Inside the meetings: The role of managerial attitudes in approaches to information and consultation for employees

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Author(s)
Kougiannou, Nadia K
Wilkinson, Adrian
Dundon, Tony
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2021
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Managerial attitudes are often seen as critical to sustainable employee participation practices, yet very little is known about how managers act within employee voice fora. We examine managements’ decision to actively consult with employees, and by doing so contribute to industrial relations debates concerning the role of managerial prerogative and trust to better understand the attitudes of managers towards elected employee representatives. Using evidence from a 2-year longitudinal study of non-union employee representation, we report on how managements’ perception of risk about sharing information with employee representatives ...
View more >Managerial attitudes are often seen as critical to sustainable employee participation practices, yet very little is known about how managers act within employee voice fora. We examine managements’ decision to actively consult with employees, and by doing so contribute to industrial relations debates concerning the role of managerial prerogative and trust to better understand the attitudes of managers towards elected employee representatives. Using evidence from a 2-year longitudinal study of non-union employee representation, we report on how managements’ perception of risk about sharing information with employee representatives influences their decision as to how to consult with employees. The findings show that managers can be unwilling to share information with employee representatives, which constrains the depth and scope of consultation. The role of management decision-makers, typically the I&C fora Chairperson, is highlighted as champion for, or obstacle to, consultation. Lastly, the data illustrate that I&C is viewed by management as a lower strategic organizational priority, and how extending worker voice is constrained by the importance management place on maintaining their presumed prerogative of control. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
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View more >Managerial attitudes are often seen as critical to sustainable employee participation practices, yet very little is known about how managers act within employee voice fora. We examine managements’ decision to actively consult with employees, and by doing so contribute to industrial relations debates concerning the role of managerial prerogative and trust to better understand the attitudes of managers towards elected employee representatives. Using evidence from a 2-year longitudinal study of non-union employee representation, we report on how managements’ perception of risk about sharing information with employee representatives influences their decision as to how to consult with employees. The findings show that managers can be unwilling to share information with employee representatives, which constrains the depth and scope of consultation. The role of management decision-makers, typically the I&C fora Chairperson, is highlighted as champion for, or obstacle to, consultation. Lastly, the data illustrate that I&C is viewed by management as a lower strategic organizational priority, and how extending worker voice is constrained by the importance management place on maintaining their presumed prerogative of control. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
View less >
Journal Title
British Journal of Industrial Relations
Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Authors. British Journal of Industrial Relations published by JohnWiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Note
This publication has been entered as an advanced online version in Griffith Research Online.
Subject
Human resources and industrial relations
Social Sciences
Industrial Relations & Labor
Business & Economics
INDUSTRIAL-RELATIONS
ABDUCTIVE APPROACH