The Influence of Managerial Relations on Waves of Employee Involvement

Abstract

One of the most enduring issues in the debate about employee involvement (EI) and workers' participation is how it survives over time, and to what extent the dynamics of E l is linked with lubour-management relations. In this article, which draws upon data collected in a two-year study of 25 organizations, it is suggested that managerial relations is a significant factor in explaining waves of EI, und one that is frequently overlooked. Waves of EIcan be assessed in terms of the twin concepts of centrality and prominence, terms that are amplified below. The introduction of El techniques is motivated by a number offorces, but one of the most important is a desire by managers to be noticed, to engage in 'impression management', via the creation of new schemes. Despite having high-profile introductions, these schemes soon tend to fade in importance, to a large extent because of problems within management such as internal political rivalries, low supervisory commitment to schemes, inadequate training provision or the downgrading of EI by management arising from conflicting priorities.

The impact of employee involvement on small firms' financial performance

“…Where these are absent, management often involves &dquo;informal routinisation&dquo; (Scott et al, 1989) characterised by ad hoc responses to short-term exigencies. In consequence, less formal and adaptive practices survive and flourish in small firms, whereas more formal procedures are frequently undermined by short-term operational pressures (Marchington et al, 1993). So more formal EI practices may 'fit' better in a large firm environment than in a small firm environment.…”

The Influences on Direct Communication in British and Danish Firms: Country, ‘Strategic HRM’ or Unionization?

“…This, together with employer reservations, was a contributory reason for British 'indirect' consultative bodies (joint consultative committees) having been historically weak relative to their analogues in other EU countries (Taylor, 1993). As power shifted towards management in the 1970s, the latter increasingly insisted on direct communication with employees (Denham et al, 1997;Hyman, 1997;Marchington, 1993;Ramsay, 1977). Kessler et al point out (2004) that unions could adopt two alternative views.…”

Different rooms, different voices: double-breasting, multi-channel representation and the managerial agenda

“…Rather, different methods employed in different contexts could diverge greatly in terms of substantive content and in what they delivered for workers (Marchington et al, 1993;Wilkinson et al, 2007).…”