutions are generated by all the stakeholders. It is better for the organizations to understand the strengths of each and every employee, and subsequently strategically position the employees with what specific employees do best, this is matching the talents within the employees with the work the employees perform.
Motivated leaders act as a coach, trainer and a facilitator to the organization. Employees must be prepared for changes that happen within the firm. Top management teams are expected to show a sense of humour, in order to make the working place fun. Employees must be treated in the same capacity in public and in private, a model critical in building trust between employees and employers (Sturdy, 2001 p. 160). Problems in organizations are addressed through facing them, but not avoiding problems. Ignoring problems in organizations is an indication that top management teams are not competitive.
People related problems sometimes can be nasty and time consuming. Human beings are complex creatures, and have the ability of changing depending on context. Ignoring employees is like ignoring the target customers, which affect the sustainability of an organization in the target market place (Lashley, 2001 p. 86). Employee participation and involvement is critical in making employees feel as part of the organization. Surveys argue that there is no direct, spontaneous and frequent model of dealing with problems in organizations other than addressing the needs and wants of the people. Relying on information passed over by the third parties will give the top management teams a wrong impression, since the message is distorted in the line of delivery.
Leaders in organizations should treat employees with personality and dignity; else, even the subordinates will treat employees unfairly. Effective leaders spend time building public relations. Engaging employee participation and involvement is part of treating employees fairly and part of building public relations (Bolton & Bolton, 2009 p. 142). Valuing the contributions of people in organizations is part of building a strong legacy within an organization. Employee participation and involvement is part of building a strong leadership team in the future, which will last for generations. Unhappy employees damage the organizational and the professional reputation of the leaders (Warigon, 2012 p. 4).
Employee participation and involvement is characterized with high level of communicating skills. The employers and the employees must actively listen to one another, which is critical in fostering a productive workplace (Kearins, 2007 p. 15). Listening is part of allowing unpleasant and pleasant messages from the employees on individuals and also on the organization. If the employees are not motivated, a sense of trust lacks to take shape within the system.
Employee participation and involvement is part of sharing virtual wealth of knowledge on how to run organizations. Employees in organizations should be given a chance of expressing themselves on the future of the organization and on the careers of the employees. Leaders must find time to communicate with the employees in managing any underlying problems. Communication involves considering both the negative and the positive contributions (Bolton & Bolton, 2009 p. 212). Leaders are expected to do away with intimidation and in return foster inspiration to the employees, in which employee participation and involvement is part of inspiration. Eliminating employees considered as ‘threats’ to particular leaders is not a good way of dealing with problems, leaders face problems head-on. Elimination of people within organizations must be justified, which is part of building a strategic vision (Kearins, 2007 p. 18).
People have weaknesses and strengths at the same time, de-motivated employees contributes to weaknesses of the employees, which are then transferred to the organization, such weaknesses of the employees results are reflected in the bottom line of the organization. Motivated employees contribute to the strengths of the employees, which are transferred to the organizations in meeting the desired objectives. Creating a motivated firm is a challenge to managers and leaders in the twenty first century.
List of References
Bolton, R. & Bolton, D (2009). People Styles at Work…And Beyond: Making Bad Relationships Good and Good Relationships Better. 2nd ed. New York: AMACOM. 104-222.
Bruce, A (2011). Manager’s Guide to Motivating Employees. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. 23-203.
Cheney, G (2002). Values at Work: Employee Participation Meets Market Pressure at Mondragon. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. 99-187.
Cloke, K (2002). The end of management and the rise of organizational democracy. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass. 102-301.
Gross, J (2010). A Shameful Business: The Case for Human Rights in the American Workplace. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. 199-208.
Hyman, J (2005). Employee Participation And Involvement. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 222-305.
Hyman, J. & Mason, B (2005). Managing Employee Involvement and Participation. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications Ltd . 145-189.
Kearins, K. (2007). Power in Organisational Analysis: Delineating and Contrasting a Foucauldian Perspective. Power in Organisations. 2 (2), 3-19.
Kramlinger, T (2011). The Social Styles Handbook: Adapt Your Style to Win Trust. 2nd ed. New York: Nova Vista Publishing. 45-87.
Lashley C. (2000). Empowerment through involvement : a case study of TGI Fridays Restaurant. Personnel Review. 29 (6), 791-815.
Lashley, C (2001). Empowerment : HR strategies for service excellence. 3rd ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. 23-89.
Merrill, D. & Reid, R (2001). Personal Styles & Effective Performance . 8th ed. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. 23-88.
Psimmenos, I (2007). Globalisation & Employee Participation. 4th ed. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Avebury. 32-87.
Sturdy, A (2001). Customer service : empowerment and entrapment. 3rd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 54-167.
Warigon, S. (2012). Managing People for Organizational Success. People in Organisations. 2 (1), 2-7.
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