Employee participation is the process where employees are involved in decision making procedures, rather than just listening to orders. This follows from the pluralist approach. Employee participation recognises that the groups will have different point of views and team members are encouraged to help make decisions and input on those differences. (Farmer & Yellowley, 2008).
Employee involvement is creating an environment in which employees have an impact on decisions and behaviour of the company. Employee involvement is similar to the unitarist approach because they are dedicated to the organisation is essential to encourage staff to get involved. The management team make progress towards staff feeling more engaged and more tending towards creativity.
Organisations can involve employees in decision making by:
- Creating project teams in which employees work in groups on projects where each team member has a considerable amount of responsibility being delegated to the team. Each member will be involved by being in charge of a task and they will get a opportunity to share ideas towards the team. Employees would feel valued that they can put their point across.
- Suggestion schemes is another way where employees can input their new ideas through process of wooden boxes and pre-printed forms for staff to write out their ideas and submit them for management consideration. Often they will receive rewards for making appropriate suggestions.
- Works councils are a type of of employee representation group, and are most successful where membership is cross-departmental, and where the interests and decisions of the organisation and the members are considered equally. (The times 100, 2010)
How are social networking sites used to involve employees?
Many orgainsations now use social networking sites as a way to communicate, aswell as involving exsiting staff and potential recruits. For example Facbook, which is one of the biggest networking social sites used by millions of people around the world and is a great way to keep in touch with people, not only family but friends and work collegues. Deloitte which is one of the top professional accounting firms that uses facebook to globally connect with its network of memeber firms in 140 countries. Deloitte has a official facebook page and can be seen by anyone who has a interest in the compnay and can also join and become a member of the deloitte facebook group. Members can view the latest updates and write on the wall of the page if they have any queries. On the site are various information that is provided such as career oportunities which can be viewed by employees and anyone who might be interested in the job adverisements and can learn how to apply for the specific job. Political and economic news is also broadcasted on the deloitte facebook page to aware employees of the latest reports that might be useful to them. This is a good way of connecting with the members as they can comment on any news findings that alerts them and its a good way of letting staff know what is going on in the company. Social events are also shown on the site to aware existing employees of any major events that are taking place and can find out further information regarding this. The company profile and key statistics are also shown for new recruits or people who want to be apart of the company who might want to a bit of research before they go ahead and apply for a certain job role. Investors and stakeholders can make use of these facts. Opportunities of feedback and feeling well-informed about what is happeing in the organisation are key drivers of employee engagement which would result in positive emotions towards work. Not only can you find a wide range of useful information about the company but staff who have joined the group can be introduced to one another through facebook and is great way of socialising with work collegues.
H&M uses another popular social networking site called My space where the company can post blogs about the latest news and info. Employees who work at H&M can chat with eachother through here and introduce new staff who are new to the job before they actually meet them in person. Videos and photos can be uploaded about the latest trends and clothing that is new in the store which is available for my space members to view and comment on.
Conclusion:
The importance of good employee communication is so employees would feel they are involved and valued towards what is happening in the organisation. Communication is also needed to be linked with the business plan , with all staff clear about their roles in making the communication and involvement happen. This way trust can be built between the organisation's senior leaders and its people.
References:
Farmer & Yellowley (2008) People and organisations, second edition, Employee involvement and participation, Pearson education limited, pg 40-41
The times 100 (2010) Employee participation.[online] Available from: http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--employee-participation--310.php [Accessed 27 April 2010]
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