The say employees have in matters concern to them is expressed as the employee voice. Employee voice can be seen as ‘the ability of employees to influence the actions of the employer’ (Millward et al 2000)
Employees get the opportunity to voice out their opinion, contribute to the improvement of organization by involving and participating in management decision making process. Though employees have a greater part in influencing decision making procedure, management retains the right to manage.
For employers, effective voice contributes toward innovation, productivity and business improvement. For employees, it often results in increased job satisfaction, greater influence and better opportunities for development.
Formulation of employee voice should not be static, but rather should develop
in line with technological and social developments. In recent years, as a result of the continual advance of social media, employee voice is evolving rapidly. The greatest difference is the shifting patterns of communication, from being one-way or two-way to being multi-directional. This has moved voice on from giving employees a say behind closed doors to enabling them to engage in an open forum.
According to Armstrong (2006), employee voice has four purposes:
• Helps organizations to understand the employee attitudes about work
• Presents a form of collective organization to management
• Influences leaders’ decisions on work-related issues
• Shows the reciprocal nature of the employment relationship.
What encourages employees to voice their opinion?
Senior managers play a significant role in creating the right conditions for employee voice, especially because they typically have the authority to choose which issues are addressed.
People will only speak up when they feel it is safe to do so. Reducing the perceived risk of speaking up is not only important to drive engagement and innovation, but also to ensure that whistle blowers feel protected. One way of making employees feel safe in speaking up through social media is to have platforms that allow anonymous contributions to be made.
There needs to be a clear explanation of what will be done with the comments once they have been submitted. The act of asking employees for their input in the first instance makes it more likely that they will be accepting of the outcome, irrespective of whether it was the decision they wanted.
Simply recognizing someone who has a workable idea that is actually implemented can give a huge morale boost to that individual. Having more channels of open communications and, therefore, more opportunity to put forward an idea will increase the likelihood of lurkers becoming more active members.
Benefits for employers - with a greater voice for employees:
- Employees’ skills and knowledge can be better used, leading to higher productivity, greater innovation and solutions to problems
- Employees feel more valued, so they are more likely to stay and to contribute more
- Conflict is reduced and co-operation between employer and employees is based on interdependence
- Organizational effectiveness can be improved by listening to staff who interact with clients and customers day-to-day.
Benefits for employees - employees benefit from:
- Having more influence over their work
- Higher job satisfaction
- More opportunity to develop skills
- Improved well-being.
References
ARMSTRONG, M. (2006) Handbook of human resource management practice. 10th edition. London: Kogan Page Limited.
Baczor, L. (2017) Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Employee voice [online] Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/relations/communication/voice-factsheet London [Accessed 27 November 2017]
Silverman, M. Bakhshalian, E. and Hillman, L. (2013) Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Social media and employee voice: the current landscape [online] Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/social-media-and-employee-voice_2013-current-landscape-sop_tcm18-10327.pdf [Accessed 27 November 2017]
The ideas you have captured above are highly applicable in the current business environment that is powered by knowledge and talent. Lot of organizations take initiatives such as environmental surveys, happiness surveys, HR forums, JCC (Joint council committee) to collect ideas from employees. Additionally organizations conduct programs to encourage employee suggestions where the best suggestions will get awarded with recognition as well as monetary gifts.
ReplyDeleteIn general employee voice is crucial for any sort of an organization.
As you have correctly mentioned we see employee voice defined as “the say employees have in matters of concern to them in their organization.” (Armstrong, 2006).
ReplyDeleteSo, we see that the employee voice is raised on the following reasons;
To correct a problem related to the employee
To assist the management/employer on matters
To enhance organizational improvement
To achieve a long-term relationship with the organization
(Marchington et al, 2001)
Further we see that the employee voice could be raised as an individual or as a collective voice, as of a union (though not very popular among knowledge workers). Voice raised through unions could be in the form of a representative meeting with the employer while individual is the employee directly meeting the employer on the matter. What ever the method the employee voice is raised, the employer should attend to them and provide appropriate feedback and course of actions, in order to provide a good employee experience within the organization.
References
Armstrong, M. (2006) Human Resource Management Practice. 10th edition. London: Kogan Page Limited.
organizations take employee voice as a serious concern as there are more open channels to convey their concerns and it reflects on the organization
ReplyDelete“The companies with an effective voice are prioritising voice as a fundamental right, a way of enhancing engagement and performance and think of it as a fundamental right,” says Baczor.
ReplyDeleteThis emphasizes how the employee voice plays a major role in an organization.
Additionally, HR should bear in mind that;
To what extent is the senior leadership committed to gaining and acting on the views of employees?
Feeding back and responding to the views of employees is vital. How do you do this?
How do you measure the difference employees’ views and ideas make in your organisation?
Essentially, it is about making sure that the organization is really listening and responding rather than just asking employees for their opinions. One of the benefits of implementing a continuous feedback is that it can certainly boost engagement.
Thanks and that i have a super provide: How To Reno A House house renovation credit
ReplyDelete