PARTICIPATION AND TEAMWORK
Question No. (1):
What is employee involvement?
Explain in detail.
Answer:
Definition:
Employee Involvement (EI) is creating an environment in which
people have an impact on decisions & actions that affect their jobs.
Explanation:
Employee involvement (EI) is not the goal nor it is a tool, as practiced in
many organiations .!ather, it is a management & leadership philosophy
abo"t how people are m"st enabled to contrib"te to contin"o"s improvement
& ongoing s"ccess of their wor# organiations.
How to involve employees in decision making &
continuous improvement activities?
$o involve employees in decision ma#ing & contin"o"s improvement
activities is the strategic aspect of involvement & can incl"de s"ch methods
as,
%"ggestion system,
&an"fact"ring calls,
'or# teams,
(ontin"o"s improvement meetings,
)aian ((ontin"o"s improvement)events, &
$he periodic disc"ssion with the s"pervisor.
Intrinsic to most EI processes:
$hese incl"ded*
$he training in team effectiveness, comm"nicating & problem
solving.
+
$he development of reward & reorganiation system, &
,re-"ently, the sharing of gain made thro"gh employee
involvement efforts.
Employee Involvement Model:
$annaba"m & %chmidt (+./0), & %adler (+.12) developed a model
for people & organiations desire to apply. $hey provide a contin""m for
leadership & involvement that incl"des an increasing role for employees & a
decreasing role for s"pervisors in the decision process. $he contin""m
incl"des the progression*
Tell: the s"pervisor ma#es the decision & anno"nces it to staff.
$he s"pervisor provides complete direction.
Sell: the s"pervisor ma#es the decision & attempts to gain
commitment from staff by selling the positive aspects of the
decision.
Consult: the s"pervisor invites inp"t into a decision while
training a"thority to meet the final decision her3his self.
Join: the s"pervisor invites employees to ma#e the decision
with s"pervisor. $he s"pervisor considers her3his vision e-"al
in the decision process.
$o ro"nd o"t the model, it can be added,
Delegates: the s"pervisor t"rns the decision over to another
party.
Advantages of Employee Involvement(EI):
4"freda, &aynard & 5yde (+..2) described many advantages of EI
over traditional managerial practices, these incl"des*
!eplacing the adversarial mentality with tr"st & cooperation,
6eveloping the s#ills & leadership capability of individ"al,
creating a sense of mission and fostering tr"st,
Increasing employee morale & commitment to the
organiations,
7
,ostering creativity & innovation, the so"rce of competitive
advantage,
8elping people "nderstand -"ality principles & instilling these
principles into the corporate c"lt"re,
9llowing employees to solve problems at the so"rce
immediately, and
Improving -"ality & prod"ctivity.
Question No. (2):
What are psyholo!ial "asis #or Employee
$nvolvement?
Answer:
Employee involvement (EI) is rooted in the psychology of human
needs. Following theories help us to understand the critical issue,
Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs theory,
!er"bergs two factor theory, #
$ougles Mc%regor theory & # theory '.
Hierarcy !f "eeds #eory:
Abrahim Maslow proposed the best (nown model of human
motivation. !e proposed a priority of human needs from basic
psychological needs through the highest order needs of self)
reali"ation # fulfillment. *hese needs are+
,sychological,
-afety,
-ocial,
Esteem, #
-elf)actuli"ation.
:
#wo$%actor #eory:
*he two)factor theory))))))also called motivation)hygiene theory,
was proposed by psychologist Frederic( !er"berg. !e believed that
factors such as .ob security, wor(ing conditions # salary are not
positive motivations, but can be de)motivators. !owever, the nature
of the wor( itself, responsibility # reorgani"ations are motivating
factors. *hese are facilitated through employee involvement.
#eory & & teory ':
$uglas Mcgregor proposed two distinct views of human beings/
one basically negative, labeled *heory 0, and the other basically
positive, labeled *heory '.
1nder *heory &, wor(ers inherently disli(e wor( # responsibility, #
must be coerced, controlled or threatened.
1nder *heory ', however, trust is placed in people through
delegation of responsibility and self)control. *heory ' leads to
participative approaches and is clearly the basis behind $emings
philosophy.
Question No. (%):
What are di##erent methods #or involvement
o# employee? &isuss in detail.
Answer:
Employee involvement is based on four fundamental practices/
these are+
-haring information,
Increasing (nowledge,
2ewarding performance,
2edistributing power.
(aring Information:
;
*his is the first practice of involvement of employee # focused
that individuals should get the information about, how the business is
doing. Many companies share information on overall operating
results, unit operating results # overall business plans and goals.
31* fewer provide information about financial results # technologies.
*his suggests that employees may not be considered as important
sta(eholders # limited them in planning process and preparing for
technological change.
Increasing knowledge:
*he ability to use ones inherent talents re4uires training,
particularly in tools for continuous improvement. Effective training
involvement includes group+
%roup decision ma(ing # problem solving s(ills,
5eadership s(ills,
3asic business s(ills,
6uality # statistical tools,
*eam building s(ills # .ob s(ills.
)ewarding performance:
2ewarding performance is another practice for the involvement
of employee based on rewards on performance. *his way ensures
that employees are involved in organi"ation and they can gain from
performance improvement. *here are five popular approaches for
rewarding performance # these are+
Individual incentives,
*eam incentives,
,rofit sharing,
%ain sharing, #
-toc( ownership.
)edistri*uting power:
/
2edistributing power is another important but selectively used
practice for the involvement of employees, # focused on
movement of power downward in organi"ations. *hese include+
-uggestion system,
Individual empowerment,
7oint union8management committees,
6uality circles,
-elf managed teams, #
9or( redesigns programs such as .ob enrichment.
Question No. ('):
What do you mean by individual & partnerships
participation? Discuss in detail with their different
types.
Answer:
Individual # partnerships participation are the two different ways
to involve the employees on the basis of individual involvement # as
well as collective8partnerships.
Individual participation:
*here are many ways to involve employees on individual basis.
*hese include mentoring systems in which senior managers or empl)
oyees courage others at lower levels of the company. *hese methods
are designed to increase employee participation in 4uality
improvement. *hese may be+
:ompany newsletters,
;pen door policies of senior e0ecutives,
Employee surveys, #
Even video)based <town meetings=
TYPES:
(i)/ -uggestion system
(ii)/ Empowerment
(i)/ Suggestion system:
<
-uggestion system is the perhaps the most refined form of
individual participation in 4uality improvement. An employee
suggestion system is a management tool for the submission,
evaluation # implementation of an employees idea to save cost,
increase 4uality or improve other elements of wor( such as safety.
Employees are typically rewarded for implemented suggestion.
(ii)/ Empowerment:
Empowerment means conveying authority # responsibility to
employees. Empowerment gives employees a sense of ownership #
control over the .ob, and helps them feel more responsible # show
more initiative, in the words of $eming develop <.oy in wor(=.
+artnersips or collective participation:
,artnerships or collective participation are an important means of
facilitating toward a common goal. An important type of partnership is
union8management cooperation.
In partnership system [Link] resulted in a cooperative agreement
in which wor(ers are organi"ed into teams which broad decision ma()
ing powers # responsibilities. 9or(ers are treated as coowners of the
business # they have a hand in the vehicle design # hiring of their
own replacements.
TYPES:
(i)/ :ross fictional team
(ii)/ -upplier8customer partnerships
(i)/ Cross fictional team:
A successful cooperative approach to produce development is
called concernment engineering or simultaneous engineering. *his is
the concept that all [Link] functions that contribute to generate a pro)
duct to mar(et have continuing product)development involvement #
responsibility from the formation of ideas through sales. Multifuncti)
onal teams of > to ?@ members include every specialty in the comp)
any.
1
(ii)/ Supplier/customer partnerships:
In the ABC@s, many 1.- firms changed their supplier
relation)ship in order to secure improvement 4uality.9hen supp)
liers 4uality is substantially improved, the firm can eliminate or
substantially reduce inventories as well as incoming inspection or
testing. ;ne of the $emings A> ,oints suggests moving toward
single suppliers. 9ith such partnering suppliers suppliers
e0perts can be brought in at early design stages, thus reducing
many subse4uent redesign efforts. In addition, long)term
contracts ma(e suppliers more willing to invest in process #
system improvements. 7ust)in)time purchase agreements
reduce inventories # lower costs.
REFERENCE!
"#$! %&' & () #*+++
,y!
Dr. -. C. .rora
"/$! %)%.0 &1.0(%2 '.N.3E'EN%
,y!
Dale 4. ,esterfield & Carol ,esterfield 'ichna
"5$! %)%.0 &1.0(%2 '.N.3E'EN%
,y!
3len 4. ,esterfield
"*$! E'60)2EE (N7)07E'EN%8888
Definition for the 4uman Resources 3lossary
,y!
usan '. 4eathfield
"9$! .lso referred different concerned websites.
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%4E END
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