WORKERSPARTI

CIPATI
ONI
NMANAGEMENT

Pr
epar
edby
:YAHYAJUMAMAFULA

"
Takei
t,orl
eav
eit
!"

I
NTRODUCTI
ONANDMEANI
NG

Wor kersparti
cipat
ioni nmanagementr ef
erst othepartici
pati
onofnon- managerialemployees
i
nt hedecision-makingpr ocessoft heor ganisati
on.Wor kerspar ti
cipat
iongivesempl oyeesthe
ment alandpsy chologicalsat
isfacti
onandt herebyincreasethei ri
nv ol
vementint heaffair
sof
theor gani
zat i
on.Wor ker
spar ti
cipation i
n managementi st hemostaccept ed pri
ncipl
eof
i
ndust r
ialrelati
onsi n moder ni ndustrythroughoutt hewor ld.I nt hewor dsofKei t
h Dav i
s
“Parti
cipat
ionisament alandemot ionalinvolvementofaper soni nagr oupsituati
onwhi ch
encouragest ocontributetogroupgoal sorobj ecti
vesandshar er esponsibi
l
iti
es.”

Accordingtot
heBr it
ishInsti
tut
eofManagement ,Workerspart
ici
pati
oninmanagementisthe
practi
cein which employeest akepartin Managementdecisionsand itisbased on t
he
assumpt i
onofcommonal i
tyofinter
estbet
weenempl oyerandemployeeinfur
ther
ingt
helong
term pr
ospect
softheent erpr
iseandthoseworki
nginit
.

Sawtel
ldefi
nedpar
ti
cipat
ionasanyoroft
hepr ocessesbywhi
cht heemployeesothert
han
managerscont
ri
but
epositi
vel
ytowar
dst
hereachi
ngofmanageri
aldeci
sionswhichaf
fectt
hei
r
work.

Wor ker
spar t
icipat
ioni
sasy stem wheret
hewor ker
sgettheri
ghtstopart
ici
pateindecisi
onson
i
ssueswhi char eofconcernt othewor kerslikewages,workingcondi
tions,saf
ety,welf
are,
sharingofgai n,pr
oductionrel
atedaspects,incent
ivesandall
owanceswer econsider
edt obe
l
egitimateareasofwor kersconcernandthereforeworker
sshouldbeconsultedwhentheseare
determined.

Workerspar
ti
cipati
oni nmanagementisoneoft heimport
antaspect
sofi
ndust
ri
aldemocracy
.
Iti
sdist
ri
buti
onofsoci alpoweri
nindust
rysothatthepoweri
ssharedamongal
lthosewhoare
engagedinworkratherthanpowerbei
ngconcentrat
edonlyi
nthehandsofafewmanagers.

OBJECTI
VESOFWORKERSPARTI
CIPATI
ONI
NMANAGEMENT

Theobj ect
ivesofworkersparti
cipati
oninmanagementmayv aryfrom countryt ocountr
y,state
tost at
e,andf r
om i
ndustrytoi ndustrydependi
ngupont hequal i
tyofmanpower ,levelof
technology,lev
elofcompet iti
onsoci o-
economicstat
us,poli
ti
calphilosophy ,att
it
udeoft he
wor ki
ngclassandtheindustri
alr el
ati
onsscene.Thoughther
ear esomanyf actorsgoverning
theobjecti
vesofworkerspart
ici
pat i
on.Somecommonobj ecti
vesare:

1.Topr
eventwor
ker
sfr
om expl
oit
ati
onbyt
hemanagementorbyt
heowner
s.

2.Tohav
edemocr
acyi
ntheor
gani
zat
ion.
3.Tohav
epr
operdev
elopmentoft
hewor
kingcondi
ti
ons.

4.Tor
esol
veconf
li
ctsanddi
ff
erencesbet
weenmanagementandempl
oyeesi
na

democr
ati
cmanner
.

5.Toi
nst
il
lempl
oyeeswi
tht
hesenseofpar
ti
cipat
ioni
nindust
ry.

6.Toencour
agesuggest
ionsf
rom empl
oyees.

7.Topr
omot
ebet
terunder
standi
ngbet
weenl
abour
sandmanagementont
hev
ari
ous

i
ssuesoft
heor
gani
sat
ions.

8.Togi
veempl
oyeesabet
terunder
standi
ngoft
hei
rrol
eint
hewor
kingoft
hei
ndust
ry.

9.Togi
vet
heempl
oyeesanoppor
tuni
tyf
orsel
fexpr
essi
onl
eadi
ngt
oindust
ri
alpeace,

goodr
elat
ionsandi
ncr
easedco-
oper
ati
on.

LEVELSOFPARTI
CIPATI
ON

Therei snohar dandf astr ul

east owhi chl evelofmanagement ,wor kerspar ti
cipati
oni n
managementshoul dbeintroduced.I nfactpar t
ici
pati
onispossi bleatalllevelsofmanagement .
Theonl ydiff
erencei st
hatofdegr eeandnat ureofapplicati
on.Forex ampl e,itmaybel ightor
notsov i
gorousatt hetopl evelandmaybev erystr
ongandv i
gorousatal owerlev el
.Al ot
dependsupont henatur
eofwor k,natureoff uncti
ons,quali
tyofmanpower ,strengthofwor ker
s,
atti
tudeoftradeunions,atti
tudeofmanagementandt heor ganisati
onalculture.Therear eother
factorswhichar ealsoresponsiblefort heappl i
cati
onofwor kersparti
cipationi nmanagement
l
iket hegov ernmentpol i
cyonl abour.I ndustr
ialActs,phasesoft radecy cle,economi cand
poli
tical
stabil
ityandsit
uation.Wor kerspar t
ici
pati
onismor eofabal ancingsi t
uation.

Whent her
ei smoreuseofaut hori
tyindeci
sionmaki ng,parti
cipat
ioninmanagementwi llbe
negli
giblebutwhentheuseofaut hor
it
yisinsmallproporti
on,parti
cipat
ionwillbemaxi
mum.I n
betweent het woelementsmor euseofaut horit
yandl essuseofaut horit
ythenatur
eof
part
ici
pat i
onwi l
lal
sodependupont hetypeofi ssues,at t
it
udeofempl oyees,management
cul
tureandt hepastexper
ienceofmanagement .

Br
oadl
yspeaki
ngt
her
ear
efi
vel
evel
sofwor
ker
spar
ti
cipat
ioni
nmanagement
.

1.I
NFORMATI
ONPARTI
CIPATI
ONLEVEL

Inf
ormati
onpar t
ici
pat
ionensuresthattheemploy
eesar einaposi t
iontorecei
vei
nformation
andexpresstheirvi
ewsper t
aini
ngt othematt
ersofgeneralandeconomi cimport
ance.The
managementi sinf
ormingthewor ker
saboutthebusinesscondi
tionsandalsoinf
ormst hem
aboutt
hev ar
iouschangesputint
oef f
ecti
ntheworki
ngoftheorganisat
ion.
2.ASSOCI
ATI
VEPARTI
CIPATI
ONLEVEL

Inthi
sl ev elofpar t
ici
pati
onmember shavet heri
ghtt orecei
veinformat i
on,discussandgi v
e
suggestionson t hegener aland economi cconditionsoft heor ganisati
on li
kepr oduction,
markets,f inanceandt echnologyaff
ectingtheposi ti
onoft heorganisationoror gani
sations
profi
tand l oss account.The wor kers havet he ri
ghttor eceiv
ei nformati
on and di scuss
i
mpor tantmat t
ersl i
kechangei nthemet hodsofpr oduct
ion,expansi
onofbusi nessorcl osing
ofapar ticularunit.Thewor kersnotonlyreceiv
einformationanddiscusst heissuesbutwhen
suggestionsar emadei ti
sbindingonthemanagement .

3.CONSULTATI
VEPARTI
CIPATI
ONLEVEL

Insuchlev elofpar t
ici
pat
ionwor kersareconsul tedonthemat tersofempl oyeewel
faresuchas
work,safety,healthandtrai
ning.Itinvol
v esahi gherdegreeofshar ingofv i
ewsofthewor kers
and givi
ng t hem an opport
uni tyto expr ess thei
rf eeli
ngs and opi ni
ons.Inthislevelof
parti
ci
pationi tisthemanagement sprerogativ
et oacceptt hesuggesti
onsoft heworkersgiven
attheparticipati
veforum.Wor kerssuggestionsar eonl
yofadv isorynature.

4.ADMI
NISTRATI
VEPARTI
CIPATI
ONLEVEL

Administ
rat
ivepart
icipat
iongi
v esagr eaterdegreeofsharingofaut hori
tyandr esponsi
bili
tyof
managementf uncti
ons.Theissuest akenatt hislevelar
ewel far
e,saf ety,t
rai
ning,pr
eparing
workschedules,workinghours,incenti
ves,holidaysandrewar dsforv aluabl
esuggestions.In
thi
slevelofpart
ici
pational
ter
nativesar egiv
enbyt hemanagementandt heworkersselectthe
bestfr
om thosedecidedforsmoot himplementat i
onandeffici
entadmi ni
st r
ati
on.

5.DECI
SIVEPARTI
CIPATI
ONLEVEL

Thisist
hehighestform ofpar t
ici
pati
onwher edecisi
onsaretakenjoi
ntl
yont
hemat
ter
s
rel
ati
ngt
opr
oduction,wel
far
e,economic,f
inanci
alandadmini
str
ati
vepol
i
cies.

Delegat
ionofaut hori
tyandresponsi
bil
i
tyofmanager ialf
ii
ncti
onstot heworker
sismaxi
mum
atthisl
evelofparti
cipat
ion.Whenparti
cipati
onisdoneatthi
sleveli
tspeaksofdemocr
acyand
thedemocr at
icstyleofmanagement .Italsoshowsthefait
handt rustbet
weenmanagement
andtheempl oyees.

FACTORSUNDERMI
NINGEFFECTI
VENESSOFWORKERS`PARTI
CIPATI
ON

1.Fai
l
uret
oimbi
bet
hespi
ri
tofpar
ti
cipat
ionbyt
hepar
ti
es:

Oneoft hemajorfactor
sresponsi
bleforit
sfail
urei
sthei
nabi
li
tyoftheparti
estoimbi
bethe
spir
itofpar
ti
cipati
on.Themanagementi ssti
l
lmakinguni
l
ater
aldeci
sionsandtheempl
oyees
aresti
ll
subj
ectingthemsel
vesunderthemanagement.

2.Ideologi
calDi
ff
erences bet
ween Empl
oyees and Empl
oyer
s Regar
ding t
he Degr
ee of
Par
tici
pati
on:
Ther
eisbasi
cdiff
erencebetweenemployeesandemploy
ersregardi
ngthelevelofpart
ici
pati
on
byworker
s.Thewor kers’par
ti
cipat
ionattheBoardlevelshoul
dbei nt
roducedgraduall
yin
st
ages,whi
letheempl oyeesf
eelthattheschemeshoul
dbesi multaneousl
yintr
oducedatal l
l
evel
s.Thevar
iousschemeshav ebeenaccept
edbutnotwholeheart
edly.

3.Unf
ri
endl
yIndust
ri
alRel
ati
ons:

Theeconomichist
oryofthecountr
yhasshownt hatthei
ndustri
alcl
i
matehasnotbeenfr
ee
fr
om l
abourunrest
.Thegover
nmenthasi
mposedpar t
ici
pat
iveschemesonindust
ri
esi
nsucha
cl
imat
ewhen, i
tsoutcomehasbeenatot
alf
ail
ure.

4.WeakTr
adeUni
oni
sm:

Compar edtost
rongt r
adeunioni
sm indevelopedcountr
iesli
ket heUSA,UK,Germany ,et
c.,t
he
tr
adeuni onmovementinTanzaniaisf
ragment ed,
poorl
yorganized,dr
ivenbyint
enseinter
-uni
on
ri
val
ry,andrunbyv ari
ouspoli
ti
calphi
losophies.I
nsuchast ateofaffair
s,i
tisdif
fi
culttothi
nk
ofef
fectivewor
kers’part
ici
pat
ioninmanagementt hr
oughtheirownelectedrepr
esentati
ves.

5.Wor
ker
sil
l
iter
acy
:

Thewor kers’repr
esent
ativ
esonv ariouspar t
icipati
vebodiesarebyandl arge,il
l
iter
ate.Inthe
absenceofadequat eknowledgeont heirpartoft heconcept,rat
ionaleandbenef itofthe
parti
ci
pati
veschemes,t heycannotactivelyparti
cipatemeaningf
ull
yint hei
rwor ki
ng.Ther esul
t
i
st hatei
thertheyfai
ltoarri
veatanydeci sionorbankonout si
dersforguidancewhoi nvar
iabl
y
persuadethem nottoexceptthatf
orum t osolvetheirprobl
ems.

WHATSHOULDBEDONETOENSUREEFFECTI
VENESSOFWORKERSPARTI
CIPATI
ON?

1.Theempl
oyeeshast
obegi
venl
egal
educat
ionont
hei
rri
ght
stopar
ti
cipat
uon.

2.Thereshoul
dbepubli
cit
ygiventothewor
ker
spart
ici
pat
ionsot
hatt
hei
deaofpar
ti
cipat
ion
mayfindit
srooti
nthemindsofthesewhoar
etoimpl
ementit
.

3.Bot
htheworkersand managementshould hav
ecomplet
efaithintheeff
icacyofthe
wor
kpl
acepar
ti
cipat
ionandshoul
dpoolt
hei
rtal
entsandr
esour
ces,anddemonst
ratet
hei
rwil
l
towor
kfori
t.

4.Thepar
ti
cipat
ionshoul
dber
eal
(shoul
dnotr
emai
ninwr
it
ings)
.

5.Thesy
stem ofpar
ti
cipat
ionmustbecompl
ement
aryt
othecol
l
ect
ivebar
gai
ningpr
ocess.

6.Ensur
ingi
mpl
ement
ati
onofl
aws.

7.St
rengt
henmentoft
radeuni
ons.