•The concept of workers’ participation in management is considered as mechanism where workers have say in the decision making process of an enterprise.

•Workers’ participation in management is an essential ingredient of Industrial democracy. The concept of workers’ participation in management is based on Human Relations approach to Management which brought about a new set of values to labour and management.

Workers performing operative functions. The basic distinction between those who occupy managerial positions and workers is that managers are held responsible for the work of their subordinates while workers are accountable only for their own work. workers are accountable only for their own work.

•The word Participation means sharing the decision making power with the lower rank of the organization in an appropriate manner.

•Participation means mental and emotional involvement rather than mere physical presence.

•The process of participation also help in understanding the dynamics of an enterprise’s.

According to Keith Davis ,•Participation refers to the mental and emotional involvement of a person in a group situation which encourages him to contribute to group goals and share the responsibility of achievement.

According to Walpole,

• Participation in Management gives the worker a sense of importance, pride and accomplishment; it gives him the freedom of opportunity for self-expression; a feeling of belongingness with the place of work and a sense of workmanship and creativity.

It utilized meaningfully , workers’ participation can serve a number of purpose , all geared to archive organizational effectiveness & the satisfaction of the employees

1. Participation means mental and emotional involvement rather than mere physical presence.

2. Workers participate in management not as individuals but collectively as a group through their representatives.

3. Workers’ participation in management may be formal or informal. In both the cases it is a system of communication and consultation whereby employees express their opinions and contribute to managerial decisions.

1.To establish Industrial Democracy.

2.To build the most dynamic Human Resources.

3.To satisfy the workers’ social and esteem needs.

4.To strengthen labour-management co-operation and thus maintain Industrial peace and harmony.

5.To promote increased productivity for the advantage of the organization, workers and the society at large.

6.Its psychological objective is to secure full recognition of the workers.

•Unique motivational power a great psychological value.

•Peace and harmony between workers and management.

•Workers get to see how their actions would contribute to the overall growth of the company.

•They tend to view the decisions as `their own’ and are more enthusiastic in their implementation.

•Participation makes them more responsible.

•They become more willing to take initiative and come out with cost-saving suggestions and growth-oriented ideas.

WPM:- It is the process, by which authority and responsibility of managing industry are shared with workers.

Three groups of managerial decisions affect the workers of any industrial establishment and hence the workers must have a say in it

-Board level participation  - Ownership participation  - Complete control  - Staff or work councils  - Joint councils and committees  - Collective Bargaining  - Job enlargement and enrichment  - Suggestion schemes  - Quality circles  - Empowered teams  - Total Quality Management [TQM]  - Financial participation

1. To improve the efficiency of enterprise.  2. To establish harmonious industrial relation  3. To attain industrial peace and harmony  4. To give the workers and acceptable status.  5. To develop self management in the industry.  6. To increase the productivity level with mutual understanding   7. Easy to implement the change may by possible by WPM.  8. Information sharing and decision making  9. Improving the self control degree.

-The type of decision  - Subject matter of participation  - Level of participation  - Subsidiary level  - Time factor  - Extend of participation  - Significance of decision 

- Industrial practices  - Past experience data  - Degree of possibility  - No. of workers  - Methods of participation  - Managerial views regarding workers

1. Experience  2. Possibilities  3. People building and mutual development.

• BHEL also focus on saving plans through WPM.  • There are various constraints and challenges of WPM in BHEL such as  • Secrecy level managerial attitude industrial practices degree participation and nature of decision  • BHEL mainly focus on QCC and TQM for WPM another methods are  simultaneously adopt.  • Possibility and experience are two main principle for WPM in BHEL

For example:A government may aim at achieving a very high degree of participation by all workers in all types of managerial decision in all types of under taking but it may expect that only a moderate degree of participation by some workers in some decisions in some types of undertaking will be achieved with in the first two and three years after the initiation of a new institution for WP.

Information participation: It ensures that employees are able to receive information and express their views pertaining to the matter of general economic importance. Consultative importance: Here workers are consulted on the matters of employee welfare such as work, safety and health. However, final decision always rests with the top-level management, as employees’ views are only advisory in nature. Associative participation: It is an extension of consultative participation as management here is under the moral obligation to accept and implement the unanimous decisions of the employees. Under this method the managers and workers jointly take decisions

Administrative participation: It ensures greater share of workers’ participation in discharge of managerial functions. Here, decisions already taken by the management come to employees, preferably with alternatives for administration and employees have to select the best from those for implementation.

Decisive participation: Highest level of participation where decisions are jointly taken on the matters relating to production, welfare etc.

• Higher productivity • Employees satisfaction• Improved quality of work• Team work• Creativity• Responsible behavior• Reduce turn over• Reduce absenteeism

a) Increase productivityb) Increase efficiency of employee.c) Establish industrial peaced) Establish industrial democracye) Well being of individualf) Personality developmentg) Mutual understandingh) Social well beingi) Welcome changesj) Rapid industrialization

a) Inactive trade union

b) Chances of suspicion

c) Employee may lead a careless life

d) Industrial anarchy

•The success of workers portion in management depends upon the following conditions.

•The attitude and outlook of the parties should be enlightened and impartial so that a free and frank exchange of thoughts and opinions could be possible. Where a right kind of attitude exists and proper atmosphere prevails the process of participation is greatly stimulated.

• Participation should be real. The issues related to increase in production and productivity, evaluation of costs, development of personnel, and expansion of markets should also be brought under the jurisdiction of the participating bodies. These bodies should meet frequently and their decisions should be timely implemented and strictly adhered to. Further, A peaceful atmosphere should be there wherein there are no strikes and lock-outs, for their presence ruins the employees, harms the interest of the society, and puts the employees to financial losses.

  Authority should be centralized through democratic management process. The participation should be at the two or at the most three levels. Programs for training and education should be developed comprehensively. For this purpose, Labor is to be given education not to the head alone, not to the heart alone, not to the hands alone, but it is dedicated to the three; to make the workers think, feel and act. Labor is to be educated to enable him to think clearly, rationally and logically; to enable him to feel deeply and emotionally; and to enable him to act in a responsible way.

• 1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

• 2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

• 3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

• 4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Workers’ Participation in Management in India

Workers’ participation in Management in India was given importance only after Independence. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 was the first step in this direction,which recommended for the setting up of works committees. The joint management councils were established in 1950 which increased the labour participation in management.

Since July 1975 the two-tier participation called shop councils at shoplevel and Joint councils were introduced. Workers’ participation in Management Bill, 1990 was introduced in Parliament which provided scope for upliftment of workers

Tata Iron and Steel Company

Tata Iron and Steel Company

1. Employers resist the participation of workers in decision-making. This is because they feel that workers are not competent enough to take decisions. 2. Workers’ representatives who participate in management have to perform the dual roles of workers’ spokesman and a co-manager. Very few representatives are competent enough to assume the two incompatible roles.

Reasons for failure of Workers participation Movement in India

3. Generally Trade Unions’ leaders who represent workers are also active members of various political parties. While participating in management they tend to give priority to political interests rather than the workers’ cause.4. Schemes of workers’ participation have been initiated and sponsored by the Government. However, there has been a lack of interest and initiative on the part of both the trade unions and employers. 5. In India, labour laws regulate virtually all terms and conditions of employment at the workplace. Workers do not feel the urge to participate in management, having an innate feeling that they are born to serve and not to rule.

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6. The focus has always been on participation at the higher levels, lower levels have never been allowed to participate much in the decision-making in the organizations. 7. The unwillingness of the employer to share powers with the workers’ representatives, the disinterest of the workers and the perfunctory attitude of the government towards participation in management act as stumbling blocks in the way of promotion of participative management

Measures for making Participation effective: 1. Employer should adopt a progressive outlook. They should

consider the industry as a joint endeavour in which workers have an equal say. Workers should be provided and enlightened about the benefits of their participation in the management.

2. Employers and workers should agree on the objectives of the industry. They should recognize and respect the rights of each other.

3. Workers and their representatives should be provided education and training in the philosophy and process of participative management. Workers should be made aware of the benefits of participative management.

4. There should be effective communication between workers and management and effective consultation of workers by the management in decisions that have an impact on them.

5. Participation should be a continuous process. To begin with, participation should start at the operating level of management.

6. A mutual co-operation and commitment to participation must be developed by both management and labour.

• Management should be prepared to give all information connected with the working of the industry and labor should handle that information with full confidence and responsibility. The workers should become aware of their responsibilities. The leaders should initiate this in them. Similarly, the top management should make the lower echelons to show a new attitude in the light of the new relationship.

Government of India on 30th October,1975 announced a scheme of workers participation in management which consisted of establishment of Joint Councils and Shop council as part of its 20 point economic programs. The scheme envisages for the establishment of joint councils and shop councils in manufacturing and mining industries employing 500 or more employees in public, private and co-operative sectors.

The scheme contemplated participation of workers in the decision-making process in the matters relating to production, productivity ,absenteeism, safety measures, general discipline, working conditions and welfare, and over –all efficiency of the shop/department.

All decisions of a Shop council as well as of the Joint council shall be on the edifice of the Consensus and not by process of voting.It is non-statutory like JMCs and there is a clear-cut functions of these councils.Consensus and time-bound implementation are the tools for arriving at decisions .thus, the scheme tries to eliminate the chances of direct interference by outside elements .The decisions are required to be implemented within one month.

The scheme provides for participation of workers at the shop floor level; otherwise the framework is not materially different from that of WCs and JMCs.It provides for a two-way communication and an exchange of information between the management and the workmen.the very change in the nomenclature of the scheme from participation of workers in management to that of participation of workers in industry makes it more acceptable to employees as the latter are likely to offset some of their misgivings and apprehensions caused by the former.

The scheme hits three principal objectives to which the reform of industrial democracy is directed, viz, recovery of individual human rights at the work place; consolidation of social and political freedom (to join a particular union of his own choice without any coercion0; and the framing of new industrial system functionally suitable to the country's economy.

• The joint councils are for the whole unit and its membership remains confined to those who are actually engaged in the organization. The tenure of the joint councils is for two years. The Chief executive of the unit becomes its Chairman. workers members of the council nominate the Vice Chairman. The joint council appoints the Secretary. The Secretary is responsible for discharging the functions of the council.

• The joint councils will meet once in four months ,but the periodicity of the meeting varies from unit to unit ,it may be once in a month, quarter etc. The decisions taken at the joint council meetings are by he process of consensus and the management shall implement the decisions within one month. The scheme was implemented by the major units of the central and State governments. The government enlarged the functions of the councils in 1976.

• The shop council represents each department or a shop in an unit .Each shop council will consist of an equal number of representatives of employers and workers .The employers representatives will be nominated by the management and must consist of persons from within the unit concerned .The workers representative will be from among the workers of the department or shop concerned. The number of members of each council may be determined by the employers in consultation with the recognized union. The total number of members however, may not generally exceed twelve.

• The decisions of the shop council are t be taken on the basis of consensus but not by voting .Management has to implement the decisions within one month .The tenure of the shop council is for a period of two years .Members of the shop councils meet at least once in a month .Management nominates the Chairman of the shop council whereas workers members of the council elect the Vice-chairman of the council.

• The number of shop councils to be established in an organization are determined by the employer in consultation with the recognized trade unions/workers of the organization. The decisions of a shop council which have a bearing on another shop will be referred to joint council for consideration and approval.

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