The differences between employee participation and employee involvement are as follows:
Employee participation is a part of the process of empowerment in the workplace and Team working is a key part of this process. It focuses on employees and their different points of view, also trying to encourage team members to make decisions.
Examples of employee participation include: suggestion schemes, where employees can give new ideas to managers within the organisation, or meetings, where employees are encouraged to share their ideas.
Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people on their own have an impact on decisions and actions that affect their jobs. It is also a management and leadership philosophy about how people are most enabled to contribute to continuous improvement and the ongoing success of their work organisation.
Companies like to get their employees involved in issues related to their organisations. It makes people feel important and it motivates them. There are many ways in which organisations could involve employees in making decisions. Below are some examples of how well known organisations do this:
-DENPLAN- is the UK
-BEAVERBROOKS THE JEWELLERS- are Trusted Specialists in engagement rings, diamond pendants, wedding rings, gold necklaces and watches. Beaverbrooks scores well in the area of employee engagement. The organisation involves its employees in decision-making through regular visits to stores by senior managers. All employees can contact them by email or phone whenever they wish to. The company provides employees with many benefits like celebration nights for top performing teams and a minimum of 25 days’ holiday.
-METASWITCH NETWORKS- is a leading provider of carrier systems and software solutions that are powering the migration of communications networks to open, packet-based architectures. According to The Times Online article, almost 70% of it’s employees are very happy with their organisation as they get paid fairly and feel they are remunerated fairly relative to others in the organisation. Staff feel that they are cared about by managers as they really support team members by talking openly and honestly with them. It improves the team’s attitude in the company. The employees receive many flexible benefits include performance and profit-related pay, a share option scheme and childcare vouchers.
Nowadays, organisations use social networking sites as a means of involving their staff and potential recruits. The most well known and popular social networking sites I came across are: Facebook.com, MySpace.com, Friendster.com, Wink.com, Digg.com, Flickr.com, Twitter.com,
(picture taken from: http://www.theecommercesolution.com/blog/2007/05/01/how-social-network-marketing-works/)
I researched one of the most popular sites - Facebook.com.
(picture taken from http://www.temi.co.uk/category/internet/)
It is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them.
Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.
Businesses and individuals are able open accounts and set them up as fan pages. Fan pages allow people to “like” them. It means that an employee can become a fan of its organisations page. It is a good way to reach the audience and advertise the organisation, because there are no costs for setting up an account. To become a fan, individuals need to register first, which is also very helpful, because it makes the research much easier.
When I worked for Leroy Merlin as a sales assistant, I became a fan of its website on facebook. It allowed me to keep in contact with all of my workmates, but also with people working for this organisation in the whole of Europe . All fans were able to talk with each other and share their opinions on its profile board. Everyday I was sent information and news about Leroy Merlin, its products and competitions. I really enjoyed going on the facebook page for Leroy Merlin and talking with colleagues, it made me feel much happier with my workplace.
In conclusion, both employee participation and employee involvement has been developed to make employees take part in their organisations life, allowing them to have on decisions and actions. They make staff feel important and appreciated. Companies get their employees involved in the decision making process as it also makes creates motivation at work. One of the methods of involving staff is social networking, which allows them not only communicate with each other, but also make them feel more connected to the organisation.
References:
- Beardwell, I. , Holden, L. and Claydon, T. (2004) Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach. Forth Edition. Harlow : Pearson Education Limited.
- Beaverbrooks The Jewellers (2011) Available at: http://www.beaverbrooks.co.uk/ [ Accessed: 1st May 2011].
- Business Times Online. (2011) [Online] Available at: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article7030254.ece [Accessed: 1st May 2011]
- Denplan. (2011) [Online] Available at: http://www.denplan.co.uk/about-us.aspx [Accessed:1st May 2011]
- Human Resources. (2011) [Online] Available at: http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossarye/a/employee_inv.htm [Accessed at: 1st May 2011].
- Denplan. (2011) [Online] Available at: http://www.denplan.co.uk/about-us.aspx [Accessed:1st May 2011]
- Facebook. (2011) [Online] Available at: http://www.facebook.com/facebook [Accessed: 1st May 2011]
- Metaswitch. (2011) [Online] Available at: http://www.metaswitch.com/company/At-a-glance.aspx [Accessed: 1st May 2011]
- The Times. (2011) [Online] Available at: http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--employee-participation--310.php [Accessed: 1st May 2011]
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