EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT PROGRAMS IMPROVE CORPORATE PERFORMANCE

Employee involvement programmes have the potential to increase the competitiveness of companies. For this to occur, incentives must be provided for ongoing participation. This paper explores these issues in the context of a manufacturing company. All employees were surveyed to ascertain why some people chose to participate while others did not. The results highlight the importance of employee expectations, showing that expectations may be raised at the outset of a programme but they then must be fulfilled. To ensure that participants do not become disillusioned because of unrealistic expectations, human resource managers must devote considerable effort to forming long range strategic approaches to the formulation and implementation of employee involvement programmes.