Employee Engagement and Employee Voice - Essay Example

? Employee Engagement & Employee Voice Your ID Introduction Employee relations has gonethrough an evolution over the period after the Second World War. According to Gennard & Judge (2005), employment relationships, which involve employers and employees is based significantly on the success of employee trust, integration of employee views and enhancing productivity, profitability and efficiency. This can only be done if the voice of employees are taken seriously and their views and opinions are integrated into the affairs of the organisation in question. The position of employee relations has metamorphosed from the old days of unions to various forms of collectivism like employee association and the like into a human resource management function in the late 1990s (Kaufman & Gottlieb, 2000 p403). The role of employee voice in employee issues therefore very important in the operation of human resource management units since it has a significant influence on employee performance, employee views and also regulates the relationship between employers and employees. This paper examines the concept of 'employee voice'. It attempts to identify what that concept actually is and how it has evolved over the past 60 years The research then goes on to examine the position of employee voice after the Second World War and how it has evolved to this day. It will examine key concepts and ideas that define the phenomenon. Also, the research discusses the role of employee engagement in organisations. This is done from two perspectives. The first is the position of employers and the facades within which they deal with employee demands. The second is how the organization and the human resource department specifically, deals with employee voice. Finally, the paper will focus on the role of employee relationships and how it affects the strategic position of organisations. It will be done by examining the business case of employee relations and how it is integrated into the communication plan of organisations. Employee Voice “For working purpose, we define voice as the expression of ideas, information, opinions and concerns as well as silence, such as withholding” (Greenberg & Edwards, 2009 p4). This means that voice refers to communication in the wider sense. There is no clearcut definition of employee voice. However, using this preamble, we can say that voice refers to the kind of feedback or message that employees give or seek to give to their employers in the workplace. From another perspective, this also means that where employees refuse to communicate or make any demands, it can also be viewed as some kind of a voice. This implies that communication from employees is essential for the success of organisations around the world. Employee voice therefore takes a different connotation all together. Its scope is wider than just making demands and asking management or the owners of a business to come up with certain actions or activities. “Employee voice is the term increasingly used to cover a whole variety of processes and structures which enables and sometimes empowers employees directly or indirectly to contribute to decision-making in the firm” (Armstrong, 2008 p200). This shows that employee voice is a kind of involvement of employees in the affairs of a business. It also connotes the ability of employees to influence the actions of employers through various ways and means. Turner (2003) state that employee voice can be seen in five different facades. First of all, employee voice can be seen as a two-way communication whereby employees also get the chance to communicate with employers through a system of communication. Secondly, employee voice is the upward problem solving approach used by employees to give feedback to employers or their superiors. Thirdly, employee voice is the collective representation of employees in an organisation. The fourth view of employee voice is the engagement of employees in the activities and decision making of the business. Finally, employee voice can be construed as having a say abou issues that pertain within an organisation. Another approach used to examine employee involvement is to describe it as some kind of employee involvement or shared agenda or some kind of partnership agreements (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007 p200). This shows that employees are more or less involved in the shared agenda of the the company in question. In presenting their thesis, Armstrong & Murlis state that employee involvement and employee voice have evolved over they years. To buttress their point, they indicate that employee involvement was about collective bargaining and grievance procedure in the past (2007). This is seen in the fact that employers were seen to be the sole authorities and power holders in such quests and situations. Hence, the only way employees could ever communicate with their employers were either through collective bargaining or through some kind of grievances being lodged against the employers. This was more adversarial in nature. In order to understand this concept better, the next section will focus on some aspects of employee voice and how it has evolved over the past 60 years . Evolution of Employee Voice after World War II In the 1930s and 1940s, workers in the UK were influenced by workers in the United States and they created a pluralist system which enabled them to challenge affairs of employers (Jones & Zetlin, 2008 p439). This I because technology was limited and capital was generally unavailable. Hence, employers had a lot of power and authority. Employers wielded a lot of power and after the industrial revolution ushered in the period of scientific management, workers had to speak up, otherwise they were wont to be treated like the machines – as a means to an end. In other words, the scientific management concept of running businesses required managers and supervisors to produce the highest levels of returns with the lowest levels of inputs. This way, all resources were destined to be put to the highest and best use. However, due to the fact that employees constituted the masses of nations around the world and in democracies in the UK and the US they could determine who would rule and hence what kind of laws they would prefer, most workers realized that they could best air their views through collective bargaining systems and arrangements. After the Second World War, the United Kingdom was virtually destroyed and the masses sought to vote into power, a government that would preserve a welfare state (Mitchell et al, 201) . Due to this, it became popular for employee unions to be formed to argue for better services and better treatment form employers. This became the most significant form of employee voice in modern times. Stuart identifies that the period between 1954 and 1979 marked a transitional period where there was a power sharing between employees, government and employers (2005). This is known as the period of industrial democracy where employees were one of the three strongest arms of the nation. Employees spoke and argued for their rights through unions and they got things done through that. Any refusal led to strikes and boycotts which affected the government and the employers gravely. However, after a series of major disputes which led to high costs for the British economy, the Thatcher administration marked the second era of the anarchic political change which led to the drafting of laws which led to the decline of the trade union movement (Stuart, 2005). This period was between 1979 and 1997. In this period reforms were made and the centralisation of public sector organisations was avoided in favour of a more decentralised model of privatisation. In the post 1997 era, the involvement of employees has taken a different turn. The soliciting for employee voice is done through employee involvement whereby employee motivation and commitment is sought through the integration of the employees' interests in the operations of the organisation (Stuart, 2005). This marks the transition of the employee voice and its relevant structures. Concepts and Views of Employee Voice There are various angles through which the concept of employee voice is seen amongst academics and managers. One view is that employee voice distinguishes between individual and collective activities (CIPD, 2005). This means that the concept of employee voice relates to the union against non-union communication as well as formal and informal communication. In other words, these classifications are necessary to give impetus and definition to the way people communicate in organisations and how employers and employees exchange views and ideas on how to get things down and how to attain unique and collective goals. According to Kaufman & Kleiner (1993) employee voice is some kind of representation that comes up to fill the void of deunionisation. This is in direct contrast with the thinkers who propose that unionisation is some kind of employee voice. Kaufman and Kleiner's view is rather the opposite. They see the two concepts as different and distinct. To them unionisation is some kind of collective bargaining whilst employee voice is about a kind of democratic in-house kind of communication and information systems which allows employers and employees to interact in a less adversarial manner whereby rules and regulations are respected and honoured. In conclusion, it can be said that some people view employee voice as any kind of communication that exists between employer and employees. And this includes the use of collective bargaining agreements and systems. Others view it as the communication structures and systems that exists within an organisation which allows employees to engage in some kind of dialogue and discussions with their employers and managers. It must be noted that for the purposes of this paper, the first view is just too broad to be looked into. In other words, the view of all kinds of communication systems and structures is too pervasive for any practical discussions to be undertaken in them. In this wise, the paper will turn around and focus on the internal communication systems and structures that allows the employed to exchange views and ideas in order to create a productive and successful organisation. This leads to the discussion of employee engagement which is the field of communication between employers and employees. Employee Engagement “Employee engagement refers to a positive work related state of mind characterised by vigour, discussions and absorptions and represents a more permanent and pervasive state characterised as an individual, rather than a monetary and specific state” (Albrecht, 2010 p174). This hints that employee engagement is an attempt to come up with systems and structures within an organisation which will allow communication to go on between employers and employees. It involves the creation of permanent structures and systems that allows employers and their employees to talk, share ideas and view each others' concerns. Employee engagement revolves around the creation of permanent systems and structures that allows different positions and not just persons in organisations to communicate and do things together. Employee engagement is about the institution of various mechanisms which will allow people in different positions to communicate in the organisation. This includes the creation and maintenance of a culture of communication and a culture of feedbacks and feed-forwards which will allow various elements and persons in the organisation to have their say and get their say respected. Through this, organisations get to attain their end in a win-win manner and everyone involved contributes his quota in an environment where there is representation and inclusion of all parties and components of the hierarchies. Armstrong and Murlis (2007) identify that in order to set up an employee engagement system, most managers use the planed approach. In doing this, they examine what needs to be changed in the organisation. After that they model the transition system and then find out how to develop responsibilities and obligations. Once this is done, they proceed to set up communication systems, channels and rules which makes employee engagement an important aspect of the organisation and allows all the employees to carry out their distinctive functions and also communicate with the regular authorities that exists in the organisation. Employee engagement involves some kinds of fundamental changes that are made to the communication systems and the permission structures of the organisation. However, some writers argue that these changes need to be rooted deep in the organisation and it should find itself in the rules and regulations of the business. Employers in Employee Engagement Employers in the 21st Century seem to view employee engagement as a positive thing rather than an adversarial and competitive activity. In most books, the main components of employee relations that they identify are the executives, management and employees. Employers are primarily in the category of executives. This is because most organisations today have independent boards of directors who are made up of the owners of the organisation who in the legal sense, employ workers. These executives set up rules and regulations and it is their obligations to set up and authorise communication systems and channels that will allow employee engagement to operate within. The organisation comes up with all the necessary rules through the board of directors. The executives also have the obligation of setting regular targets and missions. This can best function in the context of employee engagement. This is because employees play a significant role in the affairs of the organisation. The executives delegate the day-to-day running of the organisation to managers. Managers operate with the rules made by the executives. And this means that employee engagement allows managers to have a significant communication and interaction with employees which can help in cooperation. Managers are normally given targets by the top level management. They are required to work with employees to attain them. There is still that temptation for managers to use their power to extract results from employees without having any feelings for them. This has become known as transactional leadership which writers like McGregor describe to include leadership which involves attaining production results and targets with little concern for employees. However, in the 21st Century, transactional leadership is no more desirable due to the changes that management has gone through which has made managers seek to become more cooperative with employees. Due to this, employee engagement is one way through which employees concerns can be integrated into production and enable managers to factor in concerns for employees. This trend of leadership has become known as transformational leadership. Transformational leadership which involves blending employee interests in organisational vision and organisational goals forms the basis of employee engagement. This is the main motivation for the inclusion of employees' interests in operations. Attaining Employee Engagement On the basis of the argument of transformational leadership, several writers propose the grounds for the attainment of employee engagement. Federman identifies three main systems through which employee engagement can be attained: 1. Linkage of personal and professional goals. 2. Establishment of engagement systems. 3. Long-term loyalty views and the appropriate framework (2009 pxvii). The first component of employee engagement is the identification of the common goals between individual employees and the organisation as a whole. Traditionally, employees seek some personal interests like salary, job security, job satisfaction and the attainment of specific targets and goals. The organisation also seeks to meet targets as it satisfies stakeholders, particularly the attainment of return on investments to owners of the business. In order to attain employee engagement, the organisation will have to identify the goals and vision of employees and find ways of providing them through the organisation. This is done through the creation of benefits and other packages along those lines which will allow the organisation to provide them for the organisation. The aim of this is to create a system whereby personal and organisational goals are integrated into the roles of employees in a way that they cannot separate each of them. This way, when they work, they do their best to attain both ends in unified actions. The essence of employee engagement is to create a system whereby employees who are not satisfied or are not meeting their personal and organisational ends can speak up and try to make demands for better services. Due to this, there are engagement systems where reports can be made and feedbacks can be given to merit quick and timely action from management. This is done through the creation of communication rules, frameworks and other methods which will allow all parties to interact and communicate in a manner whereby negativity will be kept out of the organisation. Once the employee engagement structures are put in place, there is the need for the organisation to work together to consolidate these communication systems. This is done by creating a long-term loyalty system which will enable employees to speak up and make demands where they need arises. These communication structures become part of the culture and structures of the organisation. Business Case for Employee Engagement Employee engagement is about two parties, employer and employees. It involves each of the parties coming up with their views on how things can be done and its justification (Macey et al, 2011). Through employee engagement, organisations reduce risks and allows all parties to work constructively to attain the ends of the organisation in a manner where there is limited tensions (Macey et al, 2011). In human resource management terms, employee engagement is an intangible asset that allows the organisation to attain its ends in a more constructive manner. Dickson examines the justification employee engagement through the angle of human capital (2011). Human capital involves recruiting and retaining the right people with the right competency at the right time in an organisation (Dickson, 2011 p2). This way, the organisation gets the best qualified and experienced persons to help it to attain competitive advantage in the environment that it operates in. On the side of employees, they also seek job satisfaction, job security and retention (Dickson, 2011). Through employee relations, employers and employees can come up with their demands, negotiate, talk and discuss things that would enable each of them to attain their ends at every points in times. Without a system of employee relations and employee engagement, there is no way that employers and employees can examine their own interests and attain them. Employee engagement enables employees to become committed to the organisation (Cook, 2005). This allows the employees to think about the organisation and build feelings towards the organisation. This is because when there is a way that a person can be heard and given attention, then there is a strong chance that the individual will be able to work hard and attain the goals of the organisation. Thus employee engagement sets up the framework to attain the goals of the organisation. This allows employees and employers to confer and come up with important solutions to their mutual problems and issues. Employee Engagement & Organisations In examining employee engagement, there are various approaches to justify their inclusion in organisations. “Employee engagement defines the extent to which employees are motivated to contribute to organisational success and are willing to apply discretionary efforts to accomplish tasks important to the achievement of organisational goals” (Wiley et al, 2010 p351). There are several ways that organisations can weave employees into its operations through employee engagement. This include communication about strategy which can be done through involvement in strategy formulation, monitoring and implementation of strategy, seeking employee views and brand renewal (Namula, 2006 p45). Employees can take part in strategy formulation through debates and other discussions prior to the acceptance of strategy. Also, the implementation of strategy can be translated to various techniques like Six Sigma and Balanced Scorecard which will allow employees to be aware of their targets and work hard to attain those targets. Also, the views of employees can be sought in some situations to enable them to feel that they are part of the organisation and work to attain the ends that are at stake. Walker sums up the ways employee engagement can integrate the average employee into the strategy of the organisation through the 4Cs (2012). Choice involves the involvement of employees in making decisions about strategic choices and its operations. Commercial interests involve getting employees to support business success with the view of rewarding them in proportion to what they worked for. Clarity involves the provision of clear rules that regulate leaders and followers. Also, Culture involves the integration of positive behaviours in the actions and activities of employees. Employee Relations & Communication Policy “Employee engagement does not happen without effective employee communication (Turner, 2003 p131). This means that there is the need for some kind of communication system to be created and safeguarded throughout the organisation in question. This can be done through the creation of a conscious communication programme and system. The main way this is done in most organisations is to identify supervisors and enable the employees to report to them regularly (Secord, 2011 p436). Supervisors are the main line of connection between workers and management. It is proven that communication between employees and employers is often initiated through supervisors. Most businesses encourage supervisors to have a 5 minutes meeting with their workers each day and this is reciprocated with a 10-minute weekly meeting with the supervisors' superiors (Secord, 2011). In terms of top-bottom communication, it can be pointed out that the executives set up the rules and regulations and communicate it to managers who then proceed to brief employees through supervisors (Wright, 2009 p396). This is done through policies and objectives which are set from the executive unit down to managers and then to employees. Thus in integrating employee engagement into organisations' communication policy, there is the need to set up a system through which return on investments and other strategic targets can be transposed to various strategic business units (Gillis, 2009 p267). This can provide the tone for downward communication and sharing strategic views and opinions (Hernandez, 2011 p258). Dickson also provides a five point guideline that must be used to create the framework for organisational communication policies that would promote employee engagement. This include: 1. Create a meaningful bond with employees involvement considered (2011). This means that there must be structures in place that will define relationships in the organisation and help the organisation to create communication linkages and systems. 2. Create a framework for communication medium and systems that are acceptable. This implies that there must be different systems of communication and airing views between employers and employees that will be acceptable and those that might be unacceptable. 3. The setting of communication targets and their frequency. This will show how well the policy and system is working and operating in the organisation. 4. Evaluate communication structures and systems and ensure that they are working or not. 5. Monitor results and examine if the communication systems are working as expected or not. Conclusion Employee voice focuses on the involvement of employees in decision making. This involves the various structures and systems that exist in organisations with the view of helping employees to to air their views and make demands. Employee voice has gone through an evolution in the UK and US since the end of World War II. Employee voice has evolved from a social welfare model which supported unionism to a period of cooperation under privatisation. In the world today, employee voice involves the linkage of the desires of organisations with the desires of individual employees. Employee engagement today involves an attempt to create a permanent system through which employees and employers can communicate, share views, ideas and make demands. Some authorities see employee engagement as a natural replacement for unionism and collectivism. Employee engagement is about blending employee goals and visions with the goals of the organisation. This involves the setting of a framework by the executive of the organisation. This framework create the system through which management operates and also creates a system through which there can be some kind of dialogue can be guaranteed amongst the groups in the organisation. Employee engagement allows constructive input to be put into the organisation. It allows constructive activities to be carried out in a way that employees and their employers get a win-win situation in formulating and implementing strategy. Communication policy involves the creation of effective rules and regulations that guides the conduct of employees and employers in employee engagement. It involves the creation of a bond between the two parties and the maintenance of this bond. Supervisors are an important part of communication policies in employee engagement because employees often make regular conducts with them. References Albrecht, S. L. (2010) Handbook of Employee Engagement Surrey: Edward Elgar Armstrong, M. & Murlins, H. (2007) Reward Management: A Handbook of Reward Strategy & Practice London: Kogan Page. Armstrong, M. (2008) Strategic Human Resource Management: A Guide to Action London: Kogan Page. Charterd Institute of Professional Development (2005) Management Choice & Employee Voice London: CIPD. Cook, S. (2005) The Essential Guide to Employee Engagement London: Kogan Page. Dickson, D. (2011) Fostering Employee Engagement: Practical Tools & Best Practices Armhest, M. A: HRD Products. Federman, B. (2009) Employee Engagement London: Wiley. Gennard, J. & Judge, G. (2005) Employee Relations London: CIPD Publishing. Gillis, T. (2009) The IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Publishing Greenberg, J. & Edwards, M. S0. (2008) Voice & Silence in Organisations London: Emerald Group Publishing. Hernandez, R. S. (2011) Strategic Human Resource Management in Health Service Organizations Mason, OH: Cengage. Jones, G. & Zeithin, J. (2008) The Oxford Handbook of Business History Oxford: Oxford Handbooks Online. Kaufman, B. G. & Gottlieb, D. (2000) Nonunion Employee Representation History, Contemporary Practice & Policy Surrey: ME Sharpe Kaufman, B. G. & Kleiner, M. M. (1993) Employee Representation: Alternatives & future Direction New York: Cornell University Press. Macey, W. H., Schneider, B., Barbera, K. M. & Young, S. A. (2011) Employee Engagement: Tools for Analysis, Practice & Competitive Advantage London: Wiley Mitchell, R, Ramsey, J, Marshall, S. (2011) Corporate Governance and Partnerships at Work Surrey: Ashgate Publishing. Narula, U. (2006) Business Communication Practices: Modern Trends New York: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. Secord, H. (2011) Implementing Best Practices in Human Resource Management Toronto: CCH Canadian Ltd. Stuart, M. (2005) Partnership & Modernisation in Employment Relations London: Routledge. Turner, P. (2003) Organizational Communication: The Role of the HR Professional London: CIPD Publishing. Walker, S. (2012) Employee Engagement & Communication Sources London: Kogan Page. Wiley, J. W., Kowslee, B. J. & Herman, A. E. (2010) Developing & Validating: A Global Model of Employee Engagement Surrey: Edward Elgar Publishing. Wright, M. (2009) Gower Handbook of Internal Communication Surrey: Gower Publications. Read More