Employee Engagement and Employee Voice (Contemporary HRM Research) Essay

Employee Engagement and Employee Voice (Contemporary HRM Research) - Essay Example The role of employee voice in employee issues therefore very important in the operation of human resource management units since it has a significant influence on employee performance, employee views and also regulates the relationship between employers and employees. This paper examines the concept of 'employee voice'. It attempts to identify what that concept actually is and how it has evolved over the past 60 years The research then goes on to examine the position of employee voice after the Second World War and how it has evolved to this day. It will examine key concepts and ideas that define the phenomenon. Also, the research discusses the role of employee engagement in organisations. This is done from two perspectives. The first is the position of employers and the facades within which they deal with employee demands. The second is how the organization and the human resource department specifically, deals with employee voice. Finally, the paper will focus on the role of employe e relationships and how it affects the strategic position of organisations. It will be done by examining the business case of employee relations and how it is integrated into the communication plan of organisations. Employee Voice â€Å"For working purpose, we define voice as the expression of ideas, information, opinions and concerns as well as silence, such as withholding† (Greenberg & Edwards, 2009 p4). This means that voice refers to communication in the wider sense. There is no clearcut definition of employee voice. However, using this preamble, we can say that voice refers to the kind of feedback or message that employees give or seek to give to their employers in the workplace. From another perspective, this also means that where employees refuse to communicate or make any demands, it can also be viewed as some kind of a voice. This implies that communication from employees is essential for the success of organisations around the world. Employee voice therefore takes a different connotation all together. Its scope is wider than just making demands and asking management or the owners of a business to come up with certain actions or activities. â€Å"Employee voice is the term increasingly used to cover a whole variety of processes and structures which enables and sometimes empowers employees directly or indirectly to contribute to decision-making in the firm† (Armstrong, 2008 p200). This shows that employee voice is a kind of involvement of employees in the