Human Resource Management

Participative Management
Participative (or participatory) management, otherwise known as employee involvement or participative
decision making, encourages the involvement of stakeholders at all levels of an organization in the
analysis of problems, development of strategies, and implementation of solutions. Employees are invited
to share in the decision-making process of the firm by participating in activities such as setting goals,
determining work schedules, and making suggestions. Other forms of participative management include
increasing the responsibility of employees (job enrichment); forming self-managed teams, quality
circles, or quality-of-work-life committees; and soliciting survey feedback. Participative management,
however, involves more than allowing employees to take part in making decisions. It also involves
management treating the ideas and suggestions of employees with consideration and respect. The most
extensive form of participative management is direct employee ownership of a company.

Definition:
According to Keith Davis, participation refers to mental and emotional involvement of a person in a
group situation which encourages him to contribute to group goals and share the responsibility of
achieving them
In the words of Mehtras, the concept of participation as a principle of democratic administration in a
industry implies a share by rank and file in the discussion making process of an industrial organisation
through their representatives at all the appropriate levels of management in the entire range of
managerial action.

Objectives / Importance Of Participative Management

The importance of participative management is universally accepted and efforts
are being made for introducing such participation through suitable agencies and
methods.
1.

Participative management has wider socio-economic importance as it

gives various advantages to workers, employers and the society at large. Such
participation gives higher status to workers and enables them to think and
express their views on the working of their company.

2. Industrial peace and cordial industrial relations are also established through
participative management. In addition, workers participation brings industrial
democracy in reality.
3. Participative management is important as it satisfies the psychological need
of self-_expression of workers. Even the process of decision-making is made
democratic through workers participation.
4. It brings human
management.

element

or

humanitarian

approach

in

industrial

5. Participative management introduces a new set of values for the workers and
employers in which power is to be replaced by persuasion and compulsion by
co-operation.
-----Srikanth Iyer

Human Resource Management

6. Employees participation is also useful for raising industrial production and
productivity. It helps consumers in an indirect manner.
7. The national economy also gets certain benefits when industrial peace and
harmony exist over a long period. In brief, the concept of participative
management is important because of economic, social and human values
connected with it.
METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT:
Participative management is possible by creating suitable agencies,
forum or platform through which effective communication between
workers and management will be possible and joint decision will be
arrived at.
The following methods/techniques are normally used in India for the
introduction of participative management:
The methods of participative management noted above are the different
alternatives and employers and workers can select anyone method which is
suitable and convenient. They have to make the selected method popular and also
purposeful. This is natural as the method selected/used is not important but the
result-oriented participations are important. The method used is a means while
effective participation is end.

-----Srikanth Iyer