Employee Involvement
The management of different companies would always be looking for a joint involvement of the different employees in the business. This can be done partially with the help of the trade unions. However there exists many other ways too. The changes which have taken pace in the recent times regarding membership in the unions as well as well as laws of employment, along with rise and fall in the levels of unemployment, have given the analysts a chance for looking at the changes that have occurred in strategies for maintaining employee relations. A complete explanation is unavailable yet however the approach taken up by Purcell and Sisson in the year 1983 has turned out to be the most well-known. They have categorized the styles of management. You can view these things in table 20.2. The feature which is extremely good to look at, is the view taken up y the whole of the workforce.
The different categories that you will find in table 20.2 are extremely useful. There may be some organizations which would not really be fitting into them. However the biggest and established companies would be placed in the 4th category. The upcoming businesses can be placed in the 2nd category.
Among the five different categories in the above table, which one describes your company in the best way? Do you observe a change in the categorization as different employee groups are considered?
If a kind of managerial viewpoint is taken of the various trade unions and their influence then the interest is defined as the way in which a kind of recognition would be able to provide with collective permission for following a set of rules within which the people in the company would be functioning. By collective consent, it is referred to as the extent to which acknowledging a situation, when the required agreement has a mixture of commitment after an initiative has been taken to make a situation happen. Hence it can clearly be seen that participation of the employees in decision making process of the company is not happening. The range as you will observe is very vast and will be including lots of circumstances where the employees would be consenting to the authority of the management as long as the terms are acceptable in nature.
- In order to ensure that the discussion is made in an amiable fashion, as a result of which lots of styles could be taken up, seven different categories concerned with consent is rolled out. In the first category, there would be a really simple and unquestionable acceptance of the authority that the management yields. After this, movement is done through different categories of participation in the process of decision making of the company. Different changes are also required to be brought in the style of management. This is because there is a constant shift in the balance of power and bargaining develops into something quite significant and creeps into different levels of organization.
- This term can be used as mentioned by Etzioni in 1961 who gave descriptions of normal organizations as those places where the individuals were involved owing to moral obligations. If the authority was challenged in any manner, would mean that certain norms had been violated and hence this was something unimaginable. Many exercises taking place in the corporate culture, is interpreted as can be interpreted as strategies, for developing this consent type. Here you will find a good deal of emphasis is being given on commitment as well as destruction of particular views which opposed the orthodoxy of the management.
- In some organizations, that are not normative in nature, collective consent can be given as there exists no focus for any kind of challenge. The consent can be of disorganized type, when discontent exists but the consent would be continued because of a dearth of organization of the employees. These organizations usually approve of dissatisfaction in an articulate manner. You can bring a sweatshop of the Victorian age under this category.
- If some organization is formed by the employees, then it is inevitably a trade union. The first set of activities of these places is to deal with the grievances being aired by the employees. These organizations usually have no role to play in the decision making process in the company. The employees agree to follow the instructions as long as their grievances and demands are met by the company.
- When consultative organizations are formed, it means that the people have reached a stage just beyond that of the unions. Some of the employers seem to approve of this as they do not want the presence of the trade unions. This can be referred to as the first step taken for getting involved in management of the company. The final right of taking decisions however remains with the company.
- When negotiations are done, it means that both the employees and the employers have an equal share of power. They will be able to hold back agreements and that would cause decisions to be reached by mutually accepting certain things. You will not be finding the management to be the sole authority wielding the power. They are looking to bargain with the employees and their representatives and hoping that a good deal of reciprocations done.
- A great change is observed in the controlling of a business, when it is seen that the employee representatives reach a stage when they are invited into the management of the business, they are involved in. this thing is more theoretical than real. The different representatives of the employees, usually take part in the decision making process of the big issues such as the amount being spent for research purposes as well as opening of new company branches. When the participative consent is organized, there exists a sweet balance between the people making decisions and those people who look after the interests of the employees.
- In cases when the employees are seen to controlling the functioning of the company, a cooperative of the workers exists. This can also be referred to as controlling consent. This may actually seem to be unique or even bizarre, however this is still a management tool present in organizations where the collective consent of the employees would either be given or taken away as the case may be. If the 1st and 2nd categories are considered, this can be an appeal in order to make sure that the event of commitment is quite high. In each of the sub categories, there will be more and more emphasis on bargaining. Things eventually get very complex.
There are actually different levels of consent observed and the companies’ progress via these things. This has been true for quite some time in the past; however it is no more something compulsory. In some places things may begin in number 6, there does not exist any law which cannot be made flexible. A regressive step towards back of the hierarchy can be said to be happening, if the trade unions get de-recognized completely.
Links of Previous Main Topic:-
- Strategic aspects of development
- Context competence competencies
- Learning and development
- Career development
- Strategic aspects of employee relations
- Key trends in employee relations
- The study of employee relations
- Collective employee involvement
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