Employee voice refers to the participation of employees in influencing corporate decision making. Employees are given a voice through informal and formal means to minimise conflict, improve communication and encourage staff retention

Employee retention

Employee retention refers to the ability of an organization to retain its employees. Employee retention can be represented by a simple statistic...

 through motivation and fair treatment (Stone, 2005). Employee participation is a form of empowerment and motivation that leads to increased productivity and retention

Informal and formal mechanisms

Employee voice is attained through both informal and formal mechanisms. Informal employee voice mechanisms include general conversation between employees and employers, email communication, employee feedback, social functions and meetings at the workplace. Employees can also influence corporate decision making through their actions, such as turnover and absenteeism

Formal mechanisms include communication tools implemented by an organisations human resource department, such as employee surveys and suggestion box

Suggestion box

A suggestion box is a device for obtaining additional comments, questions, and requests. In its most basic and traditional form, it is a receptacle with an opening, not unlike an offering box or voting box. The box is used for collecting slips of paper with input from customers and patrons of a...

es. Some organisations promote employee voice through financial participation, such as share ownership and profit-sharing

Profit sharing

Profit sharing, when used as a special term, refers to various incentive plans introduced by businesses that provide direct or indirect payments to employees that depend on company's profitability in addition to employees' regular salary and bonuses...

 opportunities. Employee consultative committees and representation through trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

s are also formal ways of ensuring employees are informed and are given a voice in decisions that affect their employment

European Works Councils

In an international context, the role of employee voice varies immensely. The European model is fundamentally based on employee communication and consultation between employees and corporate management

Management

Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...

. European Works Councils

Works council

A works council is a "shop-floor" organization representing workers, which functions as local/firm-level complement to national labour negotiations...

were introduced through the European Directive 1994 to accommodate these goals and provided employees with an opportunity to gain access to senior levels of their employers. The European model has required amendments to improve its effectiveness in managing employee voice and legal compliance