Managing involvement and participation - Essay Example

In the 1990s, worker motivation, productivity and the like became priority issues.3 In fact, raising productivity is a key government objective in the United Kingdom.4 Do employee involvement and participation initiatives contribute to increased employee motivation, productivity and retention? There are differences between these two subjects, 5 but they are not entirely distinct from each other .Employee involvement is “a range of processes designed to engage the support, understanding and optimum contribution of all employees in an organization and their commitment to its objectives.

” Employee participation, on the other hand, is “a process of employee involvement designed to provide employees with the opportunity to influence and where appropriate, take part in decision making on matters which affect them.” Both of these definitions are those of the Institute of Personnel Development.6 In terms of engaged work, therefore, participation is more extensive than involvement. This paper looks into employee participation and involvement individually, discussing the concepts in relation to motivation, productivity and retention, and finally integrates them in a conclusion.

Motivation, productivity and retention, however, will not necessarily be presented as a cluster every time a relationship is made with employee participation and employee involvement. In like manner, from the other end, organisational performance as a construct may point to the dimension of productivity, hence suggesting motivation and possibly even retention when related to employee participation and employee involvement. Participation may refer to ‘influence in decision-making exerted through a process of interaction between workers and managers.

’7 But variations are possible in the degree or depth of participation, the range or scope of decisions subject to participation, the form that participation structures might take, the