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R E S E A R C H C O M M U N II C A T II O N
ABSTRACT
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VSRD-IJBMR, Vol. 1 (8), 2011, 554-560
Employee Involvement : An Approach to
Organizational Development & Change
1 Shivangee Singh* and 2 Pankaj Kant Dixit
Human capital is the real asset for any organization. All other resources are utilized and managed by human
resources only. So, it is very important to gain the involvement of these human resources in every area of work
to ensure performance improvement & members’ satisfaction. One simple philosophy for this is “Employee
Involvement”, i.e. to involve people as much as possible in all aspects of work decisions and planning. The
present paper makes an attempt to explore the reasons responsible for increasing the belief in employee
involvement philosophy by organizations to promote effective change management and Organizational
Development. The current study can be placed within the growing literature of employee involvement. Its
objective is to critically examine the need of employee involvement for organizational development and change
in current scenario. The study also tries to open up very many windows, still locked in the area of employee
involvement.
Keywords: Employee Involvement, Human Resources, Performance Improvement, Change Management,
Organizational Development.
1. INTRODUCTION
Employee Involvement has become a very important issue today as there is a lot competition in the market in
every field of work. Everyone has got access to technology, finance and new methods of working; it is only the
manpower which makes all the difference. If organization wants the lead, it will have to involve its people in
discussions & decision making. Many companies now a day, including Addidas and Tata Consultancies are
focusing attention towards employee involvement and employee participation so as to make their employees
feel important and create environment in which they could feel free to make contribution in the decisions and
actions which affect their job.
1 Lecturer, MBA Department, Maharana Institute of Professional Studies, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, INDIA.
2 HOD, MBA Department, Axis College of Management & Sciences, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, INDIA.
*Correspondence : shivangee_singh@yahoo.com

Shivangee Singh et. al / VSRD International Journal of Business & Management t Research Vo Vol. 1 (8), 2011
2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The current study is based on both primary and secondary data. Primary data sources used are unstructured
interviews and observation, , while secondary data sources are sales report of companies, before and after the
implementation of involvement techniques, documents related to company policy, various journals and research
papers, books of the renowned authors and internet. Information was also collected from the HR executives.
This is a descriptive research study which tries to open up the various aspects of the involvement philosophy in
current scenario.
3. INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
The analysis and interpretation of data led to the resu result lt that involvement of the employees enriches them with
the feeling of being important. Besides, change can best be managed in the organizations if th the employees are
involved in the whole process. The interpretation of data related to the interviews with the employees and HR
executives also depicted that if the employees are involved in various actions and decision making processes of
organizations, they feel good. This fosters the feeling of commit commitment ment in them which ultimately results in
organizational development.
4. LITERATURE REVIEW
4.1 Employee Involvement
“Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people have an impact on decisions and actions
that affect their jobs”. Employee involvem involvement is not the goal, nor is it a tool as practiced in many organizations.
Rather, it is a management and leadership philosophy about how people are most enabled to contribute to
continuous improvement and the ongoing success of their work organizations.
Actually, tually, the idea is to involve people as much as possible in all aspects of work decisions and planning. This
involvement increases ownership and commitment, retains your best employees, and fosters an environment in
which people choose to be motivated and contributing. And this study tries to open up very many windows, still
locked in the area of employee involvement. The forceful but positive emphasis on employee involvement is to
increase employee attachment to their work & organization, empower workers, involve them in decision making
and give them increased job autonomy. Employee involvement programs can increase job satisfaction,
employee morale and commitment to the organization, as well as increase productivity, reduce turnover and
absenteeism and enhance hance the quality of products and services.
Fig. 1 : Employee Involvement & Inputs Required For It
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4.2 Organizational Development
Organizational Development is a conceptual, organization-wide effort to increase an organization's effectiveness
and viability. Warren Bennis has referred to OD as a response to change, a complex educational strategy
intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of an organization so that it can better adapt to
new technologies, markets, challenges, and the dizzying rate of change itself.
Profitability, productivity, morale and quality of work life are of concern to most organizations because they
impact achievement of organization goals. There is an increasing trend to maximize an organization's
investment in its employees. Jobs that previously required physical dexterity now require more mental effort.
Organizations need to "work smarter" and apply creative ideas. The work force has also changed. Employees
expect more from a day's work than simply a day's pay. They want challenge, recognition, and a sense of
accomplishment, worthwhile tasks and meaningful relationships with their managers and co-workers. When
these needs are not met, performance declines. Today's customers demand continually improving quality, rapid
product or service delivery; fast turn-around time on changes, competitive pricing and other features that are
best achieved in complex environments by innovative organizational practices. The effective organization must
be able to meet today's and tomorrow's challenges. Adaptability and responsiveness are essential to survive and
thrive.
4.3 Employee Involvement For Organizational Development
Due to globalization and redefining in the field of Information Technology, the advancement and applicability
of Organizational Development has changed. Luckily most of the organizations are adopting various kinds of
organizational changes which are inevitable to survive in today’s competitive environment. In this regard,
Employee Involvement Intervention is adopted to improve the responsiveness and progress of the members of
the organizations which directly improves organization’s effectiveness and productivity.
Organizations are adopting Employee Involvement (EI) as an Organizational Development (OD) intervention to
face the competitive demands for better performance, increase in the demands of the products, cost reduction
and greater flexibility in work. This is to enhance and increase the level of participation of the members of
organization, performance improvement and member’s satisfaction. Previously EI was also termed as quality of
work life. EI is the continuous process of increasing the member’s efforts into fruitful decisions which result in
better organizational performance and employee’s well being. Enlightened companies lke BHEL, Tata Motors,
General Mills, SAIL, GTE and Ford etc have increased and intensified the value of worker’s involvement
through enriched form of works.
EI in general is a set of techno-structural interventions such as total quality management, quality circle, and high
involvement organizations. The four elements- power, information, knowledge and skills, and rewards
contribute directly to EI success. The aims and objectives of EI in any organization are:
� To enhance participation in workplace decision.
� To improve productivity of the organization.
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� To improve workplace communication and co-ordination among employees and departments in the
organization.
� To increase employee motivation.
� To help increase member’s flexibility, commitment and satisfaction.
� To result in productive employees.
� To help retain talented and knowledgeable workers.
� To improve quality of work life.
A beautiful example of EI is demonstrated by Thermax. The company in August 2007, came forward with Give
India, a not for profit organization to start a programme “payroll giving” which helps the employees of the
company to invest for social benefit and social welfare. The employees can give any amount from their salary
every month, to help the society, and also for social other causes under the programme. More than 800 people
were motivated and have joined their helping hands to volunteer this programme. The employees of Thermax
actively take initiative in company’s CSR activities. Thermax Social Initiative Foundations run school for
children where the employee’s gift cycles and guides them in their education and personal growth.
4.4 Organizational Change
Typically, the concept of organizational change is in regard to organization-wide change, as opposed to smaller
changes such as adding a new person, modifying a program, etc. Examples of organization-wide change might
include a change in mission, restructuring operations (e.g., restructuring to self-managed teams, layoffs, etc.),
new technologies, mergers, major collaborations, "rightsizing", new programs such as Total Quality
Management, re-engineering, etc. Some experts refer to it as organizational transformation. Often this term
designates a fundamental and radical reorientation in the way the organization operates. As organizational
culture begins the process change, resistance to this change will certainly be present. Keeping people informed
will reduce resistance, especially when they see the benefits. Change is an ongoing process that must occur if an
organization is to continue to exist in competitive world. People do not necessarily resist change; they resist
being changed, and problems arise when a person’s comfort zone is disturbed. But this process can be made
positive and widely acceptable by the employees with the help of employee’s involvement.
The ways in which Employees involvement can facilitate change Management are:
� Changes are always resisted by the employees, but when the employees themselves engage in taking
decisions regarding what changes have to bring in the organization, the problem of resistance is avoided.
� Involvement of employees can give better suggestion to the management regarding new changes that has to
be made.
� Change, which is always taken as a threat by some of the employees becomes a positive process by
employee’s involvement.
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� The objectives of change in the organization will better be achieved if the participation of people is
involved with it.
5. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT FOR
ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
As it is clear in the above discussion that organizational development is an ongoing process which involves
change and improvement in the various parts and practices of organizations. So, if the most important assets of
the organizations are involved in the whole process, will it not become more soothing, resulting in achieving the
basic aim of the OD programme? Yes, the answer is certainly yes.
Some of the ways by which employee involvement can facilitate the organizational development are as follows-
� Create a plan for involving as many people as possible, as early as possible, in the overall development
process, it will increase their readiness as well as enthusiasm for organizational development.
� Involve all stakeholders, process owners, and employees who will feel the impact of the changes, as much
as possible, in the learning, planning, decisions, and implementation of the organizational development
programme.
� You cannot allow the nay-Sayers to continue on their negative path forever; they sap your organization of
time, energy, and focus, and eventually, affect the morale of the positive many. The key is to know, during
your organizational development process, when to say, “Enough is enough”.
6. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT FOR
EFFECTIVE CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Help employees feel as if they are involved in a change management process that is larger than themselves by
taking these actions to effectively involve employees in change management.
Involving employees, empowering them, and bringing them into decision making process provide the
opportunity for continuous process improvement. The untapped ideas, innovations, and creative thoughts of
employees can make the difference between success and failure. Competition is so fierce that it would be
unwise not use every available tool.
Involve all stakeholders, process owners, and employees who will feel the impact of the changes, as much as
possible, in the learning, planning, decisions, and implementation of the change. Often, in change management,
a small group of employees learns important information about change and change management.
If a small group makes the change management plans, employees affected by the decisions will not have had
needed time to analyze, think about, and adjust to the new ideas. If you leave employees behind, at any stage of
the process, you open the door in your change management process, for misunderstanding, resistance, and hurt.
Even if employees cannot affect the overall decision about change, involve each employee in meaningful
decisions about their work unit and their work to make them realize that they are essential part of the
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organization. This will foster the feeling of commitment in them.
7. CONCLUSION
Employee’s involvement should not be looked at as a fad that will go away soon. It is a way of life, crucial to
organizational development and change. Employees, not senior management, hold future in their hands. Even if
the sign over a plant entrance that says, “Through these doors pass our most important asset, our employees”
does not ring true when employees have a feeling that no one really cares. More involvement might be
encouraged by the sign “No one of us knows as much as all of us.” Besides the above mentioned roles,
employee involvement improves quality and increases productivity, because:
� Employees make better decisions using their expert knowledge in their respective fields.
� Employees are more likely to implement and support decisions; they had a part in making.
� Employees are better able to spot and pinpoint the areas of improvement.
� Employees are better able to take immediate corrective actions.
� Employee Involvement reduces labor management friction by encouraging more effective communication
& co-operation.
� Employee Involvement increases morale by creating feeling of belongingness to organization.
� Employees are better able to accept change because they control the work environment.
� Employees have an increased commitment to unit’s goals because they are involved with this.
So, in a nutshell, Employee Involvement is aimed at moving organizational decision making downward to
increase the commitment and performance, and to increase the member’s flexibility, which in turn directly
contributes to organizational development and change.
8. REFERENCE
8.1. Books
[1] Abraham Carmeli (2005), exploring determinants of job involvement: an empirical test among senior
executives, International Journal of Manpower, Vol: 26, 2005, pp:457-472
[2] Ananthraman, R.N. & Deivasenapathy, P. (1980) Job involvement among manager, supervisor’s social
support and job involvement and workers, Indian Journal of Applied Psychology.
[3] Bernard Burns (1998) Recipes for organizational effectiveness, Mad bad or just dangerous to know, Career
Development International Journal, Vol: 3, pp100-106.
[4] Paul F. Rotenberry, Philip J. Moberg (2007), Assessing the impact of job involvement on performance,
Management Research News Volume 30, pp: 203-215.
[5] Prasad L. M (2008), Organizational Behavior, 4 th revised edition, Sultanchand & Sons, New Delhi.
[6] Ivancevich J M, (2008), Human Resource Management, Tata McGraw Hill Pvt Ltd, 10 th Edition.
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[7] Dessler G & Varkkey B (2011), Human Resource Management, Pearson Publication, 12 th Edition.
[8] Barnardin H. J. (2007), Human Resource Management- An Experiential Approach, Tata McGraw Hill Pvt
Ltd, 4 th Edition.
[9] Aswathappa K, (2009) Human Resource Management text and Cases, Tata McGraw Hill Pvt Ltd, 6 th
Edition.
[10] Parikh Margie & Gupta Rajen, (2009), Organizational Behavior, Tata McGraw Hill Pvt Ltd, 1 st Edition.
[11] Greenberg J. & Baron R.A., (2008) Behavior in Organizations, PHI Learning Pvt Ltd, 9 th Edition.
8.2. Websites
[1] www.google.com
[2] www.scribd.com
[3] www.citehr.com
[4] www.hrmtoday.com
[5] www.slideshare.net
[6] www.wikipedia.com
[7] www.urenio.com
[8] www.jstor.org
[9] www.allbusiness.com
[10] www.upindia.in
[11] www.eianet.org
[12] www.innovation.cc
[13] www.ask.com
[14] www.amazon.com
[15] www.zainbooks.com
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