Methods and techniques of participation Organisations use a variety of programs aided at increasing employee participati on.

All the different programs have one major objective and that is to increase employee participation. Participative management is basically a process where su bordinates share a significant degree of decision making with their immediate su periors. The different types of participative programs are: 1.Works committees: The Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 provides for establishin g works committees in every establishment employing hundred or more workers. Thi s legislation thus makes it compulsory for the organisation to ensure employee p articipation. The work committees consist of equal number of members of workers and employer. The main function of the work committees is to promote measures fo r securing and preserving amity and good relations between the employers and the workers. Their task is to smooth away any friction that may occur between the m anagement and the workers. Unions consider these committees as a threat to their existence as employers pre fer to talk to these committees rather than the union. There is lack of interest among workers in works committees as they concentrate only on minor issues and not major issues 2.Co-partnership: in this method employees are paid the share of profit in the f orm of shares and not cash. Thus workers become shareholders in the company in w hich they are employed. Being shareholders of the company in which they are enti tled to participate in management. They also receive dividend on their shares. T he problem with this method is that employees are not interested in co-partnersh ip and want their share of profit in cash and refuse to accept shares of the com pany. 3.Employee Directors: under this method one or two representatives of the worker are nominated on the board of directors of the company. They enjoy the same pri vileges and have the same authority as other directors have. The problem of this method of participation is that many worker directors are ignorant about their role on the board and get in to conflict with other board members. 4.Joint Management Councils: under this system joint management councils are con stituted. These councils consist of equal number of representatives of employer and workers. The councils discuss various matters concerning the working of the company. The decision of these councils is advisory in nature. The council gener ally discusses matters relating to working conditions, prevention of accidents, indiscipline, and training. 5.Suggestion schemes: as the name itself indicates suggestion programs are forma l plans to invite individual employees to make suggestion for work improvements. The suggestions are then sorted out as per their applicability and cost-benefit ratio. Employees whose suggestions result in cost saving for the organisation a re given monetary rewards that are proportionate to the company's savings. The limitation of this method is that there is a possibility that employees may be feel dejected if there is a delay in the processing of suggestions or if cert ain ideas that appear good are rejected. Some Examples of Participative Management & Its Uses Participative management allows employees to take responsibility, accountability and authority over work done for a company. This leadership strategy typically empowers qualified employees and allows executives to focus on strategic plannin g while subordinates manage daily operations. Effective leaders establish a clea r mission, vision and set of objectives before deferring management to employees . Management communicates the organizational goals, describes what is expected i n terms of results and then encourages employees to think creatively to solve pr oblems and figure out how to improve performance. By establishing performance me asurement criteria for learning, leaders can use participative management strate gies to their advantage. Promoting Learning and Career Development

Using participative management strategies, effective leaders encourage their emp loyees to identify performance gaps and set their own career path using company resources, including formal education, workshops and self-paced courses. Employe es use assessment tools to identify their strengths and weaknesses in achieving company goals. Then, they create a development plan and review it with their man agers. This enables the employee to create a customized action for improving her skills over the coming year. By empowering the employee to assess her own compe tency and establish a plan, the leader guides the employee and provides a suppor tive atmosphere in which to develop the skills necessary to achieve the company' s strategic goals. Increasing Employee Satisfaction When companies find out through employee satisfaction surveys that subordinates feel disgruntled and disillusioned, effective leaders use participative manageme nt techniques to get the organization back on track. By running focus groups and personal interviews, effective leaders get input from their subordinates about the true state of the organization. Using this valuable feedback, these leaders realign their strategic objectives. Improving Processes Effective leaders reward employees for innovative ideas. Using quality managemen t techniques such as Lean Six Sigma, managers identify opportunities to improve company processes that reduce product errors, eliminate waste and increase custo mer satisfaction. By involving employees closest to the problems, such as custom er service representatives, effective leaders gather data to determine the root cause and fix problems. Valuing Diversity In global organizations, effective leaders ensure that teams work well together. By running workshops and team-building exercises, these leaders encourage their subordinates to learn about their co-workers, business partners and suppliers. By recognizing that succeeding in a dynamic marketplace requires expertise in de aling with different cultures, customs and traditions, effective leaders foster a collaborative work environment. CASE 6 A trade union (British English), labour union (Canadian English) or labor union (American English) is an organization of workers who have banded together to ach ieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, achieving highe r pay, increasing the number employees an employer hires, and better working con ditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members (rank and file members) and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining) with employers. The most common, but by no means only, p urpose of these organisations is "maintaining or improving the conditions of the ir employment".[1] This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rul es governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. The agreements negotiated by the union leaders are binding on the rank and file members and the employer and in some cases on other non-member wo rkers. Originating in Europe, trade unions became popular in many countries during the Industrial Revolution, when the lack of skill necessary to perform most jobs shi fted employment bargaining power almost completely to the employers' side, causi ng many workers to be mistreated and underpaid. Trade union organisations may be composed of individual workers, professionals, past workers, students, apprenti ces and/or the unemployed. Over the last three hundred years, trade unions have developed into a number of forms. Aside from collective bargaining, activities vary, but may include: Provision of benefits to members: Early trade unions, like Friendly Societies, o ften provided a range of benefits toinsure members against unemployment, ill hea lth, old age and funeral expenses. In many developed countries, these functions have been assumed by the state; however, the provision of professional training, legal advice and representation for members is still an important benefit of tr ade union membership.

 Industrial action: Trade unions may enforce strikes or resistance to lockouts in furtherance of particular goals. Political activity: Trade unions may promote legislation favourable to the inter ests of their members or workers as a whole. To this end they may pursue campaig ns, undertake lobbying, or financially support individual candidates or parties (such as the Labour Party in Britain) for public office. In some countries (e.g. , the Nordic countriesand the Philippines), trade unions may be invited to parti cipate in government hearings about educational or other labour market reforms. It is to be noted that unions do not get involved in the work management. 3) if I was the union leader, the safety aspects of the employees would be taken into consideration. The training, safety and skill development needs to be look ed into instead of performing any rituals with are mostly religious based. Also to work on clarity in defining benefits. Ill focus on ESI and non ESI bene fits and get these appropriately addressed. I would fight for providing employment opportunities for at least one member in the family. I will fight for compensation equal to or better than the amount an insurance wo uld provide since it is the mistake on part of the management.