Worker’s Participation in

Management Through Joint Forum

Presented by:
Avantika Srivastava
Jyoti Sharma
Navya Satija
Nikita Sharma
Raman Singh
Trina Acharyya

MHROD –IV Semester

Agenda
 Definition, Importance, Ways: WPM
 How:Ford, TVS, Tata
 Joint Forums
 Role in employee motivation and commitment
WORKER’S PARTICIPATION IN
MANAGEMENT
“WPM is the participation resulting from the practices which
increase the scope for employees’ share of influence in
decision-making at different tiers of organizational hierarchy
with concomitant assumption of responsibility”

-International Institute of Labor Studies

Why is Workers Participation Important in
Today's Economic Scenario

 Workers get to see how their actions would contribute to

the overall growth of the company.

 Participation makes them more responsible.

 Unique motivational power and a great psychological value.

 Peace and harmony between workers and management.

 They tend to view the decisions as `their own’ and are more
enthusiastic in their implementation.

 They become more willing to take initiative and come out

with cost- saving suggestions and growth-oriented ideas.
Scope and Ways of Participation
 Quality Circles
 Board Level Participation
 Empowered Teams
 TQM
 Financial Participation
 Ownership Participation
 Complete Control
 Collective Bargaining
 Suggestion Schemes
 Joint Councils and Committees
FORD MOTOR COMPANY

 The UAW-Ford Employee Involvement (EI) process was negotiated in

1979 to encourage the active involvement of workers. It is now one of the
best known and most successful efforts of its kind in the world.

EI is based on the principle that workers have much more to

contribute than just physical labor. Workers have the skills, talents
and imaginations to make strong and lasting contributions toward the
success of the Company.
WORKMEN PARTICIPATION ACROSS COMPANIES

TVS MOTOR COMPANY

 Total Employee Involvement

 Suggestions Scheme
 Quality Circle Activities
 Cross Functional Teams (CFTs)
 Supervisory Improvement Teams (SITs)
 Task Forces

Employee involvement is recognized and appreciated through

rewards and recognition to the employees, who cross milestones
regularly. These awards are received through the hands of
Managing Director of the company.
WORKER’S PARTICIPATION IN TATA MOTORS

WORKERS
PARTICIPATION AT
TATA MOTORS

CROSS SUGGESTION JOINT

SELF DIRECTED FUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS FORUMS
TEAMS TEAMS
JOINT FORUM
 The objective of the joint forum is to provide a recognised means of
consultation between the management and the workmen and to promote
measures for preserving amity and good relations between them.
 Such forums provide a platform to employers and employees from
which they may give free vent to their complaints and grievances
without making any attempt to find remedies and solutions.
 Members participate by giving suggestions and all the other members
are free to express their opinion on such suggestion.
 There are no action plans implementations during a joint forum
meeting, actions are for later.
 It also provides a platform for management to communicate their
expectations and targets from the workmen through union
representative who are a member of joint forum.
 
The Three Tier Structure of Joint Forums

ISSUES
ARE
 JOINT MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
RAISED
FROM
 JOINT DIVISION COUNCIL BOTTOM
UP
 JOINT SHOP COUNCIL
LINKAGE OF EMPLOYEE WITH PLANT’S OBJECTIVE
LINKAGE OF EMPLOYEE WITH PLANT’S OBJECTIVE

Communication Target Alignment

ABC CVBU BSC

PLANT
JMC MONTHLY PLANT BSC

Factory Factory
JDC MONTHLY Common FACTORY BSC
Commercia Transmissi
Services
l Vehicle on
JSC MONTHLY CX BSC
CX-1 CX-2 CX-3 ….

SDT MEETING DAILY SDTs SDT SQDCM TARGETS

JOINT SHOP COUNCIL
 It is on the level of the shop floor comprising of participants from the
management and workmen .
 The management and workmen find an equal representation in such
council.
 This is the first level of settlement of grievance and work related issues.
 The two parties try to find a solution to the issues through discussions and
suggestions.
 In case the issue is not resolved at the JSC level it is referred to the JDC
level.
 
JOINT DIVISIONAL COUNCIL
 The purpose of the joint divisional council is same as the joint shop council.
 It is at a higher level and the issues that do not find a resolution at the JSC
level are resolved here.
 In case the final agreement is not met between the aggrieved party and the
council the case is resolved at the Joint management council level.
 The quality of issues which are dealt here are more of a higher level
decision making that have a greater degree of impact on the plant.
JOINT MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
 This is the upper most body for the resolution of issues. It is chaired by the
plant head.
 The functions of the JMC are same as the JSC and the JDC,
 The issues that have not been resolved at the JSC and the JDC level are
finally settled here. Plant level issues are discussed and plant
performance review on Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, Morale and
Environment is done on a monthly basis.
 The issues at the joint management council carry a lot of weight as these
have escalated to the highest level. Such issues are resolved by the top
management team and the elite union representatives using a greater vision
and a deeper insight.
 The resolution of issues at the joint management council level carries
utmost importance as if these issues do not meet a settlement they
might escalate to the level of an industrial dispute.
Issues to be Discussed in a Joint Forum Meeting

 Measures for improving efficiency and productivity

 Suggestions for improvement in methods and systems
 Sharing information regarding companies/departments production
target
 Housekeeping
 Safe work practices
 Grievance related to work place
 Implementation of suggestion scheme
 Maintaining shop floor discipline
 JOINT MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
50 ISSUES WERE RAISED

JDC JDC JDC

2.4% COMM VEH TRANSMISSION COMM SERVICES

Out of 127 new issues, 3 issues were escalated to JMC

97.6% Issues
resolved in JDC
JSC JSC JSC JSC JSC
FRAME COMM VEH COWL CWP HT
JSC 2.2%
GEAR

97.8% Issues
resolved in JSC Out of 94 issues only 2 issues were escalated to Division level
SDTs
A total of 38 SDT are working across all departments
Role of Joint Forums in Achieving Industrial Harmony
and Peace

Dispute

Fountainhead

Issues to be addressed at source

Role of Joint Forum in Strengthening Workmen
Motivation and Employee Commitment
 Responsible for value creation
 The joint forums encourage workmen. For instance 30%-40%
suggestions for improvement are from the side of temporary
workmen
 The joint forum helps create good work environment that is a source
of motivation to perform better.
 Helps in creating social bonding through various programs.
Conclusion
Joint forum as a means to handle employee grievance is an
excellent measure. If this is followed in the organizations
with full reverence and sincerity this could yield great
results and play a decisive role in maintaining industrial
harmony and peace. So far the joint forum had been able to
give a congenial work environment and a clean work
culture.

The issues that are handled at the very nascent stages are
never blown out of proportions and they can never pose a
threat to the organization. Joint forum does just the same.
A good working machinery of a joint forum in an industry is
always helpful for a company in preserving industrial
harmony and construction of an efficient value system for
the organization.