WORKERS EMPOWERMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN MANAGEMENT WORKERS EMPOWERMENT

WORKER’S EMPOWERMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN MANAGEMENT

WORKER’S EMPOWERMENT Empowerment means encouraging and allowing individuals to take personal responsibility for improving the way they do their jobs and contribute to the organisation’s goals. It requires the creation of culture which would encourage people at all levels to feel that they can make a difference and also help them to acquire the confidence and skills to do so.

WORKER’S EMPOWERMENT • The famous example of empowerment is Total Quality Management which is an employee driven process for ensuring best possible quality products and services for the satisfaction of customers. • TQM empowers employees at all levels in order to tap their full creativity, motivation and commitment. • The other practices which encourage employee involvement include suggestion system, job enlargement, job enrichment, quality circle, participative leadership, self-managed team etc.

INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY l MEANING: • It means the application of democratic principles in managing industrial units. • In industrial democracy, workers are treated as responsible partners of an enterprise and are allowed to participate in the decision-making process. • Workers are given the right of self-expression and an opportunity to communicate their own views on framing the policies of the company.

WORKER’S PARTICIPATION ¶. There are two distinct groups of people in an undertaking: ¶ Managers performing managerial functions ¶ Workers performing operative functions the basic distinction between those who occupy managerial positions and workers is that managers are held responsible for the work of their subordinates while workers are accountable only for their own work.

WORKER’S PARTICIPATION ¶ Participation may be defined as taking part in sharing of power and status between the managers and the workers. ¶ Workers’ participation in management seeks to bridge this gap authorising workers to take part in the managerial process. ¶ Thus, workers’ participation in management means giving scope for workers to influence the managerial decision making process at different levels by various forms in the organisation.

l OBJECTIVES OF WORKERS’ PARTICIPATION ¶ Increasing productivity for the general benefit of the enterprise, the employees and the community. ¶ Giving employees a better understanding of their role. ¶ Satisfying the worker’s urge for self-expression. ¶ Achieving industrial peace, better relations and increased co-operation in industry. ¶ Development of human personality. ¶ Development of leaders from within the industry.

l FORMS OF WORKERS’ PARTICIPATION ¶ Ascending participation : In this case, the workers may be given an opportunity to influence managerial decisions at higher levels through elected representatives to joint councils or the board of directors of the company. ¶ Descending participation : In this case, they may be given more power to plan and to make decisions about their own work (e. g. delegation and job enlargement). This form of participation is quite popular in many organisations.

l NATURE OF WORKERS’ PARTICIPATION l THREE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT: ¶ Influencing through information sharing: It looks at participation as a process of decision-making in which subordinates are allowed to have a ‘say’ or ‘to influence’ the decision-making. ¶ Joint decision-making: It views participation as actual decision-making by the workers and not merely having a ‘say’ in it or influencing it. ¶ Self-control: It implies a process in which the workers exercise control on the mechanism of decision-making as full- fleged and active members.

l. MODES OF PARTICIPATION ¶ WORKS COMMITTEE: It consists of equal number of representatives of both employers and workers. It meets frequently for discussion on common problems of the workers and the management. After discussion, joint decisions are taken and such decisions are binding on both the parties. Matters like wage payment, bonus, training, discipline etc are discussed in such meetings.

l. MODES OF PARTICIPATION ¶ JOINT MANAGEMENT COUNCIL: It involves setting up of joint committees represented by the workers and the management to discuss and give suggestions for improvement with regard to matters of mutual interest. The decisions of such committees are not binding on either party, yet they are implemented as they are arrived at by mutual consultations. The subject-matter of joint consultations includes such problem areas as labour welfare, safety measures, grievance redressal, training, working hours, etc.

¶ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: It is an industrial relations process in which employees through their elected leaders, participate on equal basis with management in negotiating labour agreements, in administering the agreements, and in redressing grievances of the workers. ¶ CO-PARTNERSHIP: In this, workers are allowed to purchase shares of the company and thus become its co-owners. In this way, they can participate in the management of the company through their elected representatives on the Board of Directors. As shareholders, the workers can also attend general meetings of shareholders and exercise their voting rights. ¶ WORKER-DIRECTOR: In this, a workers’ representative is being given a seat on the board of directors. In countries where the trade unions are very strong as in Britain and U. S. A. , the trade unions definitely reject the idea. A worker-director would be in minority and thus his views would carry little weight with the board. Since the worker-director is the representative of a trade union, he will always take a biased view for the benefit of workers. He may overlook the interests of the organistaion which has certain obligations towards the society.

¶ SUGGESTION SCHEME: Under this scheme, the workers are encouraged to give their suggestions to the management on various administrative matters, and their suggestions are considered carefully and accepted, if found suitable. In addition, rewards are also given to those who make constructive suggestions. ¶ GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE: It provides an opportunity to workers to participate in decisions on matters affecting their interests. The Model Grievance Procedure evolved by the 15 th Indian Labour Conference has a three-tier system for settlement of grievance at the level of : a) the immediate supervisor, b) departmental head and c) a bipartite grievance committee representing the management and the union. ¶ QUALITY CIRCLE: It is a unique concept which provides for voluntary participation by the workers in the direction of quality improvement and self-development.

WORKERS PARTICIPATION IN MANAGEMENT IN INDIA l WORKS COMMITTEES ¶ The industrial disputes act, 1947, provides for the setting up of works committee consisting of representatives of management and employing 100 or more workmen. l FUNCTIONS: ¶ Conditions of work such as ventilation, lighting, temperature and sanitation. ¶ Amenities such as drinking water, canteen, dining rooms, crèches, rest rooms, medical and health services ¶ Safety and accident prevention, occupational diseases and protective equipment. ¶ Adjustment of festivals and national holidays. ¶ Administration of welfare funds.

¶ Educational and recreational activities, such as libraries, reading rooms, cinema-shows, sports, games, community welfare and celebrations. ¶ Promoting thrift and savings. ¶ Implementation and review of decisions arrived at meeting of works committees. The national commission on labour (1969) pointed out that the effectiveness of the works committees depends upon the following factors: ¶ A more responsive attitude on the part of the management. ¶ Adequate support from the unions. ¶ Proper appreciation of the scope and functions of the works committees. ¶ Whole-hearted implementation of the recommendations of the works committees. ¶ Proper co-ordination of the functions of the multiple institutions at the plant.

l JOINT MANAGEMENT COUNCIL ¶ JMCs represent a higher form of workers participation in management. The aim is to change the social structure of enterprises from inside. They lead the private sector to fit into the framework of socialist order – the idea that socialist order should be achieved by gradual and peaceful changes. l AN UNDERTAKING MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS FOR SETTING UP JMCS: ¶ It must have 500 or more employees. ¶ It should have a fair record of industrial relations. ¶ It should have a strong and well organised trade union. ¶ Willingness of employers, workers and trade unions. ¶ Private employers ought to be members of the leading employers organisation. ¶ The union should be affiliated to one of the central federations.

l FEATURES OR FUNCTIONS: l The JMC should be consulted by the management on the matters such as: ¶ Retrenchment ¶ Closure, reduction in or cessation of operation l The council would also have to receive information to discuss and to give suggestions on: ¶ General economic situation of the concern. ¶ The state of market, production and sales programmes. ¶ Organisation and general running of the undertaking. ¶ The annual balance sheet and profit and loss account statement and connected documents with explanations. ¶ Long term plan for expansion, re-development etc.

l The council would be entrusted with administrative responsibility in respect of: ¶ Administration of welfare measures. ¶ Supervision of safety measures. ¶ Operation of vocational training and apprenticeship schemes. ¶ Preparation of schedules of working hours and breaks of holidays. ¶ Payment of reward for valuable suggestions received from the employers. ¶ All matters, such as, wages, bonus etc, which are subjects for collective bargaining are excluded from the scope of the council. Individual grievances are also excluded from its scope.

l WORKER DIRECTORS ¶ The idea of worker-directors has gained some support in India, particularly in public sector undertakings and nationalised organisations. this arrangement, however, is far from being common. The few undertakings where it has been implemented are the Hindustan Aeronauticals and 14 nationalised banks. l SHOP COUNCILS ¶ The scheme was introduced as a part of the 20 point programme during the period of emergency. l FUNCTIONS: ¶ Assist management in achieving monthly/yearly targets. ¶ Improvement of production, productivity and efficiency, including elimination of wastage and optimum utilisation of machine capacity and manpower. ¶ Specifically identify areas of low productivity and take necessary corrective steps at shop level.

¶ To study absenteeism in the shop/department and recommend steps to rectify the situation. ¶ Safety measures. ¶ Assist in maintaining general discipline in the shop/department. ¶ Physical conditions of working, such as, lighting, ventilation, noise, dust etc and reduction of fatigue. ¶ Welfare and health measures to be adopted for efficient running of the shop/department ¶ Ensure proper flow of adequate two-way communication between the management and the workers, particularly on matters relating to production figures, production schedules and progress in achieving the targets.

REQUIREMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL WORKER’S PARTICIPATION ¶ The attitude of the management must be broad, progressive and democratic. It must be willing to associate workers and discuss the problems freely with them. ¶ The workers must have a strong trade union with enlightened leadership. They must have willingness to participate in the management of the enterprise. ¶ Management and workers must understand clearly the objectives of such participation. Management should not take it as an imposed liability and workers should not use it for expressing their grievances and demands only. ¶ Existence of atmosphere of trust, faith, confidence and recognition is a must. There must be a genuine desire on the part of management and workers to understand each other to arrive at decisions acceptable to both the parties.

¶ Labour - management relations should be cordial or atleast there should be no tension in the relations. There should be no blockage in communication between them. ¶ For successful participation, it is necessary that employees are sufficiently informed about participation programme and they are given proper training in the field. They must be taught just what is expected of them and how they are expected to perform.