Worker participation in management involves workers and management sharing information and participating in decision making. There are various levels and forms of participation, from informative to consultative to administrative to decision-making levels. Effective worker participation can increase productivity and industrial harmony through mutual understanding between workers and management. However, participation in management programs in India have had limited success due to lack of initiative, ideological differences, and management's reluctance to share power.

1. Prepared By:
• Vrunda Dalal
• Milind Chitte

2. 
 Worker’s participation is a system where workers
and management share important information with
each other and participate in decision taking.
WPM

3. 
 It provides scope for employees in decision-making
of the organization.
 The participation may be at the shop level,
departmental level or at the top level.
 The participation includes the willingness to share
the responsibility of the organization by the workers.
WPM encompasses the
following:-

4. 
 A system of communication and consultation, either
formal or informal, by which employees of an
organization are kept informed about the affairs of
the undertaking and through which they express
their opinion and contribute to 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.
-Keith Davis
Definition of WPM

5. 
 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.
- Walpol

6. 
 To raise worker’s status in industry.
 To promote democratic practice.
 Increase productivity with joint efforts.
 Promote cordial relations.
 Prevent manipulation
Objective

7. 
 Mutual understanding
 Higher productivity
 Industrial harmony
 Industrial democracy
 Less resistance to change
 Creativity & Innovation
Importance of WPM

8. 
 Consultative participation
 Informative participation
 Administrative participation
 Associative participation
 Decision / Decisive participation
 Ownership participation
Forms of participation

9. 
 Involves a high degree of sharing of views of the
members and giving them an opportunity to express
their feelings.
 Members are consulted on matters such as:- –
Welfare amenities (work, health)
– Adoption of New Technology
– The problems emanating from it Safety
Consultative

10. 
 It ensures that employees are able to receive
information and express their views pertaining to the
matters of:-
– General economic situation.
– The state of market, production & sales programs.
– Organization & general running of the undertaking.
– The annual balance sheet & profit & loss account
statement & connected documents with explanations.
Information

11. 
 Involves a greater degree of sharing of authority and
responsibility of the management functions.
 It ensures greater share of workers’ participation in
discharge of managerial functions.
 Employees take part in decisions, which were
already taken by the Members are given little for
autonomy in the exercise of administrative and
supervisory powers with regard.
Administrative

12. 
 Welfare measures
 Supervision of safety measure
 Operation of vocational training & apprenticeship
schemes
 Preparation of schedules of working hours, breaks,
holidays
 Payment of rewards for valuable

13. 
 Highest form of participation.
 Maximum delegation of authority and responsibility of
managerial function.
 Decisions mutually taken.
 Matters concerned are
– Economic,
– Production
– Welfare
– Financial and
– Administrative policies
Decision

14. 
 Extension of consultative participation
 Management here is under the moral obligation to
accept and implement the unanimous(agreed)
decisions of the employees.
 Under this method the managers.
Associative

15. 
 Collective Bargaining
 Works Committees
 Shop / Department Council
 Joint Councils
 Board Representations
 Workers Ownership of Enterprise
 Quality Circles
 Kaizen
Levels of Participation

16. 
 ILO has defined, "Collective bargaining as,
negotiation a bout working conditions and terms of
employment between an employer and a group of
employees or one or more employee, organization
with a view to reaching an agreement wherein the
terms serve as a code of defining the rights and
obligations of each party in their
employment/industrial relations .
Collective Bargaining

17. 
 Collective :-because both the employer and the
employee act as a group rather than as individuals.
 Bargaining :- because the method of reaching an
agreement involves proposals and counter proposals,
offers and counter offers and other negotiations.

18. 
 Thus collective bargaining:
 – is a continuous process which aims at establishing
stable relationships between the parties involved.
 – is a collective process in which representatives of both
the management and employees participate.
 – not only involves the bargaining agreement, but also
involves the implementation of such an agreement.

19. 
 The process of CB cannot be called WPM in its
strongest sense as in reality;
– CB is based on the crude concept of exercising
power for the benefit of one party.
– WPM, on the other hand, brings both the parties
together and develops appropriate mutual
understanding
Loopholes in Collective
Bargaining

20. 
 Under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, every
establishment employing 100 or more workers is
required to constitute a works committee
 It consists of equal number of representatives from
the employer and the employees.
 The main purpose of this committee is to provide
measures for securing and preserving amity and
good relations between the employer and the
employees.
Works Committees

21. 
 Works committee deals with matters of day-to-day
functioning at the shop floor level. Works
committees are concerned with:
– Conditions of work such as ventilation, lighting and
sanitation.
– Amenities such as drinking water, canteens, dining
rooms, medical and health services.
– Educational and recreational activities.
– Safety measures, accident prevention mechanisms etc.
Functions of Work
Committee

22. 
 Lack of competence and interest on the part of
workers’ representatives.
• Employees consider it below their dignity and status
to sit alongside blue-collar workers.
• Lack of feedback on performance of Works
Committee.
Loopholes in Works
Committees

23. 
 Government of India on the 30th of October 1975
announced a new scheme in WPM.
 In every Industrial establishment employing 500 or
more workmen, the employer shall constitute a shop
council.
 Shop council represents each department or a shop
in a unit.
Shop / Department
Council

24. 
 The employers’ representatives will be nominated by the
management and must consist of persons within the
establishment.
 The workers’ representatives will be from among the
workers of the department or shop concerned.
 The total number of employees may not exceed 12.

25. 
 Assist management in achieving monthly production
targets.
 Improve production and efficiency, including
elimination of wastage of man power.
 Study absenteeism in the shop or department and
recommend steps to reduce it.
 Suggest health, safety and welfare measures to be
adopted for smooth functioning of staff.
Functions of Shop
Council

26. 
 The joint councils are constituted for the whole unit,
in every Industrial Unit employing 500 or more
workers.
 Only such persons who are actually engaged in the
unit shall be the members of Joint Council.
 A joint council shall meet at least once in a quarter.
 The chief executive of the unit shall be the
chairperson of the joint council.
 The vice-chairman of the joint council will be
nominated by the worker.
Joint Councils

27. 
 It for a period of two years.
 The decisions will be binding on both parties and will be
implemented within one month.
 In 1977 the above scheme was extended to the PSUs like
commercial and service sector organizations employing
100 or more persons.
 The organizations include hotels, hospitals, railway and
road transport, post and telegraph offices, state
electricity boards.

28. 
 Fixation of production norms
 Work planning
 Achieving production targets
 Training
 Reward policy
 Creative suggestions
 Health
 Security
Functions of Joint
Council

29. 
 This would be the highest form of industrial
democracy.
 The workers’ representative on the Board can play a
useful role in safeguarding the interests of workers.
 The worker can serve as a guide and a control
element.
 The worker can prevail top management not to take
measures
Board Representation

30. 
 Focus of workers’ representatives is different from the
focus of the remaining members of the Board.
 The worker tends to become alienated from the workers.
 The worker may be less effective with the other members
of the Board in dealing with employee matters.
 Due to the differences in the cultural ,educational
backgrounds and behavior, the employees’ representative
may feel inferior to the other members, and may feel
suffocated.
Loopholes of Board
Representation

31. 
 This involves making the workers’ shareholders of
the company by inducing them to buy equity shares.
 In many cases, advances and financial assistance in
the form of easy repayment options are extended to
enable employees to buy equity shares. Examples of
this method are available in the manufacturing as
well as the service sector.
 Advantage: Makes the workers committed to the job
and to the organization.
Worker’s Ownership Of
Enterprise

32. 
 It consists of seven to ten people from the same work
area who meet regularly to define, analyze, and
solve quality and related problems in their area.
 These circles require a lot of time and commitment
on the part of members for regular meetings,
analysis, brainstorming etc
 Most QCs have a definite life cycle – one to three
years. Few circles survive beyond this limit either
because they loose steam or they face simple
problems.
Quality Circles(QC)

33. 
 Employees become involved in decision-making,
acquire communication and analytical skills and
improve efficiency of the work place.
 Organization gets to enjoy higher savings-to-cost
ratios.
 Chances of QC members to get promotions are
enhanced
Advantages of QC

34. 
 It is also called as “Continuous Improvement”
 It is a policy of constantly introducing small
incremental changes in a business in order to
improve quality and/or efficiency.
 This approach assumes that employees are the best
people to identify room for improvement, since they
see the processes in action all the time.
Kaizen

35. 
 Improvements are based on many, small changes rather than
the radical changes that might arise from Research and
Development
 As the ideas come from the workers themselves, they are less
likely to be radically different, and therefore easier to
implement
 Small improvements are less likely to require major capital
investment than major process changes
 The ideas come from the talents of the existing workforce, as
opposed to using R&D, consultants or equipment – any of
which could be very expensive
 All employees should continually be seeking ways to improve
their own performance
Features of Kaizen

36. 
 Four of the levels of workers participation in management
are:
 1. Informative and associative participation
 2. Consultative participation
 3. Administrative participation
 4. Decision participation
 Participation is possible at all levels of the management.
It depends upon the nature of functions, the strength of
the workers, varieties of departments, attitude of trade
unions and the management.
Level of WPM

37. 
 At the initial stage, participation generally takes the
stage of informative and associative participation
where members have the right to receive information
and give opinion on matters of general economic
importance.
Informative and
associative participation

38. 
 The next level is the consultative participation where
members share their views on matters affecting their
welfare with the management. It involves a higher
degree of sharing of views. But the management has
the discretion to accept or not to accept the views
and suggestions of the employees.
Consultative
Participation:

39. 
 At the next higher level it is administrative
participation, which provides a greater degree of
share in the authority and responsibility in the
management functions. At the next higher level it is
administrative participation, which provides a
greater degree of share in the authority and
responsibility in the management functions.
Administrative
Participation:

40. 
 All other matters like wages, bonus etc., are subjects
of collective bargaining and are excluded from the
preview of the workers participation schemes the
world Individual grievances are also excluded from
its scope.
 It is important to note that participation in
management is generally taken to mean only a
general consultation on matters concerning the
safety, welfare etc., of the workers and nothing more.
The ultimate responsibility is vested in the
management.
Decision Participation:

41. 
 It is the highest level of participation where workers
are given opportunity to take part in decision
making power activities. As the name suggests, the
decision making power at this level is complete and
the delegation of authority is maximum.

42. 
 In 1920 Mahatma Gandhi had suggested that
workers contributed labour and brains, while
shareholders contributed money to enterprise, and
that both should, therefore share in its prosperity.
 The influence of Mahatma Gandhi bore fruit and for
the first time Joint Consultation was adopted in the
Cotton Textile Industry.
WPM in India

43. 
 Workers’ participation in Management Bill, 1990 was
introduced in Parliament which provided scope for
upliftment of workers.
 The Industrial Policy Resolution had suggested that
labour should be consulted in all matter concerning
industrial production & works committees .
 The Joint Management Councils were established in
1950

44. 
 Lack of initiative & interest.
 Ideological differences.
 Delay in implementation.
 Political unionism.
 Narrow scope of participative forum with limited
issue.
 Not decisive participation.
Reasons for failure of
WPM in India

45. 
 Employers resist the participation of workers.
 Dual roles of workers’ spokesman and a co-manager.
 “Born to serve and not to rule”.
 Lack of lower-level participation.
 Unwillingness of the employer to share powers

46. 
 Three groups of managerial decisions affect the
workers of any industrial establishment and hence
the workers must have a say in it
 Economic Decisions – Economic Decisions like
methods of manufacturing, automation, shutdown,
lay-offs, mergers.
 Personnel Decisions – Personnel Decisions like
recruitment and selection, promotions, demotions,
transfers, grievance settlement.
Decisions affecting
WPM

47. 
 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.
 • Employers and workers should agree on the
objectives of the industry. They should recognize
and respect the rights of each other.
How can WPM be more
effective???

48. 
 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.
 Participation should be a continuous process. To
begin with, participation should start at the
operating level of management.
 A mutual co-operation and commitment to
participation must be developed by both
management and labor

49. 
ANY
QUESTION???

50. 
THANK
YOU