The dynamics of employee involvement and participation during turbulent times

Given that the global financial crisis (GFC) has impacted on patterns of human resource management, it is likely that this has also shaped employee involvement and participation (EIP). Unfortunately, very little independent and reliable data are available following the GFC; so, despite using material from company reports and a small survey conducted in the North West of the England, this paper also draws on literature and data from earlier periods of crisis and turbulence to examine how EIP can change at organisational level. The argument is developed around three quite different scenarios: theories of cycles and waves; contrasting business models and product market situations; HR architecture and sub-contracting. This shows that responses are generally uneven but a lot depends on the history of management-employee relations at the organisational level, as well as the context in which the organisation operates and the choices that senior managers make about how to respond to crisis and turbulent times. The paper concludes by suggesting that the regulatory space available in liberal market economies (LMEs) allows employers to choose from a range of options, whereas in co-ordinated market economies, where EIP is more deeply embedded into the institutional structure of the country, employers are more likely to continue involving their staff in some way to deal with crisis. In LMEs, employers aiming to differentiate themselves from the competition are more likely to seek creative responses that are based around higher levels of employee engagement.