Employee participation and voice (EPV) concern power and influence. Traditionally, EPV has encompassed worker attempts to wrest control from employers through radical societal transformation or to share control through collective regulation by trade unions. This book offers a controversial alternative arguing that, in recent years, participation has shifted direction.

In Employee Voice and Participation, the author contends that participation has moved away from employee attempts to secure autonomy and influence over organisational affairs, to one in which management ideas and initiatives have taken centre stage. This shift has been bolstered in the UK and USA by economic policies that treat regulation as an obstacle to competitive performance. Through an examination of the development of ideas and practice surrounding employee voice and participation, this volume tracks the story from the earliest attempts at securing worker control, through to the rise of trade unions, and today's managerial efforts to contain union influence. It also explores the negative consequences of these changes and, though the outlook is pessimistic, considers possible approaches to address the growing power imbalance between employers and workers.

Employee Voice and Participation will be an excellent supplementary text for advanced students of employment relations and Human Resource Management (HRM). It will also be a valuable read for researchers, policy makers, trade unions and HRM professionals.

About the Author

Jeff Hyman is Professor Emeritus in Employment Relations at the University of Aberdeen, UK, and Honorary Professor of Management at the University of St Andrews, UK. His long-standing research and teaching interests are in employee participation and the future of work.

Reviews

"A magisterial review of employee voice and participation, combining deep awareness of long-standing debates with critical analysis of topical issues, such as employee engagement. Professor Hyman highlights the threats to employee voice from market-driven performance management, both here and abroad. An essential text for anyone interested in employee participation."

Andrew Pendleton, Professor of Human Resource Management, Durham Business School, UK

"Drawing on an impressive range of political, management, trade union and employee perspectives, this book addresses employee voice but also pressing employment issues, such as precarious work. Its broad-ranging, reflective view is refreshing and engaging. Essential reading for PhD students in HRM/employment studies, and for senior undergraduates and postgraduates either as a whole or for individual topic chapters."

Dora Scholarios, Professor of Work Psychology, Strathclyde Business School, UK

"An excellent book starting from the position that employee participation is about control and influence at work. Taking a historical perspective and assessing developments from different actor perspectives (state, employers, employees) the author shows how fashions have waxed and waned as well as situating current narratives in the context of the changing world of work. The author argues that whilst labour market flux is by no means new the pluralist structures that underpinned Western economies are threatened by a number of market-driven directions, restricting the ability of workers to express independent voice."

Adrian Wilkinson, Director, Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing, Griffith University, Australia

Book Information
ISBN 9781138043787
Author Jeff Hyman
Format Paperback
Page Count 251
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 414g