COMMUNICATION AND INVOLVEMENT

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION AND EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

Employee participation is the process where employees are involved in decision making procedures within an organisation. They raise different viewpoints, which need to be taken into consideration. By involving employees in decision making, they feel they are valued by the organisation. This therefore follows a pluralist approach.

Employee involvement, on the other hand, aims to influence employee behaviour and change organisational culture. This is similar to the unitarist approach as the employees are devoted to the organisation.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD):

Employee involvement is ‘a range of processes designed to engage the support, understanding and optimum contribution of all employees in an organisation and their commitment to its objectives’. 

Employee participation is defined as ‘a process of employee involvement designed to provide employees with the opportunity to influence and where  appropriate, take part in decision making on matters which affect them’. (CIPD, 2011)

WAYS OF INVOLVING EMPLOYEES IN DECISION-MAKING

·         Meetings and consultation exercises whereby employees are encouraged to offer their say and share ideas on the matter. Employees will feel valued as they are able to voice out their own opinions.

·         Project teams where the employees are involved in working as a group to complete tasks and offering advice to each other on what to do and how to go about doing it. Employees are responsible in getting the project done by voicing out their opinions and having responsibility delegated to the team. This helps them deal with customers on a daily basis as they are responsible for making decisions by themselves.

·         Another way of involving employees is by unions. Unions are a key channel to greater employee participation in decision making. They provide the opportunity to campaign ideas and to obtain feedback. For example, unions at universities are a good way of involving the students to participate and make decisions and raise opinions on the university itself and on different activities and societies.

(TheTimes, 2011)

USING SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES TO INVOLVE STAFF AND RECRUITS

Thanks to technological advances, organisations can now recruit as well as involve their current employees using social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. For example, Blackbaud, leading global provider of software and services, have found success through LinkedIn to build social networks designed to attract candidates that may not be actively looking for a job. Over 17 million professionals in over 150 industries have signed up with LinkedIn.

Another interesting organisation with a Facebook page is the Army Jobs. They have general discussions and also hold events, which users as well as current employees can look into and find out further information about it. They also have several links on their page of several Army colleges and the recruitment process. This is a good way of connecting with the members of Facebook as they will want to find out and get to know further details about the Army if they are interested. People wanting to apply for a job at the Army can research on this page as well as its original website before they apply for a particular job role; they can find a wide range of useful information on this page, which will be of huge benefit. Current employees can also post on this page and help promote the organisation and socialise with their colleagues. Army Jobs also have a Twitter and Flickr page.

To conclude, communication and involvement is vital for businesses. Due to the innovation in technology, video conferencing is used nowadays if shareholders and chief executives are based abroad. This shows that communication is reduced in terms of costs. On the other hand, involvement is essential because employees are always looking to prosper and being able to make decisions and progressing, enables them to not only be satisfied with their job, but also perform better.

REFERENCES

M.Simpson, 2011, powerpoint presentation.

The times 100 (2011) Employee participation [online] Available from:

http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--employee-participation--310.php

Marketing Power (2011) Blackbaud [online] Available from:

http://www.marketingpower.com/ResourceLibrary/Documents/Content%20Partner%20Documents/Blackbaud/Social_Networks_Recruit_Employees.pdf

Facebook (2011) Army Jobs [online] Available from:

http://www.facebook.com/armyjobs?sk=info

REWARD

Rewards are necessary if organisations want their employees to remain focused and motivated. Firms should reward two types of employee activity: performance and behaviour. Performance is the easier of the two to address since the goals set at the start are achieved, which therefore need rewarding. Rewarding specific behaviours that makes a significant difference to a company is more challenging.

REWARDS AT TESCO

Tesco is the leading supermarket and have obtained far greater share in the market in comparison to its competitors. They do things which matter not only to their consumers, but also to their employees. Equal opportunity is essential and Tesco ensures the working environment is a great place to work in by treating each employee with respect. Employees benefit in terms of rewards and recognition whilst working at Tesco. Rewards and benefits are offered to those that perform well when working and meeting targets or making a significant difference. By excelling and being recognised and rewarded for doing so, it only motivates the individual to remain focus and keep performing at such high standards. Some of the rewards offered at Tesco:

Staff Privilegecard- Tesco rewards those that have been loyal and worked for the company for over a year by giving them their Privilegecard. It is a staff loyalty card that gives you 10% discount as well as Clubcard points on various Tesco products. In addition, these employees can also get access to exclusive staff discounts with Tesco Telecoms and Tesco Personal Finance.

Pension- financial security for the future is important and planning ahead is made easier with Tesco offering their award winning pension scheme. Having acquired this pension, employees can get an idea how financially secure they will be once they have retired. In addition, the employees are entitled to life assurance scheme, which provides financial security for the family.

Protecting your health- reward is not just money; maintaining a good health is important and therefore to ensure their employees do not spend heavily on staying fit, Tesco offer great discounts with top healthcare companies. They offer exclusive discounted rates on health cash plans, private medical insurance and dental cover for their staff.

(Tesco-careers, 2011)

CHIEF EXECUTIVE BONUSES

FOR	AGAINST
Chief executives are high up in the organisation hierarchy. They are there for a reason; they possess relevant skills and qualifications which have got them where they are now. Bonuses will only encourage them to perform better.	Offering high bonuses when the firm has underperformed is only increasing the company’s costs.
By offering healthy bonus to chief executives, it will lead to motivation, which will help them turn the current situation of underperformance round and improve company’s profit levels.	The chief executives should only get rewarded if they are worthy of it. There might be some disagreements between other employees within the organisation if the chief executives keep getting high bonuses even when they do not deserve it. This may lead to de-motivation and a decline in performance.
They are heavily involved in decision making and carry out various jobs as part of their responsibilities and therefore it is only fair for them to be rewarded with healthy bonuses.	The company will have less money to invest into the business itself if they offer large bonuses to chief executives.

To conclude, employees respond to being rewarded by working harder and increasing their contribution to the organisation. If employees do not feel appreciated of their efforts by the company, this could cause a low self-esteem, which results in their efforts diminishing leading to minimal level of performance. Therefore, organisations tend to promote cultures of employee recognition and appreciation to get the best results out of their employees.

REFERENCE

Tesco-careers (2011) Rewards and Benefits [online] Available from:

http://www.tesco-careers.com/home/working/rewards-and-benefits