The Importance Of Employee Voice

The Importance Of Employee partThis paper studies the ascertainity of the importance of employee character within hereditary pattern Hotels, India. It explains why the author is undertaking the question and what the author wants to achieve from this query. It continues with the belles-lettres re imbibe that high barges the seven divers(prenominal) payoffs that has been explained in detail. It then talks closely the Methodology in which it shows the different look for methods that view as been chosen and why the discriminating research methods live been chosen for this token research. The paper then analyses the findings and discusses the result in detail. In the conclusion, recommendations have been presented which look at what employers would want to see in the future regarding employee instance.Ac familiaritymentsI express my gratitude to the University of Westminster for giving me the opportunity to cash in ones chips on the major project during the final year of M A in Human pick Management. There ar many who helped me during this project work and I want to thank them all.I would like to thank Tamarind and Angela Hetherington, my tutors for their invaluable guidance throughout my dissertation work and endeavor period, for providing me with the requisite motivation to complete my dissertation success to the full.I specially appreciate the help and guidance of all those teatimechers who have directly or indirectly helped me making my project a success.I would like to thank my p arnts who have been by my side throughout the whole process and who have given me the motivation and courage to make my dissertation a success.I would as well as like to thank all the employees and the manager of inheritance Hotels for taking the fourth dimension out from their busy schedule to complete my interviews.Thank You.Table of limitTitle Page 1Abstract 2Acknowledgements 3Table of Contents 4 5List of Figures 6Introduction 7Aim Objectives 8Aim 8Objectives 8Literature Review 9 delimitate employee office 9 10Purpose of employee spokesperson 10Types of employee congresswoman 11 12Benefits and success factors 12Benefits for employees 12Success Factors 13 lead 13Training 13Trust openness 13Employee meshing 13Employee Voice and Organizational Performance 14Figure 1 Employee Voice 14 15Organizational Background 15Introduction 15 16The secret of a great escape 16 heritage Hotels military commission 17Methodology 18Introduction 18Research Philosophy 18 favourableness 18Interpretivist 18 19Methods of Research Used 19 20Research Design 20 23Figure 2 The Research Process 21Respondents of the Study 23Data Collection 23 24Interviews 24 25How was the research attempted and measured 25 26Analysis and Discussion 27Introduction 27Interpretation of Results 27Analysis 27 28Question 8 28Question 9 10 28Question 11 12 29-30Question 13 30Question 14 30-31Question 16, 17 18 31Discussion of the Analysis 31-32Why is verbalise so important ? 32-33 evidence and RecommendationsConclusion 34 35Recommendations 35 36Reflective Statement 37 38References 38 42List of FiguresFigure 1 Employee Voice graph 14 15Figure 2 The Research Process 21Figure 3 The Response Table 281.0 IntroductionThis research topic studies to ascertain the importance of employee voice within Heritage Hotels. It specifically focuses on how important the employee voice is today. It investigates peoples cognizances on employee voice within the Hotel. Mahak Parwal, the author, feels that this field of force should be undertaken because as a current student and a future employee, she believes employee voice is and should be considered as highly important. With this study, the author also wants to find out the importance of employee voice, as well as know the employees perception towards it whether they think it should be there within the composition or not.There has been a sharp increase in the significance in employee voice in the midst of academ ics, practitioners, and policymakers in the recent years. Boxall and Purcell (2008) state that among employers, the breakdown of the mass production era and the resulting quest for high-performance work practices that take in flexibility and quality has produced prevalent experimentation through schemes for sharing information and consulting with employees, involving employees in work describe decision-making and soliciting feedback. Simultaneously, the global dec distribution channel within the union membership has volitionally opened the doors for different voice mechanisms options, whilst also prompting renewed line of reasonings over the need for union voice and supportive public policies.There has been a out issue interest in employee voice and interest in this topic has emerged over the lastly few years. Employee voice has been used to summarize several diverse approaches to employee relations, and many other terms have been interchangeably with employee voice. Employee voice is a critical component part of brass sectional success. According to Lynch (2010), in times of uncertainty it is more important than ever that employers pay attention to a concept called employee voice. This is because it can work towards developing the workplace productivity during its impact on employee engagement, creativity, retention and effectiveness. A more recent meaning of voice that has captured researchers attention is a behavior that constructively challenges that status quo with the intention of improving it. Employee voice is a very protracted term among substantial width within the range of definitions that are been given by authors (for instance Poole, 1986 Strauss, 2006 Sashkin, 1976 Dietz etal., 2009). The aim of the paper is also to shed greater light on the meanings that organizational members derive from employee voice and what those different purposes whitethorn be.1.1 Aims and ObjectivesThe following aim and objectives will identify how the rese archer will achieve the research study objectives and provide background on how the objectives will be met through the academic study.1.2 AimThe aim of this study is to ascertain the importance of employee voice at the Heritage Hotels in India.1.3 ObjectivesThe following objectives need to be satisfied in pose to reach this aim. These areDefine employee voice and its components.Determine the importance of employee voice.To investigate employees perception on employee voice.To critically recognize how Heritage Hotels promote employee voice in a hypercompetitive environment.2.0 Literature Review2.1 Defining employee voiceAs dened by Boxall and Purcell (2003) Employee voice is the term increasingly used to cover a whole variety of processes and structures which enable, and sometimes empower employees, directly and indirectly, to contribute to decision-making in the rm. Employee voice can be seen as the ability of employees to inuence the actions of the employer (Millward et al, 1992). Employee voice is a two-way communication among its employer and employee CIPD (2012). According to CIPD (2012), it is the process of the employer communicating to the employee as well as receiving and hearing to communication from the employee. To set about a basic understanding of what employee voice, one must understand what participative management is. Stueart and Moran (2007) states participative management focuses on increasing lower level employee sanction during team building along with direct participative methods in order to involve the employee with the decision making of the organization. This has be summate one of the leading styles of management. The important of empowerment may not be obvious, however it is pertinent. According to Stueart and Moran (2007), there is a positive correlation between employee empowerment and better customer service, staff creativity and innovation, and flexibility. Employees are able to participate in the decision making process of an organization through flattening the hierarchical, top-bottom structure by the means of groups or teams and with direct fellowship. The concept of employee voice looks more into the opportunities in order for the employees to be involved within decisions together, which can either be through lot unions or by other means. It appeals to some(prenominal) those seeking greater business efficiency and to those looking for employee rights (CIPD, 2012). Organizations have increasingly looked on ideas that directly engage employees, moving from representative participation in the last two decades.CIPD research, according to Marchington, Wilkinson and Ackers (2001), suggests organizations that look to promote voice are usually those who believe that employees want to contribute to the business and that for employees to have an effective voice, the significant element of the communication process is not what the employer puts out but what it gets back. Good managers distinguish that the kn owledge required for the business to be competitive can only come out of employees heads. Voice is defined most typically in terms of two-way communications, an exchange of information between managers and employees or having a say about what goes on in an organization (CIPD, 2012). Some managers feel that voice is a way for employees to represent their views to managers, and the different views presented by employees can be taken into count on which, in turn, can be positive for the company. On the other hand, other managers take the more limited view that voice is not so frequently of a dialogue or a two-way exchange of thoughts as a method for the employees to be able to pass on their thoughts to managers in order to develop the companys organizational performance. Employee voice is the most important characteristic of employee participation. If employee participation strongly contributes to a greater customer service, then it straight away shows that employee voice is a sign ificant feature in this equation. According to McCabe Lewin (1992, p. 112), whilst participative management syllabuss can be assorted depending on the company, the general scope and the amount of intended participation, the radical hypothesis remains the same, which is that employees possess sufficient ability, skill, knowledge, and interest to participate in business decisions. For Dundon et al (20041149), employee voice is best understood as a multifactorial and uneven set of meanings and purposes with a dialectic shaped by external regulation on one hand and informal management choice on the other. There is a long tradition in employee relations literature of focusing on the level and effectiveness of employee involvement and participation in the workplace (Marchington, 2005).2.2 Purpose of Employee VoiceAccording to Michael Armstrong (2006), there are four specific purposes for employee voice. The first purpose is basically to articulate dissatisfaction for individuals with the management team or in the organization. The second purpose provides as an expression of collective organization to management. The third purpose lets the management contribute towards decision making in particular concerning quality, productivity and work organization. Last but not the least it expresses the vulgarity relationship between the employee and the employer. In addition towards the specific purposes for employee voice, Gorden (1988b) proves a fifth purpose. He had conducted a study with 150 students and the study confirmed higher employee satisfaction with his or her career and employer when the organizational conditions are conductive to creating and receiving opportunities for employee voice. These rationale supports in defining voice and offers a background on which one can base all of the studies and research.2.3 Types of Employee VoiceSince Employee Voice is vast within Human Resource there are many oddballs of employee voice. According to McCabe and Lewin (19 92), there are about four specific types that help engage the process for the injustice resolution. The first type of voice is the ombudsman it is mistakable to a confidant that is proposed to considerately take note to the injustice and to offer any help to solve the issue. The ombudsman operates more like a channel of employee voice, sex act than actual employee voice. McCabe and Lewin (1992) state for this to work, the ombudsman needs to be thoroughly familiar with the organization and also needs to promote particularly for the employee. The second type of employee voice, again defined by McCabe and Lewin, is the mediation. Yet again, mediation also acts as a channel for employee voice. In this situation, the mediator goes through an argument between the two parties and supports in accommodative and resolving the problem. He or she does not particularly make the resolving decision but persuades solutions for the employees to eventually decide from the provided options. The th ird type of employee voice is arbitrement and it is distinguished by the fact that the arbitrator can make the final, binding decision. The arbitration is usually seen as the preceding step in a grievance process and needs to completely follow the standards, policies and procedures as written in the handbook for the employees. Last but not the least are, again discussed by the said(prenominal) authors, tribunals and peer reviews. As the same for arbitration which is the third type of employee voice, the ultimate decision is requisite and needs to be in capacity of the employee handbook. The advantage to the internal tribunals is that employees are preferred to be judged by their peers rather than an administrator or manager The advantage to these internal tribunals is that employees generally prefer to be judged by a jury of their peers rather than an administrator or manager (McCabe and Lewin, 1992).Other than the grievance procedure as mentioned above, there are two other types o f voice 1. vocalisation participation, and 2. Upward problem solving (Armstrong, 2006). Representative participation is characterized by collective representation. Representative participation involves a formal mechanism which allows for the employee representation to solve issues of mutual interest and work more like a partnership between employer and employee, tackling issues together in a cooperative manner. Examples of representative participation would include trade unions or other staff associates/association. Employee voice is heard through an organized channel. The second type of employee voice is the upward problem solving. In this type of employee voice it works towards more of a teambuilding perspective. It basically involves two-way communication between the manager and the staff. Thus communication is characterized by suggestion schemes rather than partner schemes where employees one by one suggest ideas or changes and then employer generally rewards them (Armstrong, 2006). It includes the application of attitude surveys for employees in order to seek their opinion/speak through questionnaires which can be dear for the organization. In this case employee voice is more on the basis of being communicative on a direct level from employee to employer. The main method of expressing voice is through questionnaires and forms instead of formal representation.2.4 Benefits and success factorsWithin the high performance workplaces, skills and knowledge are developed and enhanced which leads to high value enterprises and increasingly knowledge based economy.Having a greater voice for employees leads to the following (CIPD, 2012)Employees skills and knowledge can be better used, leading to higher productivity.Employees feel more valued, so they are more likely to stay and to contribute more.The organization gains a positive reputation, making it easier to recruit good employees.Conflict is reduced and co-operation between employer and employee is based on i nterdependence.2.4.1 Benefits for employeesEmployees benefit from the following (CIPD, 2012)Having more influence over their workHigher job satisfactionMore opportunity to develop skillsMore job trade protection at their employee is more successful as a result of voice initiatives.2.4.2 Success factorsThe factors that ensure success are the following (CIPD, 2012)Leadership without having active trueness from the top, initiatives will not succeed. Further down, managers also need to lead by example, while employee representatives should be effective leaders of those who they represent in the organization.Training mall managers who have brought up a top-down tradition of communication efficiency find it complicated to acclimatize to a more open way to doing things and might need to be trained in communication skills. Likewise, employee representatives may need training.Trust and openness without being honest, the communication initiatives will not succeed, even when messages may n ot be palatable.The possible barriers of the success factors are reversed. The reasons for failure are cited as absence of leadership and lack of commitment from the middle managers in the organization.2.5 Employee InvolvementThe objective of employee involvement is to engage employees to a greater extent in the administrative activities of the organization. This facilitates employees in empowering, and moreover informs them to understand the corporate activities and policies of the organization in a better way. It facilities the psychological relationship between the employee and employer, which provides, to an extent, an allowance in the decision making process. Employee involvement has two major benefits, which can only take place after empowering the employees and decentralizing the management employers are relieved by some portion of its administrative responsibilities. Secondly, when employees are given the empowerment, their responsibilities for the organization lead to succe ss and so does their commitment and accountabilities. It moreover helps in elevating overall employee morale and job satisfaction. Thus it enhances in employee performance.2.6 Employee Voice and Organizational PerformanceNormally, having lack of proper communication leads to organizational conflicts. Employee voice facilitates in making the relationship between the employer-employee information flow. It has been argued that Employee Involvement and Employee Participation is essential for organizational performance and management employee interrelationship, which plays an equally important agency in enhancing job satisfaction and hence in enhancing organizational productivity (Brown Heywood, 2002 p.103).Within the context of Employee Voice, psychological contracts can also be analyzed which may also be involved with employment. The interrelationships of management are largely supported by exchange of compensation and services. This regularly escorts the employees awareness to be ob stinate with the growth strategies of the management. Employee participation in every organizational activity increases personal involvement. With an increase in involvement the employees naturally perform optimally thereby proving that employee voice is of long importance in enhancing organizational performance and productivity (Kirkman, Lowe Young, 1999 p. 42).2.7 Employee Voice ChartThe following figure presents the meanings and purpose of employee voice articulated from journal called The International journal of Human Resource Management (Dundon et al, 2004).Figure 1 Employee VoiceVoice representsPurpose of VoicePossible mechanism or channels of voicepotence positive/negative outcomesArticulation of individual dissatisfactionTo remedy a problem and/or prevent deterioration in relationsInformal complaint to line manager formal grievance procedure(Reinforced) loyalty to organization/employee exit, withdrawal of beneficial discretionary behavior or inform expressions of dissatis factionExpression of collective organizationTo provide a countervailing source of power to managementRecognition of trade union by employer collective bargaining industrial actionPartnership between management and employees/non-or de-recognition of union anti union management tacticsEmployee contribution to management decision-makingTo seek improvements in work organization, quality and productivityEmployee involvement and participation (e.g. upward problem-solving initiatives suggestion schemes attitude surveys self-managed teams)Employee commitment and identification with aims of organization improved performance/disillusionment and apathyMutuality and co-operative workplace relationsTo achieve long-run viability for the organization and greater people added-valuePartnership agreements joint consultative committees works councilsSignificant employee influence in decision-making/management communication-service to employee contribution.Source Dundon et al. (2004) The meanings and purpose of employee voice, The International daybook of Human Resource Management, 15 (6) 1149-70. Reprinted by permission of thepublisher Taylor Francis Group.2.8 Organizational BackgroundHeritage Hotels, India2.8.1 IntroductionHeritage Hotel is a joint venture between ITC Ltd. and Jodhana Heritage, signifying some of the best tradition of heritage hospitality and tourism in India. It presents over 37 selected heritage destinations, ranging from grand palaces to traditional bungalows (havelis) and magnificent forts from adventure-filled jungle loges to tea garden homes and quiet nature resorts in different states of India, for instance Rajasthan, Jammu Kashmir, West Bengal, Karnataka, Punjab, Goa, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. A holiday with the Heritage Hotels is always special timeless bazaars, elephant and camel safaris, local anesthetic festivals, desert camps and a selection of various adventure and sport activities. Rich in history, these destinations are enriched by stories of he roic fighters and illustrious queens of royal courts and princes who enjoyed their pomp, pageantry, gracious, and clear living in these places. On the journey of the relentless passage of time, many legends have been relegated to the pages of history others extolled in verse and sung by traditional bards and syndicate singers. Even today some of the legends live in palaces, forts and royal retreats. Their private homes indicate the visitor with elegant Heritage Hospitality from the hotel and offer a fade of history with one major difference.2.8.2 The Secret of a Great EscapeHeritage Hotel offers the secrets of a great escape. At every Heritage Hotel, customers will get the chance to experience the rich heritage and culture. Such cultures include a fort resort at the rim of a desert, or a county manor in the lap of a green valley. A jungle lodge in a wildlife forest reserve, or a palace or bungalow, resonating with the past. A picture-postcard cottage ensconced in mystic mountai ns or a splendid mansion on the spur of a hill. A spa in a heritage home, a houseboat on a sparkling lake, a colonial hill residence with tea gardens for a view, a mist-wrapped palace in redolent plantations. Each hotel has a secret to share, a story to tell and so will you. Moreover, each Heritage hotel has the blueprint of a great holiday, all place out for tourists. Each hotel provides the opportunity to go where you get away to all that is not ordinary. All that is exclusive, while being affordable and unusual, without being over the top. Heritage Hotels over 40 hotels are sited expediently at stunningly scenic locations and are easy accessible from major cities, making it the perfect holiday option. In particular, customers usually find atmospheric and boutique experience when it comes to selecting a hotel but Heritage Hotels are far removed from standardized sameness. Hospitality comes from the heart provided with a slice of heritage within modern amenities.2.8.3 Heritage H otels MissionThe Heritage Mission is to assist and support the restoration of Heritage properties. They encourage owners of these properties to convert them into racy assets, and assist them, in providing technical expertise, sales, marketing, reservations and operational support, and services. Through other initiatives, they help in the preserving the environment while at the same time promoting their rich culture, cuisine and handicrafts.They endeavor toProviding a unique, enriching and affordable experience to customersGenerate local employment and well beingSet standards in Heritage Hotels Tourism while promoting Heritage tourismThey hope to succeed in their mission with customers whole-hearted support.Employee voice is an important issue in studying participative management. From the point of view of an organization, having a participative management program that incorporates several employee voice mechanisms would be in the companys best interest. By promoting employee voice within the workplace through a range of techniques, it will help an organization to fulfill the ethical and political need through revitalizing their bottom line by avoiding resignation rates and high exit. Employee voice takes various forms in terms of both individually and collectively, and verbally and non-verbally. Furthermore, the concept behind employee voice appears to be timeless, as many of the publications throughout the past forty years have agreed with each other (employee voice theoretical frameworks and organizational methods). Employee voice plays a huge role in participative management because in order for employees to work in an organization being able to communicate, presenting ideas, and building relationships is required and essential according to the author. This is how participative management links to employee voice.3.0 Methodology3.1 IntroductionThe way in which the research is carried out can be considered in terms of the philosophy of the research which it is pledged to, the strategy of the research employed and, moreover, the research instruments utilized (and perhaps developed) in the pursuit of a goal the research objectives with the search for the resolution of the aim which basically links to the research question. The research has been outlined for the research question and the research objectives in the introduction as well as in the literature review. The purpose of this chapter is toDiscuss the research philosophy and relate that to other philosophiesDevelop the research strategy, together with the research methodologies adoptedIntroduce the research instruments that has been developed and utilized in the search of the goals.3.2 Research PhilosophyA research philosophy is a conviction regarding the way in which the data about a phenomenon should be analyzed, used and gathered. The term epistemology what is known to be true as opposed to doxology includes different philosophies of the research approach. The rationale of science is the process of converting things known from doxology to epistemology. The two major research philosophies have been categorized in the Western tradition of science, explicitly positivist, which is sometimes called scientific and interpretivist which is known as an positivist (Galliers, 1991).3.3 PositivismPositivists believe that reality is stable and can be observed and described from an objective point of view (Levin, 1988), i.e. without interfering with the phenomena of being studied. It should be argued that the phenomena should be isolated and that the observations should be repeatable. This frequently engages with the manipulation of reality with differences in only a single independent unsettled so as to recognize regularities in, and to form relationships between, some of the constituent elements of the social world. Predictions could possibly be made on the compriseation of the previously explained and observed realities and their inter-relationships. Positivis m has a long and rich historical tradition. It is also embedded in our society that knowledge claims not grounded in positivist thought are entirely dismissed as scientific and therefore invalid (Hirschheim, 1985, p33). This view is indirectly supported by Alavi and Carlson (1992) who, in a review of the research articles, have found that all of the empirical studies were positivist in its approach. Positivism has been a particularly successful association within natural and physical sciences.There has, however, been a debate on the concern of whether or not the positivist paradigm is entirely suitable for the social sciences (Hirschheim, 1985). Many authors are calling for a more pluralistic attitude towards the research methodologies an example being Bjorn-Andersen, 1985 Kuhn, 1970 Remenyi and Williams, 1996.3.4 InterpretivistInterpretivists argue that only through the subjective interpretation of an intervention in reality can be fully understood. The study of phenomena in its natural environment is vital to the interpretivists philosophy, together with the acknowledgement that scientists cannot avoid affecting those phenomena that are being studied. There may be many interpretations of reality that can be admitted, but maintaining these interpretations are in themselves a part of the scientific knowledge they are pursuing. There is a tradition which has been followed by the interpretivisms, which is no less glorious than that of positivism and nor is it shorter.3.5 Methods of Research UsedFor this study, the descriptive research method was utilized. In this method, it is possible that the study would be cheap and quick. It could also suggest an unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, it would be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. Thus, this study used the descriptive approach. This descriptive type of research utilizes observations in the study. The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and conk out conclusions and recommendations for the stu