Critically evaluate the claim that employee involvement and Essay

Critically evaluate the claim that employee involvement and participation initiatives contribute to increased employee motivation and productivity - Essay Example Employee participation gives an impression of value and power to the employees in the organization. Employee participation and involvement in the matters of enterprises provides maximum benefits to the firm as the employees work more honestly in order to maintain their records in the organization. The terms employee involvement and employee participation were first used in 1970s (Farnham, 1993, p.361). After the introduction of these terms a number of companies adopted employee participation programs which were designed with an aim to create better workplace plans and implement such operational programs which would bring benefits for the firm and the workers. This kind of programs, which are known as managed work panels, action commissions or employee-administrator committees, usually offer a forum in which workers may present suggestions or thoughts to administration relating to workplace topics and get administration reply. Many administrators judge that this sort of worker-employer teamwork is extremely advantageous to both parties and valuable for the corporation itself to participate in a worldwide economy. The employment department carried out a survey of employee involvement programs practiced by 377 British organizations and observed that employee involvement raises with the company size and value of financial involvement plans have raised from 53% in 1988 to 77% in 1991(Farnham and Pimlott,1995,p.421). The survey further tells that most of the companies which were surveyed have a program formed which can help the employees to join them. Employers also play a major role in encouraging the employees to work harder. These days the employers consider it as an important duty to converse with the employees and make the relations as better as possible. They are further forming employee committees which would help the employees to come forward with their problems. These committees help in decreasing the gap between the employers and the workers. This further creates an environment of security amongst the employees and would encourage them to work harder. The employers which emphasize on th e employee morale and relations get the benefits accordingly. These benefits can be in the form of high productivity and good quality. Furthermore the employees would not want to keep a distance from the management if all their demands are being met. Here the employers are also taking the advantage as the risk of strikes and employee co-ordination can be avoided. Employee involvement and participation can be divided in to different forms and hence by using these forms we may conclude if employee involvement and participation initiatives contribute to increased employee motivation and productivity or not. The first form of employee involvement is communication which is considered to be one of the most important methods of catching employees' and employers' attention. Some administrators find it worse to use communication with their employees in order to solve problems. However the CBI concluded that communication, itself, is not responsible for the occurrence of any problem but it is the matter of changing views and approaches. Communication should be used to identify the differences and understand the problems rather than criticizing and creating problems. Employees' involvements in the company using communications motivate