Course: Organizational Change
Week 4 Discussion
Involving Employees
In Week 4, we begin to examine “interventions,” or planned activities for improving organizational effectiveness. Most successful organizational change efforts include steps for increasing opportunities for employee involvement. Review the four key elements that promote involvement, in your readings this week. Also consider researching in the library for related “Design Features for a Participative System”.
- Evaluate the level of employee involvement in your current workplace or a former workplace—e.g., low, moderate, or high-involvement.
2.Which elements/features were most conducive to involvement? Explain. Include specific examples.
3.Which elements/features were least conducive to involvement? Explain. Include specific examples.
Back up all opinions with the readings and outside research in academic journals at the KU online library.
- 250 word minimum for initial post
- Include at least two references
- Respond to two learner’s initial post.
KU online library: https://keiseruniversity.libguides.com/home/home?preview=afb5d66ab3b853fa361847ea7dfda322
Reference requirements:
2020-2023 (Peer Review)
APA format
Student reply 1:
1. My current place of employment has a reasonable level of employee involvement.
2. The following are the characteristics that promote employee involvement the most.
A welcoming and comforting work environment.
B. A competitive compensation package for deserving candidates.
C. The organization has a strong public reputation.
D. Laws that are advantageous to the employee’s family as well.
3. The factors that encourage employee involvement the least are
1. There are no opportunities for professional and personal development.
2. The managerial hierarchy’s authoritarian detachment from the workforce.
3. The absence of employee input into decision-making.
4. Lack of knowledge of technology developments as a result of daily tasks
Meier, L. (2013). Encounters with haunted industrial workplaces and emotions of loss: class-related senses of place within the memories of metalworkers. Cultural Geographies, 20(4), 467-483. https://0624c031z-mp03-y-https-doi-org.prx-keiser.lirn.net/10.1177/1474474012469003
Pierce, C. A., & Aguinis, H. (2001). A framework for investigating the link between workplace romance and sexual harassment. Group & Organization Management, 26(2), 206-229. https://0624c031z-mp03-y-https-www-proquest-com.prx-keiser.lirn.net/scholarly-journals/framework-investigating-link-between-workplace/docview/203370216/se-2
Student reply 2:
Employee involvement (EI) is a method used by businesses to allow its employees to have a say in decisions that are being made in the organization. This can also have an effect on their well-being.
Usually there are four key elements.
1) Power: This element of EI allows the business to provide its employees with the necessary authority to make work-related decisions. Such decisions could include work methods, performance outcomes, customer service, etc. this power can also vary quite considerably from allowing an employee to make a simple decision to having employees jointly making decisions with their leaders.
2) Information: To make an effective decision, businesses must process information in a certain timeframe. For the concept of EI to work in this element, organizations need to make sure that the information flow is without any problem. Transparency of the business can help this aspect. Such examples may include data about operating results, the competition in the market, new technologies that are emerging and promoting ideas to improve the organization.
3) Knowledge and skills: EI can only work effectively if the employees being allowed to participate in the decision-making of the organization, have the necessary knowledge and skills to formulate a valid, sound, informative decision. To make this happen, organizations can generate EI by providing training and development program to enhanve employee’s knowledge and skills. By having the knowledge and skills, helps the business to operate more effectively.
4) Rewards: Positive reinforcement can have a big impact on getting people on an organization’s side. If employees are recognized for what they do successfully, they are more likely to feel valued and increase employee retention. In addition, external rewards such as pay, and promotions can also reinforce EI.
Evaluate the level of employee involvement in your current workplace or a former workplace- e.g., low, moderate, or high-involvement.
All the above elements contributions to EI success, but because the elements are interdependent, they must be changed together to obtain a positive result. One example I remember is that if a certain department is given more power and authority to make decisions but does not have the skills and knowledge available, it was seen by others, that the department was not effective.
In the school environment in which I work, there is a high emphasis on teamwork and collaborative decision-making. Leadership always passes down information that is necessary to teachers promoting an air of transparency. However, teachers also know that there must be some privacy regarding sensitive information and realize that only certain parties are privy to that. In general, there are meetings two or three times a week and they can either be faculty (i.e., whole school) or departmental (usually with a member of leadership chairing the meeting). Usually, the departmental level, there is quite high involvement because each member has an impact on the success of the department when it comes to other operational aspects of the school, that may have more schoolwide impact, there is more moderate or low involvement, for usually these operations either have a skill set, knowledge, or experience associated with them or privy to leadership only.
Which elements/features were most conducive to involvement? Explain. Include specific examples.
Perhaps the biggest two elements involved in school affairs, are the elements of information and knowledge and skills. Having this information in a school allows the school to be more effective. It allows the school to understand the culture in which it operates, and the students who are there to learn. One of the biggest requirements is that the teachers usually must have some high level of education background (degree or higher) and this is useful tool to share not just knowledge, but teaching experiences as well, which in turn can enhance best practice. For example, information and knowledge is crucial to help encourage teacher involvement when it comes to developing the curriculum.
According to Alsubaie (2016), teachers must be involved in the development process when it comes to developing the curriculum in schools. By doing this, the curriculum should reflect the philosophy, goals, and objectives, that the school requires and allow for the teacher to impart knowledge of learning experiences, instructional resources and other assessments that can contribute to an effective learning program. In addition, by having both groups involved in this process, it allows teachers to use the curriculum and provide more personal individualized strategies in their own classroom to promote effective learning for the students.
Which elements/features were least conducive to involvement? Explain. Include specific examples.
The least two elements are really the concept of power and rewards. The school functions as a team. Without everybody supporting each other, students can identify weaknesses and try and exploit those for their advantage. For example, if one teacher allows a cell phone policy that is very relaxed in the classroom and the school has a strong cell phone policy, where cell phone use is prohibited during class time, the students will usually take advantage of those teachers who have the relaxed cell phone use and exploit it to their benefit, which in turn could undermine teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom. The power when it comes to this element, is more of a shared power, that enforces positive behavior throughout the school. Individual power of course, lies in the principal of the school and of leadership. However, even then, leadership welcome input to help make the school better.
Rewards, even though not as conducive to involvement, rewards are provided mainly to students. These are usually more positive reinforcement practices, when students do good work, show evidence of some good citizenship, or improve in some aspect of school life. For example, in the school where I teach, students are rewarded for good behavior, work and instances when they have gone above and beyond the norm. They are rewarded with “school bucks” which is the equivalent to Monopoly money, where students can exchange these bucks in return for some special event that is happening in school or exchange them for some school “spirit” gear.
Reference
Alsubaie, M.A. (2016), Curriculum Development: Teacher Involvement in Curriculum Development. Journal of Education and Practice, Vol. 7, No. 9, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sundara_Kumar_V/post/Importance_of_Curriculum_to_Teaching_in_the_classroom/attachment/5e944586c005cf0001836984/AS%3A879814076538881%401586775430134/download/EJ1095725.pdf
