ACADEMICWRITER

Most of the time, the success of any part of business depends on how motivated employees are. The importance of motivation is reflected in productivity, profitability, recruitment, and retention—happy and satisfied employees are mostly hardworking, which makes an organization have a cutting edge over its competitors. Employee voice can be of different types and levels—the voice can be formal or informal, for instance, through official committees or individual manager policies, respectively. Managers can motivate employees through involving them, and such participation can be direct or indirect. Directly, employees can participate through job discretion, control, or in teams and indirectly, through committees of managers and employees (i.e. joint consultative committees) at the workplace. The articles reviewed in this paper show that employees who perceive that managers appreciate them feel influential and are often determine to influence the success of their organization, which in turn can lift their well-being and productivity. In addition, this paper present other peer reviewed articles opposed to this argument.

Managers’ Encouragement of Employee Voice CAN Lift Well-Being and Productivity

Employees are invaluable assets to a company. Therefore, their motivation and wellbeing are important to the success of the company. In his article, Roark (2013) argues that when managers do not motivate their employees, the employees do not spend much time doing their jobs and they abscond duty whenever they have a chance, which in turn reduces the company’s productivity. On the other hand, according to Catteeuw, Flynn, and Vonderhorst (2007), encouraging employee voice increases employee motivation, which in turn makes the workforce persistent, productive, and creative. The researchers establish that employee engagement increases productivity, especially during turbulent times in business. In his study, Nielsen (2010) relates productivity and profitability with employee engagement, health, and wellness and argues that top management can take advantage of employee voice if they are able to involve workers across different culture. However, as the following section shows, other scholars disagree with Catteeuw, Flynn, and Vonderhorst (2007), Nielsen (2010), and Roark’s (2013) views and findings.

Managers’ Encouragement of Employee Voice CANNOT Lift Well-Being and Productivity

Other researchers have come up with lists of the factors that lift wellbeing and productivity and in the process, implying that encouragement of employee voice does not necessarily matter. For instance, Bassi and Mcmurrer (2005) dispute that given the employee engagement drivers are not equal to the business results drivers, efforts to maximize encouragement of employee voice through employee engagement can, in practice, take a company in the wrong direction. Besides, lifting wellbeing and productivity involves employers’ loyalty to and concern for employee happiness, precision of job expectations, quality of working associations with colleagues and managers, regular discourse with managers, rewarding and recognizing employees, and career progression opportunities. Therefore, Kaufman (2014) argues that although employee voice can lift well-being and productivity, it must be accompanied with the factors just listed.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, the articles reviewed in this paper agree on the view that managers’ encouragement of employee voice can lift well-being and productivity, but some dissent that the factor cannot be effective exclusively. Such researchers as Kaufman (2014) represent the school of thought supporting a holistic approach to lifting well-being and productivity. In other words, although managers’ encouragement of employee voice can lift well-being and productivity, managers must not forget about other important drivers.

References

Bassi, L., & Mcmurrer, D. (2005). Developing Measurement Systems for Managing in the Knowledge Era. Organizational Dynamics, 34(2), 185-196.

Catteeuw, F., Flynn, E., & Vonderhorst, J. (2007). Employee Engagement: Boosting Productivity in Turbulent Times. Organization Development Journal, 25(2), 151-157.

Kaufman, B. (2014). Explaining Breadth and Depth of Employee Voice across Firms: A Voice Factor Demand Model. Journal of Labor Research, 35(3), 10.1007/s12122-014-9185-5.

Nielsen, R. (2010). Leadership, engagement and productivity. Employee Benefit Adviser , 8(3), 56-59.

Roark, P. (2013). Employee Engagement. Leadership Excellence, 30(9), 25-26.