Employee Voice Within the Workplace and Organisations - Essay Example

To what extent should there be ‘employee voice’ within the workplace and organisations? Introduction: In recent decades the topic of ‘employee voice’ within a business organization has come up for discussion in management literature. At the same time, business analysts have explored in depth various possible distribution of powers within the workplace and the dynamics involved therein. Terms such as ‘involvement’ and ‘participation’ have been elaborated and explained as well. Yet, it is safe to say that no universal consensus has been achieved so far, with employee unions and elected representatives on their behalf constantly contesting and claiming for more favourable terms and conditions of work. This essay will attempt to answer the topic question, along with its broader implications. Employee Voice in the backdrop of discrimination: Since business enterprises operate in the socio-political setup of nations, it is important to analyze the issue of ‘employee voice’ in this broad context. For example, a 1998 survey conducted in the UK involving 500 employees from various small business organizations reveals some telling statistics. It shows that racial minorities like Asians and Africans are less likely to find work in smaller firms. So is the case for women, irrespective of their racial background. Eligible workers between the age group of 25-45 are also less likely to find acceptance, especially in very small firms (Taylor & Bain, 2007, p.32). There are a higher proportion of the uneducated personnel, many among those having not passed high school. Given the small business sector is only minimally legislated, it could be concluded that the free market setup in which such organizations function is not leading to a healthier society through provisions for greater employee voice. (Phillips, Estelle M., p.78) Scholarship on the UK business environment also suggests that the condition of women workers has only improved marginally over the last thirty years. For instance, the results published by the Equal Opportunities Commission gives a factual description of the status and trends in this area of corporate affairs. It confirms that while managers projected themselves as professionals and advocated the concept of equal opportunities, there were definite cases of discrimination based on gender. Some measures are required toward ensuring that managers match their practices to policies. This further shows that concepts such as employee ‘involvement’ and ‘participation’ have not led to a fair and just workplace and also makes a case for expanding the scope of employee empowerment from what it is presently. (Phillips, Estelle M., p.79) The decline of trade unions and its effect on employees: The imbalance of power between the management and the employees is evident from the fact that large numbers of business corporations in the UK are in support of a vibrant trade union. Employee voice is more prominent in the freer pockets of the UK economy, which are more unionized and are more likely to receive additional benefits. This is so because the unions hold some amount of power in negotiating complex schemes with their employers. Sometimes, the top management give-in to such demands from the unions as a strategy to divert them from addressing more important issues. Ideally, such results have to be replicated in the larger companies as well. (Farnham, David, and Lesley Giles., p.15) That it is the top management that is predominantly in control of the decision making process is exemplified by the fact that employers do not offer occupational pensions to the non-professional class of workers as that would reduce their turnover and protect investments in training. (Casey, Bernard., p.234) Similarly, part-time, inexperienced or female employees are unlikely to be offered pension schemes or sick pay as they are perceived “as less attached to work and as less likely to be interested in deferred benefits” (Casey, Bernard., p.239). Obviously, the prevailing approach to employee management is a case of discrimination based on gender and ethnicity amongst other things and exposes a disconnection between the will of the employees and the decision-making processes adopted by management. The problem of immigrant workers in the UK: In spite of the UK gaining a reputation for its cosmopolitan demography, the issues of race and ethnicity have not been superseded. With the formation of the European Union and the attendant flux of immigrants from the Continent, British cosmopolitanism is met with an unprecedented challenge. Despite scholarship and research studies suggesting the contrary, the mainstream media seems bent on perpetrating xenophobic fears among the native population. The media portrays Eastern European workers in a particularly unfair way. For example, despite statistics from government agencies showing that “Britain has accommodated the huge influx with comparatively few real, as distinct from perceived problems--and crime has actually fallen in England and Wales by 9% in the past recorded year”, newspapers carry disproportionately high reports on petty crimes committed by Eastern European workers. It is true that the erstwhile communist bloc countries of Eastern Europe have low literacy levels and that they come to Britain in search of low-paying manual work (Biney, 2008). But the British media has unfairly extrapolated the low socio-economic profile of these ethnic groups to indicate criminal tendencies. Hence, the stereotypical image of Eastern European workers as dependant on government welfare and depleting available jobs for British citizens is not only untrue but also undermines their collective voice and bargaining powers with their employers (Biney, 2008). Situations such as these show that the current forms of employee involvement do not transfer any real decision-making powers away from managers and hence calls for incorporating employee voice in the decision making process. Similarly, some critics have asserted that major organizations such as BBC are systematically biased in favour of Christianity and against Islam. This assessment was prompted by the public broadcaster’s dress code policy for newsreaders. According to Mark Thompson, the former Director General of the BBC, “the BBC does not object to newsreaders wearing small religious symbols, whether crosses, crescents or Stars of David. But we do not believe it would be appropriate for a newsreader to wear a veil over the face, not because we favour one religion over another but because we believe it would distract from the presentation of the news” (Thompson, 2006). To be fair to the BBC, the criticisms of ethno-religious bias in this case does seem far-fetched. But such instances are exceptions rather than the rule. But the fact of the matter is that, in the absence of trade unions and collective bargaining structures within the BBC, the management has failed to ensure that employees have the ability to communicate with and influence management decisions. (Healey, Nigel M., p.292) The decline in legal protections for collective employee voice: The United Kingdom, with a history of voluntarism in industrial relations, is quite singular amongst economically developed nations in not always having a legal means through which workers can attain union membership. Nor did the union members care seeking for a mechanism. In general, “they felt strong enough to do without legal support. Moreover, the unions feared that legal intervention would open the flood gates for intervention in other areas” (Kessler, Sid., p.56). To give a bit of historical context, “The Conservative government had instituted varied legislative reforms in the labour market since 1979 with the aim of increasing the resilience of the labour market for the improvement of UKs economic performance. However, such reforms contributed to the massive decline in the labour union memberships. This altered the balance of power within the realms of industrial relations in favour of the business owners and entrepreneurs. Worst, the reforms fostered the commodity mentality among business entrepreneurs which could, in the long run, prove disadvantageous for UKs economic viability.” (Kessler, Sid., p.62) The above mentioned forewarning is proving to be true. The amount of power that corporations can wield over governments and their policies to achieve their economic bottom-lines can be learnt from the fact that since 1979, numerous statutes were placed to constrain trade union activity. This is a clear case of victims being perceived as the victimizers. The statutes restrict unions from organizing strikes and deny them the right to enforce a closed shop. With such drastic weakening of power and legitimacy of trade unions, employees today have less of a voice in the affairs of their company than what they were entitled to three decades back. It also shows that the prevailing forms of employee ‘participation’ and ‘involvement’ are token measures at best and do not transfer any real decision-making powers away from managers. Hence there is a legitimate case to be made for enhancing employee voice within the organization through legal protections. (Farnham, David, and Lesley Giles., p.13) Can trade unions be accommodated within the neo-liberal economic model? There is a tendency to accuse the trade unions for inhibiting private sector investment that is crucial for UK’s long term economic success. The unions were also being accused of “holding monopolistic power over corporations”, which is utterly untrue. (Marlow, Sue., p.95) A more accurate explanation for anti-worker legislation is that it has allowed corporations to optimize methods of production, which result in short term increase in productivity as some of the redundancies (including human redundancies) were scrapped. However, there is a price to pay for this short-sightedness, which most corporations don’t seem to understand (Healey, Nigel M., p.292). In other words, while the existing terms and conditions offered to workers have increased the profitability of businesses, there is no denying the fact that significant damage had been inflicted upon the workers and their unions, making any significant repeal in favour of workers unlikely. Studied in this broader context, the internal efforts made by individual business corporations in giving greater voice to their employees and encouraging them to get involved in the success of the company can only go so far. As long as there is only limited legal recourse for claiming their right to have a say in the decision-making process of the company, the workers will not have any meaningful ‘voice’ within the workplace. References: Books: J. Bratton and J. Gold, Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 4thy edition, 2007) chapter 12 P. Blyton and P. Turnbull, The Dynamics of Employee Relations (Palgrave Macmillan, third edition, 2004), chapter 8 M. Marchington and A. Wilkinson, Human Resource Management at Work: People Management and Development (CIPD, 4th edition, 2008) chapter 10. Journals: Marlow, Sue. (Jan-March 2001), "`The Characteristics of Small Business Employees." International Small Business Journal 19.2 : 95. Farnham, David, and Lesley Giles., (March 1995) "Trade unions in the UK: trends and counter-trends since 1979." Employee Relations 17.n2 : 5(18).  Fitzgerald, Niall. (Autumn 1997) "Tomorrows Europe. (future of European Union)." European Business Journal 9.n3 : 21(8).  Casey, Bernard. (March 1994) "Employers provision of pensions and sick pay: evidence from the 1990 Workplace Industrial Relations Survey." Applied Economics, 26.n3 : 229(9). Biney, A. (2008, June)., Britain Skin Colour Still Matters: Racism in Britain Is Now Disguised in Language Such as Diversity, Immigration and Citizenship, and Is Thus Far More Sophisticated, Subtle and Slippery in Identifying. but as Ama Biney Finds out, the Colour of Ones Skin Still Very Much Matters in Britain Today. New African 86+. Healey, Nigel M. (Dec 1992) , "What price trade union reform? (analysis of the UKs labor market policies)." Contemporary Review 261.n1523 : 288(6). Kessler, Sid. (Oct 1995) "Trade union recognition: CIR and ACAS experience., (UKs Commission on Industrial Relations and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service)." Employee Relations 17.n6 : 52(15). Phillips, Estelle M. (March 1992) "Managing to Discriminate." Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 65.n1 : 77(2). Taylor, P. & P Bain, An assembly line in the head: work and employee relations in the call centre’, Industrial Relations Journal, 2007 Newspapers: Thompson, Mark, Bias, the BBC.And Why I Will Not Allow Newsreaders in Veils. (2006, October 29). The Mail on Sunday (London, England), p. 42. Read More