Competing paradigms of Participation

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Four competing paradigms are:

1. Satisfaction (Quality work Life): Higher degree of employee involvement will lead to higher level of satisfaction in. Indeed involvement = satisfaction link is one which is regularly made by the managers. However critics says that it also depend upon the workplace.

2. Commitment (HRM): Commitment leads to more positive behavior at work, including high level of performance.

3. Co-operation (Industrial Relation): It links involvement with collaboration/co-operation. This is called collective bargaining which emphasizes on mutual benefits and was actually started by labour union to have cordial industrial relationship.

4. Control (Labour Process): High level of involvement can be attained by transferring the control from management to employees.

Chapter 3: Written and audio visual communication

There are four different instruments for communicating written or audio visual information to employees:

1. Statements in annual report:

Organizations usually mention the name of achievers in their annual report and congratulate them for their hard work which motivates the employees to become achievers.

2. Employee Reports:

Instead of mentioning all the information on annual report, an employee report is created which would typically be sent to each individual or employee either at work or home.

House Journals:

House Journals are produced more frequently in every one two or three months. It depends upon company policies and size as to how frequently they do publish house journals.

Company Videos:

Company videos play an important role during

Induction program for new employees and is used to inform them about company ethics, values, mission and vision.

Disseminating financial and other commercial information. As a key part of specific change program.

Chapter4: Face to face communication

Two main reasons which have led to use of face to face communication are as follows:

1. Educating the employees: Employers generally educate the employees as to what kind of business the company is in and what are its plans. It also plays a major role in informing the employees about the future developments and their specific roles.

2. Strategies designed to increase employee commitment: Employees who are more educated about the realities of organization tend to show higher level of commitment.

Team briefing: It is important to communicate employees as to what is their role in the organization. Some organizations use extensive method wherein they club team briefing with written communication.

Benefits of team briefings are as follows:

1. Reinforces line managements2. Increases commitments3. Prevents misunderstandings.4. Helps people to accept change.5. Helps to control grapevine.6. Improves upward communication.

Team briefing in context

Claims made by proponents about benefits of team briefing are as follows:

1. Reality or rhetoric: Team briefing can reinforce management. People who brief should be confident and able to manage the team.

2. Undermining the unions: Since team briefing improves the relationship between management and employees by understanding each other. Hence it led to reduction of union system.

3. Evolution: Initially team briefing was considered as source of one way communication from management to employees however with time it transformed itself into two way communication channels. Team briefing has acted as platform for both upward and downwards communication.

Other face to face contact between senior manager and employees such as walkabouts and mass meeting should be handled with care so that they are not counterproductive and confusing messages being received by the staff.

Chapter 5 : Involvement in problem solving

Various types of problem solving techniques are as follows:

1. Attempts to improve the task related areas so that employees are fully involved in decision making.

2. Improved employee commitment by giving them opportunity to contribute in decision making.3. Recognizing employees to improve the level of involvement.

Suggestion scheme:

Eligible employees can voluntarily communicate their views. Employees whose ideas are accepted are than rewarded. Advantages of suggestion schemes:

Improving quality Increased productivity Reduction in wastage

Quality circle

It consist of small group of individual who meet voluntarily or on regular basis to identify, analyze and solve quality and work related problems. Generally comprises from 4 to 12 people.

Quality circles are employed to:

1. Enhance organizational performance.2. Better industrial relations.

Total Quality management.

It is defined as a systematic way of guaranteeing that all activities within the organization happen the way they have been planned.

TQM is conceptualized with the help of triangle involving management control, statistical process control and team working. Although it is not an EI technique but its successful operation requires high level of employee involvement.

Customer Care Programmes:

These programs are actually designed so as to motivate employees to treat customers in a more positive way.

Chapter 6 : Job redesign

Rationale for job redesign

1. Counter to alienation at work: This is a more refined way of improving efficiency at work by avoiding monotonous nature of job.

2. Increase employee commitment: This divides employees into self supervising teams and increase their involvement.

3. Competitive advantage:

Horizontal job redesign:

It relates to number and variety of functions performed by same individual. In operations it means adding different task to the operations. It is built around the pattern of increasing the variety in operations. It increases attractiveness of employees towards the job. Each employee undertakes all the task.

Drawbacks:

1. Overburdening

2. Stress

Vertical role integration:

It basically means removing controls over employees and giving person a complete unit of work by granting him additional authority and accountability towards job. This kind of job design should provide opportunity to employees rather than being demanding in nature.

Team working:

It considers both horizontal and vertical integration.

Chapter 7 : Joint consultation

A formal system of communication between the management of an organization and the employees' representatives used prior to taking decisions affecting the workforce, usually effected through a joint consultative committee.

Major components of consultation are:

1. Objective: Every committee has certain objective behind its constitution example improved output, greater efficiency, solving labour problems etc.

2. Subject Matter: Subject matter depends upon nature of consultation and people who are actually involved in the process.

3. Processes: It refers to flow of information and kind of communication within the committee. It can be one way or two ways which is preferred.

4. Powers: The power of JCC should be decided at the time of constitution.

5. Parties: Composition of employees within the company.

Chapter 8: Financial Involvement.

Financial involvement schemes can be divided into three sub categories:

1. Employee share ownership: Employees are given company shares.2. Cash based profit sharing: Cash bonus or payment is made to employees based upon the share

price, profits or dividend announce at the end of financial year.3. Plant or enterprise wide bonus scheme: Payment is made based upon performance of

organization. It is broadly of two types: Scanlon Plan: Total payroll cost/sales value of production Rucker’s plan: Bonus is related to value added by production process thus incentive is

given to keep the actual cost low.

The rationale for financial involvement is as follows:

1. Education Based: To inform employees about companies’ current position in market.2. Commitment based: It gives a sense of commitment to employees by imbibing the feeling of

ownership.3. Performance Based: Committed employees show better performances and hence it leads to

improvement in behavior.4. Recruitment Based: It aims at attracting new employees as well as retaining existing employees

in case of heavy competition. It is very important to have high quality employees for growth of any organization.

Introduction

EI basically means a more participative way to manage their staff.

A short history of participation in Britain:

Started in 19th century and mainly centered towards profits sharing but it resulted in creation of unions and led to certain problems in south metropolitan gas company however after first world war whitney’s council was formed which emphasized upon integration of employee and union.

After 3rd world war JPAC came into existence which was joint production and advisory committee and emphasized upon employee representation and consultative approach. However in later stage it wasn’t given that much importance. Although effect of JPAC declined but survey said that JCC (joint consultative committee) still remained in existence.

Fourth phase began in 1970 and its concern was mainly on harmonization of company law , industrial democracy and the presence of worker director on board.

The most recent wave is individualistic as opposed to collective and conducted by representative. It was directed towards the greater employee’s commitment towards organization and its success. It gave rights to employee’s to share their ideas in decision making. This was a much refined form of employee involvement as it involved much higher commitment by higher authorities to communicate with staff and share their ideas.

Degree of involvement:

Different techniques could be distinguished on basis of which employees influences the decision.

1. Information 2. Communication3. Consultation4. Codetermination5. Control

Direct EI : means face to face contact between managers and their subordinates. It basically means passage of information between managers and its employees. Managers provides with directions and information while in return staff comes up with ideas. Employees are involved at direct level rather than representation.

Example: Team briefing, house journals, suggestion schemes, quality circles and total quality management.

Indirect EI: It involves situation in which employees are involved in process of decision making through representation through company council, collective bargaining and employees on board.

Economic EI: Economic participation of employees in success of their organization and to link some proportion of their financial rewards to the company, divisional or departmental performance.

Example: Profit sharing, share ownership and incentive payment system.