Communication and Involvement

In terms of involvement, there are vital differences between employee involvement and employee participation. Involvement is described as ‘the degree of commitment by members to the organisation,’ (Mullins, 2010) and refers encouragement of individuals to be committed to organisational values. Employee participation, on the other hand, is collective and refers to employees having a say in group/ organisation-wide decisions which affect them, such as employee rights.

Primarily, Beardwell, Holden and Claydon, (2004) illustrate that the way in which to involve employees in the organisation is to empower them ‘to take responsibility for their roles and function within the organisation,’ by motivating them to take an interest in organisational matters and providing them with the opportunity to participate in the company’s decision making process.

 There are several ways in which organisations can involve employees in decision-making. One such method could be staff opinion surveys, where a regular review can be undertaken whereby staff members give their opinion on a range of issues affecting the organisation. In turn, physical discussions can take place in the form of work committees, where attendees are given the opportunity to discuss decisions affecting the operation of the organisation. In turn, schemes could also be put in place where staff can make suggestions for improvements within the company such as, for example, a suggestion box for workplace improvements for the viewership of senior management.

Alternatively, many organisations have encouraged employee involvement through social networking sites as a means of both involving existing staff and potential recruits. Many types of social networks have been used, ranging from sites such as Facebook, which allow users to communicate through messages, photos etc., to Twitter, the micro-blogging site which allows people to converse via 140 character messages, resulting in fast and instant communication within people. As a result, this means of quick and accessible communication has made social networking sites popular amongst companies looking to improve communication.

 One such example is Canvas Holidays, a holiday travel company which has a staff page on Facebook (click here to view). The page is primarily used for communication between staff, providing dates of staff events, a discussion page where members can post on topics they wish to talk about and a question section for both current employees and new recruits. This, along with the fact that the page also allows staff to share work-related photos and videos, allows the company to enhance informal and social communication, and build on teamwork by improving relations.

In turn, the page is also used by new or possible recruits, whereby they are able to have any queries they may have answered by current employees of the company, meaning they have an accessible means of learning skills and knowledge required to do their job.

Conclusively, employee communication and involvement within companies is shown to be a vital part of running an organisation that is efficient and an environment that staff are happy in. As such, there are many means of communication available to involve staff and enhance staff interaction, with technological advances such as social networking sites increasing the ease with which such communication takes place.

References

Beardwell, I; Holden, L; Claydon, T. (2004). Human Resource Management. 4th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Mullins, L J. (2010) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 9th ed. Essex: Pearson