Employee Voice
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Introduction
Sri Lankan Public Administration Circular of Expressing opinions on social media by public officers-04/2022(Letter)
The elements of employee voices
Ø
Participation is about employees contributing to
improving organizational performance.
Ø
As per Williams and Adam Smith (2006), the term
'participation' refers to arrangements that give workers influence over
workplace decisions.
Ø
Involvement is how management
allows employees to discuss issues that affect them.
Ø
According to them, this term is most usefully
applied to management initiatives that are designed to further the flow of
communication at work as a means of enhancing the organizational commitment of
employees.
Ø
These elements of employee voice can be
categorized as representative participation and upward problem-solving.
Representative participation
Ø
Participation is about employees contributing to
improving organizational performance.
Ø
Partnership schemes emphasize mutual gains and
solve issues in a spirit of cooperation rather than through traditional
relationships.
Ø
European Works Councils – these may be set up
across Eu sites as EU legislation requires.
Ø
Collective representation – the function of
labor unions or other staff organizations in representing the interests of
particular workers as well as the interests of groups of workers during
collective bargaining. This covers how grievance processes work.
The framework for employee voice
Levels of employee voice
As discussed below, participation manifests
itself in diverse ways at various levels of an enterprise. Participation takes
various forms at different levels in enterprises. The job level involves
leaders and their teams. The processes include communicating information about
work and exchanging ideas about how the work should be done. These processes
are informal. The management level can involve sharing information and
decision-making about issues affecting how work is planned and carried out, as
well as working arrangements and conditions. There are limits. Management, and
individual managers, must keep authority to do what their function requires.
Participation does not mean anarchy, but it does necessitate some level of
management willingness to delegate some of its decision-making authority.At
this level, involvement and participation may become more formalized through
consultative committees, briefing ng groups, or other joint bodies involving
management, employees, or their representatives.
Joint consultation
Joint consultation enables managers and
employee representatives to meet regularly to exchange views.
Ø
Tell employees what management proposes to do.
Ø
Give employees enough time to respond to the
proposed action.
Ø
Consider the employees' responses.
Ø
Explain the response of management to the
employees' view fully.
Meaningful consultation
For joint consultation to work well, it is
first necessary to define, discuss and agree on its goals. These should be
related to tangible and significant aspects of the process management, or the formulation of policies that
affect the interests of employees. The quality of the sausages in the staff
restaurant and other ancillary issues like welfare and social amenities should
not be their main priorities. Decisions ought to be taken after consultation.
Attitude surveys
Methods of conducting attitude surveys
1)
By the use of structured questionnaires
2)
By the use of interviews
3)
By questionnaires and interviews
4)
By the use of focus groups
Suggestion schemes
These are established procedures for
employees to submit ideas to management with tangible recognition for those
suggestions that have merit. They can provide a valuable means for employees to
participate in improving the efficiency of the company. Properly organized,
they can help to reduce the feelings of frustration in all concerns where
people think they have good ideas but cannot get them considered because there
are no recognized channels of communication. Commonly, only those ideas outside
the usual view of employees' duties are considered.
Effectiveness of employee involvement and participation
Combinations of involvement and participation
practices worked best. The main obstacles to appearing voice of employees
are a lack of full employee excitement, a lack of the skills necessary to
create and manage employee voice programs, and concerns with line managers,
such as middle managers who choose to serve as roadblocks or are ignorant of
them.
References
Kochan, T A, Katz, H and McKersie, R (1986) The
Trans
formation of American Industrial Relations, Basic Books, New York
Marchington M, Goodman, J, Wilkinson, A and Ackers, P (1992) New Developments in Employee Involvement, HMSO, London
Dundon, T, Wilkinson, A, Marchington, M and Ackers, P (2004) The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 15 (6), pp 1149–70
Millward, N, Stevens, M, Smart, D and Hawes, W R (1992) Workplace Industrial Relations in Transition, Dartmouth Publishing, Hampshire
Williams, S and Adam-Smith, D (2006) Contemporary
Employment Relations: A critical introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Marchington, M, Wilkinson, A, Ackers, P and Dundon, A (2001) Management Choice and Employee Voice, CIPD, London
Ministry of Public Administration, Home
Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government
https://www.pubad.gov.lk/web/index.php?lang=en
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Voice of employee is defined as the opportunity for employees to express concerns about policies in the workplace. There are two types of employee voice - formal and informal - depending on the employer. Organizations must meet three criteria to effectively give employees a voice: provide structured channels for feedback in the form of surveys, create a culture of acceptance for feedback and demonstrate real organizational changes.
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