Employee Involvement Essay

The direct participation of staff to help an organization fulfill its mission and meet its objectives by applying their own ideas, expertise, and efforts towards solving problems and making decisions. From this definition, participation can include representative participation, direct communication, and upward problem solving. We will focus on the latter two categories because this article is more about understanding outcomes, tools, and methods. The direct participation of staff to help an organization fulfill its mission and meet its objectives by applying their own ideas, expertise, and efforts towards solving problems and making decisions. Based on the thinking that people involved in a process know it best, regular participation of employees in several planning and execution areas occur. Major areas are: (1) deciding how work gets done, (2) suggesting improvements, (3) setting goals, (4) planning, and (5) performance monitoring. That employees will improve their performance if t hey are more motivated by being more involved, is an observed trait. Borders on empowerment. Employee involvement means that every employee is regarded as a unique human being, not just a cog in a machine, and each employee is involved in helping the organization meet its goals. Each employee’s input is solicited and valued by his/her management. Employees and management recognize that each employee is involved in running the business. Employee empowerment is a somewhat different concept. It means that in addition to involving employees in running the business, employees and management recognize that many problems or obstacles to achieving organizational goals can be identified and solved by employees. Employee empowerment means that management recognizes this ability, and provides employees with the tools and authority required to continuously improve their performance. The management states its expectations about employees recognizing and solving problems, and empowers them to do so. Employee Motivation  is the â€Å"psychological forces that determine the direction of a person’s behavior in an organization, a person’s level of effort and a person’s level of persistence Using rewards as motivators divides employee motivation into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic rewards are internal, psychological rewards such as a sense of accomplishment or doing  something because it makes one feel good.[7] Extrinsic rewards are rewards that other people give to you such as a money, compliments, bonuses, or trophies. â€Å"the willingness to exert high levels of effort toward organizational goals, conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need.† Theory XTheory x states that people are generally lazy. Since people are lazy they will try at all costs to avoid work. They will do what they can to waste time and find other things to do. Sigmund Freud the creator of this theory believed that the only way to get people to do work was to threaten them with punishment if they didn’t do their work. This idea is important because if it holds true, motivation becomes extremely important. If people don’t want to do any work it is necessary to motivation Theory X MIT Professor Douglas McGregor Theory X—assumes that people are basically lazy and will avoid working if they can. To make sure that employees work, Theory X managers impose strict rules and make sure that all important decisions are made only by them. Theory Y Theory Y assumes that people find satisfaction in their work. Theory Y managers believe that people are creative and will come up with good ideas if encouraged to do so. They tend to give their employees much more freedom and let them make mistakes. Theory Z is a business management theory that integrates Japanese and American business practices. The Japanese business emphasis is on collective decision making, whereas the American emphasis is on individual responsibility. McGregor’s Theories Theory X- Autocratic Dislike Work Avoid Responsibility Little Ambition Force/Control/ Direct/Threaten Motivated by Fear & Money Theory Y- Democratic Like Work Naturally Works Toward Goals Seeks Responsibility Imaginative, Creative, Clever Motivated by Empowerment