Q2.

What are the strategic principles to adopt for the employee

involvement and participation?
Answer: Employee participation is the process whereby employees are
involved in decision making processes, rather than simply acting on orders.
Employee participation is part of a process of empowerment in the workplace.
Empowerment involves decentralizing power within the organization to
individual decision makers further down the line.
Team working is a key part of the empowerment process. Team members are
encouraged to make decisions for themselves in line with guidelines and
frameworks established in self managing teams.
Employee participation is in part a response to the quality movement within
organizations. Individual employees are
encouraged to take responsibility for quality in terms of carrying out activities,
which meet the requirements of their
customers. The internal customer is someone within the organization that
receives the 'product of service' provided by
their 'supplier' within the organization. Eternal customers are buyers and
users outside of the organization. Employee
participation is also part of the move towards human resource development in
modern organizations. Employees are
trusted to make decisions for themselves and the organization. This is a key
motivational tool.
Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people have an
impact on decisions and actions that affect their !obs.
Employee involvement is not the goal nor is it a tool, as practiced in many
organizations. "ather, it is a management and leadership philosophy about
how people are most enabled to contribute to continuous improvement and the
ongoing success of their work organization.
It is to involve people as much as possible in all aspects of work decisions and
planning. This involvement increases ownership and commitment, retains your
best employees, and fosters an environment in which people choose to be
motivated and contributing.
#ow to involve employees in decision$making and continuous improvement
activities is the strategic aspect of involvement and can include such methods
as suggestion systems, manufacturing cells, work teams, continuous
improvement meetings, %aizen &continuous improvement' events, corrective
action processes, and periodic discussions with supervisor.
Intrinsic to most employee involvement processes is training in team
effectiveness, communication, and problem solving( the development of
reward and recognition systems( and frequently, the sharing of gains made
through employee involvement efforts.
Employee Involvement )odel $ They provide a continuum for leadership and
involvement that includes an increasing role for employees and a decreasing
1
role for supervisors in the decision process. The continuum includes this
progression.
Tell* the supervisor+manager makes the decision and announces it to staff.
The supervisor+manager provides complete direction.
,ell* the supervisor +manager makes the decision and then attempts to gain
commitment from staff by -selling- the positive aspects of the decision.
.onsult* the supervisor +manager invites input into a decision while retaining
authority to make the final decision herself.
/oin* the supervisor+manager invites employees to make the decision with
the supervisor+manager. The supervisor+manager considers her voice equal
in the decision process.
0elegate* the supervisor+manager turns the decision over to another party.
Employee Empowerment- 1or employees to be empowered the
management leadership must want and believe that employee empowerment
makes good business sense and employees must act. 2et us be clear about
one thing immediately, employee empowerment does not mean that
management no longer has the responsibility to lead the organization and is
not responsible for performance. If anything the opposite is true. ,tronger
leadership and accountability is demanded in an organization that seeks to
empower employees. This starts with the eecutive leadership, through all
management levels and includes front line supervisors. It is only when the
entire organization is willing to work as a team that the real benefits of
employee empowerment are realized.
1or an organization to practice and foster employee empowerment the
management must trust and communicate with employees. Employee
communication is one of the strongest signs of employee empowerment.
#onest and repeated communication from elements of the strategic plan, key
performance indicators, financial performance, down to daily decision making.
2