Employee Involvement

INTRODUCTION
The employees are the strength of an organization.
They are the prime contributors to its success. When
an organization wants to expand its business or
increase its profits, only the employees can make it
happen. The only expandable in the organization are
the employees. Any improvement will happen only
because of the employees.
TQM principles and strategies pertaining to
employee involvement
• Motivation
• Teamwork
• Training and mentoring
• Recognition and rewards
EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION
• Group Behaviour - Motivated teams lead to the
success of organization. However, the concept of
employee motivation is difficult to understand
because human nature is quite complex. However,
some behavioural patterns have emerged over the
years.
 MOTIVATION THEORY OF
INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES
• Theory X

Sigmund Freud is the author of Theory X. Theory X characterizes

employees as given below:
• Avoid work
• No ambition
• No initiative
• Do not take responsibility
• Needs security
To make them work, the management has to do the following:
• Reward
• Coerce
• Intimidate
• Punish

If this theory is applicable to any employee, then the organization cannot

function with such employees. This theory assumes that the employees
cannot be trusted and the employees have to be supervised all the time.
• Theory Y

Douglas McGregor is the author of Theory Y. McGregor’s theory of

people are given below:
• Want to learn
• Work is a natural activity
• Have self-discipline
• Develop themselves

These employees do not get motivated as much by any reward, but they
seek freedom to do difficult and challenging jobs, all by themselves.
• Theory Z

Abraham Maslow believes that good qualities are inherent in people, at

least at birth; although later on they are gradually lost. He believes that
five basic human needs, as illustrated in Fig. 6.2 motivate the employees:
• Self-actualizing Needs They are the greatest motivators for
human beings. He believes that human beings are always
dissatisfied and they would like to achieve more and more.
That is the reason for achievements.

• Physiological Needs (Lowest) This is the basic need for any

human being. Every human being wants to earn a living for
himself and his family. When the physiological needs are
satisfied, the safety need takes over.
• Hezberg’s Theory

Frederick Herzberg has divided the motivational aspects of

human beings into the following:
• Hygiene Theory
• Motivation

The hygiene theory is the minimum that every employee

requires for not being dissatisfied. Without the above, the
employee will get dissatisfied.
These are the basic needs. Further efforts are needed to motivate the
employees.

Hygiene Theory The hygiene factors include:

• The company
• Its policies and its administration
• The kind of supervision which people receive while on the job
• Working conditions
• Interpersonal relations
• Salary
• Status
• Security
• Motivation The motivation factors include:
• Achievement
• Recognition for achievement
• Interest in the task
• Responsibility for enlarged task
• Growth and advancement to higher level tasks
Motivation Techniques

It must be realized that all the employees do not fall into one
category all the time. It impossible to motivate every employees
to work for the organizational goals. However, the time taken to
motivate each person depends on his current level of motivation.
It is important to realize that each person develops certain
attitudes depending on his/her background. This has to be kept in
view while dealing with individuals. Therefore, it is a
challenging task for the leaders to bring in harmony in the
organization, where every employee works in the same manner
for the benefit of the organization.
The team helps the employees to rise to the level of the other members
under the careful eye of the management. Nevertheless, it Is very
important to have a systematic approach to build and develop
individuals. The poor performers can be motivated to perform better if
the right environment is created. If the employees are treated fairly, their
well being taken care off and the goals and objectives of the
organization clearly defined, then the poor performers may also turn out
be good. Therefore, the greatest motivational, which makes an employee
good or bad. Every employee has a potential to be a leader and it is the
responsibility of the organization to nurture it.
 TEAMWORK
Why Teams?

Every organization may start initially with one person or a few people,
one of them being the entrepreneur or the promoter. Personnel are added
in the organization to do more work. Each person has to contribute to the
business output of the organization. Each person is recruited for a specific
job. As the organization grows, a formal structure is evolved to enable
better management and communication. Teams are formed to fulfill the
objectives.
Teamwork is not a Natural Human Function

At times, one may find that the team members are incompatible
and it is difficult for them to work together. Therefore, every
effort should made to put together compatible persons as a team.
Some employees may try to disrupt teamwork. Generally, left to
themselves, the employees may like to work alone. Added to
this, increasing personnel needs of the modern world cause them
to work individually and derive all the benefits an organization
can bestow, individually.
Management’s Role in Enabling Teamwork
• It is the responsibility of the management to foster teamwork
amongst employees. It requires clear definition of the
following:
• Responsibility
• Authority
• Wherewithal for accomplishing the task
• Criteria of measurement of the work output.
Teamwork Results in a Win-Win Situation

The win-win situation demands that each employee respects the

views of the other employees and regards the self-esteem of all
the colleagues in the team. The employees may criticize the
process, but not criticize the persons. The employee should
realize that only by working together they can achieve more than
what each person can do.
To summarize, the team can have the following benefits if they
work for a win-win situation:
• Achieve dramatic results, which individuals can’t
• Make best use of skills of each member of the team
• Make right decisions
• Get more enjoyment and job satisfaction.
The win-lose situation occurs when people in a team have different views
and decide that rather trying to reach an agreement, they argue with a
determination to get their way at all costs.

The problems of win-lose are summarized below:

• Wastes time
• Creates conflict
• Stops people listening
• Spoils happiness and health of team members
Can the Japanese Success be Repeated?

Experts believe that teamwork is possible in Japan, as there is no

diversity among employees. This may be one of the reasons for
the success of the Japanese teams, but the major deterrent for the
teamwork elsewhere is the organizational culture, for which only
the top management can be blamed.
The top management should always encourage teamwork and
discourage individualism in organization. By working as a team,
the bright individual will be able to contribute much more and
probably will scale new heights easily with the help of his team
members, however insignificant the contributions of others may
be.
Do Rewards Disrupt Teamwork?

It is believed by some that rewards and awards break teamwork.

However, this is not quite true. On the contrary, rewards encourage
people to practice teamwork. Awards should be given to motivate the
team of people, who have contributed in a greater measure. It is to be
noted that awards should be given to teams rather than individual would
have led the innovation and others would have contributed in varying
degrees.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Imagine for a while that all people in the world are dumb and
deaf. Nothing worthwhile would have ever happened in such a
world except eating, drinking and other natural biological
functions.
In every organization, communication is a three way process for each
employee, as given below:

• To one, employee is working for – supervisors/managers

• To the persons working for him – subordinates/junior employees
• To the persons one works with, the peers, counterparts, customer and
suppliers (both internal and external)

Thus, communication is a three way process and every employee should

communication effectively in all the three roles.
Necessity for Communicating Upwards
Upward communication means communicating with seniors. The senior
executives would have assigned specific task assigned. It is the duty of
the junior employee to inform the senior at periodic intervals progress in
the task assigned. It is the duty of the junior employee to inform the
senior at periodic intervals about the progress of the special task in
hand.
Communication with Juniors
Every employee should communicate with juniors. The junior employee
will not have the same education, experience or expertise as that of the
senior. Therefore, the senior has to communicate with the junior
patiently and in detail. The juniors may require repetition of the message
at times. It is the responsibility of the seniors to align their juniors with
the vision statement, mission statement and quality policy.
Communication with Peers
Communicating with peers is equally important. This has assumed
significance since the organization have to establish customer-supplier
relationships to practice TQM. Adequate communications is essential
between customers and suppliers.
Management should Devise Ways for Effective
Communications
Communications is a never-ending process. The management should be
a catalyst for effective communications across the organization.
Monthly Board Meetings and Quality Council Meetings are the forums
for communications. They should be used to share the views about
quality and related information. There should be departmental and
interdepartment meetings, problem solving sessions which contribute to
effective communications.
TRAINING AND MENTORING
Necessity for Orientation Training

The employees in their formal education learn many techniques

covering wide range of topics, from basic principles to advanced topics.
They learn a little bit of everything. It is the responsibility of the
educational institutions to develop the overall personality of the
students, so that he or she gets a broad understanding of wide variety of
subjects.
employee needs to be given orientation training to carry out his task correctly, on
the first appointment, before they are deployed for actual work. The orientation
training should help the employees to understand the following, in particular:

• Objectives of the organization

• Requirements and expectations from his team with reference to the
organization’s objectives
• His role
• His responsibility
• His authority
• The know-how and know-why of the jobs to be undertaken on day-to-day basis
• Familiarity and skill in operating the tools or machinery connected with job in
hand.
Experienced Recruits Need More Orientation

A fresh employee can be easily moulded as per the

organization’s goals and objective since they are fresh and have
no biases due to prior experience. But, an experienced person
will definitely bring with him different ideas and work culture
from the organization where he served earlier.
Training is not a One-Time Activity

the employees have to acquire the skills needed for designing,

manufacturing, delivering and servicing the updated or new
products or services. Some employees may be able to
understand the changes quickly and adapt themselves
accordingly. However, an average employee may not be able its
do so. Therefore, such employees need to be given additional
help, to cope up with the change. This is one of the reasons,
why training is not a one-time activity.
There is a reluctance on the part of management to send employees
training , due to some of the following reasons:

• Excessive workload in the organization, which does not permit sending

them for training.
• Non-availability of appropriate training courses.
• Fear of migration of employees after training.

The problems could be genuine. Nevertheless, these are to be overcome

since training is an inescapable part of the main business. For instance in
Japan, on an average an employee receives six weeks of training each
year.
 Training is a Formal Activity
Training should be formal activity in every organization. Senior
level executives in whatever designation they are addressed,
should coordinate it. A bigger organization may need a separate
department. At the beginning of every year, The HRD manager
should evaluate the training needs of the employees across the
organization in consultation with their supervisors and make an
annual training plan for the organization. Then, he should
identify the training providers for each of the training and get
the training conducted inspite of various other commitment of
the employees and the organization.
Mentoring
The training programs discussed so far are formal in nature.
The employee are freed from normal work and are deputed for
undergoing training. Such formal training, apart from normal
work, once in year is necessary, but not sufficient. The
employees have to be continuously coached on the job to
understand the organization’s policies, objectives and goals.
PCDA for Training
Though training contributes to the prosperity of an
organization, it also costs money. Therefore, PDCA should be
used for training of employees in every organization.
• Plan for training Every employees needs training. Therefore, the
training needs of every employee should be identified at regular
intervals. Their training needs and the methodology should be planned
and documented. It could be on the job training, training in an open
source, in-house course, etc. What is important is that the training plan
for each employee is available at the beginning of every year.

• Provide Training Employees should be depend for training as planned.

If training could not take place as planned, alternate plan should be made
at the earliest.
• Measure Training Effectiveness After the employee undergoes
training, the effectiveness of training should be assessed formally. The
assessment finding should be recorded.

• Improve Training Effectiveness Based on the above, both preventive

and corrective actions should be taken for improving the effectiveness
of the training programs.