Introduction
Coca-Cola Great Britain is based in West London. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company, a multinational corporation of American origin (Ignatius 2011). It is involved in the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of non-alcoholic drinks in the markets within which it has operations (Senker & Foy 2012).
It mainly deals with concentrates and syrups used in the preparation of beverages. The company’s main brand is Coca-Cola. The product was invented in 1886 by John Stith, an American pharmacist (Ignatius 2011). Today, Coca-Cola Great Britain consists of a team of 110 persons.
They are charged with the responsibility of promoting the brands that are already in existence, as well as introducing new ones into the market (Senker & Foy 2012). The company has a total of seven manufacturing sites across the United Kingdom (UK). It is only involved in the production of syrup concentrates that are sold to bottlers who serve specific territories across the nation.
Coca Cola enterprises within the UK employ an estimated 4650 individuals. In the proposed research, the author will attempt to showcase the strategies that Coca Cola Great Britain has put in place to promote involvement and engagement of its employees. The company was chosen for this study as a result of its continued commitment to the promotion of both human and workplace rights (Senker & Foy 2012).
The company also operates in a dynamic and contemporary market. In the 1880s, the case was different. At the time, the organisation was a lone player in the industry. However, there has been an increase in the number of competitors today.
The emergence and increased popularity of low calorie beverages across the globe has prompted the company to innovate and acquire other smaller firms in the industry. Such firms include, among others, Minute Maid. For an organisation to become innovative, it should involve and engage its workforce (Rayer & Adam-Smith 2009).
Problem Statement
Employees play a major role in the success of an organisation. The reason behind this is that they are involved in the day-to-day running of the entity (Henderson 2011). They are also involved in decision making within the firm. As such, human resource management (HRM) practices should seek to improve the involvement and engagement of these individuals in the activities of the business.
Consequently, such employees will become committed to the organisation and its values (Balantyne 2004). However, most firms fail to put in place effective HRM strategies. As a result, their workforce is less willing to contribute to their success.
Research Questions
The study will focus on assessing the effects of involvement and engagement of employees with regards to the success of an organisation (Holm 2013). The topic is highly relevant to the firm selected for the study. The reason behind this is that Coca-Cola Great Britain operates in a dynamic market characterised by frequent innovations (Senker & Foy 2012).
As such, the company must also be in a position to innovate constantly to gain competitive advantage over its rivals. Employees are the people involved in the development of the new ideas needed to propel a firm to new heights. As such, they should be motivated enough to work towards the success of their organisation (Marchington & Wilkinson 2012).
Their involvement and engagement are some of the most effective means to achieve this. Based on this, the following research questions were identified for the proposed study:
- What are the effects of involvement and engagement of employees in the business activities of Coca Cola Great Britain?
- What are the factors affecting the involvement and engagement of the workforce at Coca Cola Great Britain?
- What is the future of the engagement and involvement of employees in contemporary organisations?
Literature Review
Involvement of employees is an initiative taken by an organisation’s management. The undertaking is aimed at increasing workers’ access to information (Daniels, Davis & Shipton 2008). The process is meant to enhance their commitment to the firm and its values and objectives.
On the other hand, engagement of the workforce is viewed as commitment to an organisation, as well as to the values it stands for. In this case, individual employees are also willing to help their colleagues to improve their performance (Daniels 2006). Engagement is also commonly referred to as organisational citizenship. It can only be offered willingly and cannot be forced.
Consequently, it is not one of the terms of the employment contract (Kiessling & Harvey 2006). Employees have the ability and the desire to promote the success of their organisation. Their wish and commitment can be identified through discretionary efforts in the form of acts, such as working extra hours (Amabile & Kramer 2011).
Engagement is also considered as the act of willing to put in intellectual effort to ensure the success of an entity. Individuals perform their roles within the firm with a positive attitude (Armstrong & Taylor 2014). They also maintain meaningful relations with others to meet the set objectives. Furthermore, they feel lucky to be involved in an organisation’s activities. They take their participation as an opportunity to enhance their skills.
Employee involvement and engagement is mainly achieved by allowing the workforce to speak out on matters affecting the organisation. As such, they feel that their contribution to the firm is valued (Bratton & Good 2012). They also believe that the employer is transparent.
As a result, they gain trust in the management and its activities (Boxall & Purcell 2012). The engagement is also achieved by involving the workers in decision making. Effective HRM practices, as a result, require the ideas emanating from workers to be acknowledged and appreciated by the management (Cummings & Worley 2014). Employees should also be in a position to communicate openly with the organisation’s leadership. The reason behind this is to ensure that they do not feel sidelined (Cummings & Worley 2014).
Conclusion
The proposed study revolves around employee involvement and engagement at Coca-Cola Great Britain. The two are important elements to the prosperity of the company. The reason is that workers are involved in the day-to-day running of the organisation. Their participation provides them with information concerning the firm and its objectives. As such, they are able to make better decisions that promote success.
On the other hand, engagement involves the development of organisational citizenship. As such, persons are emotionally attached to their firm and they strive to ensure its continued success. In such a case, a business operating in a dynamic market can gain a competitive advantage through continued innovation among its workforce. As such, the HRM practices adopted by Coca-Cola Great Britain should be aimed at promoting the involvement and engagement of the employees.
References
Amabile, T & Kramer, S 2011, ‘The power of small wins’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 89, no. 5, pp. 71-80.
Armstrong, M & Taylor, S 2014, Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice, 13th edn, Kogan Page, London, UK.
Balantyne, D 2004, ‘Dialogue and its role in the development of relationship specific knowledge’, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 114-123.
Boxall, P & Purcell, J 2012, Strategy and human resource management, 4th edn, Palgrave MacMillan, Hampshire.
Bratton, J & Good, J 2012, Human resource management, 5th edn, Palgrave MacMillan, Hampshire.
Cummings, T & Worley, C 2014, Organisation development and change, Cengage Learning, New York.
Daniels, K 2006, Employee relations in an organisational context, CIPD, London, UK.
Daniels, K, Davis, A & Shipton, H 2008, Strategic HRM: building research based practice, CIPD, London, UK.
Henderson, I 2011, Human resource management for MBA students, Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, London, UK.
Holm, A 2013, Philosophy of science: an introduction for future knowledge workers, Samfundslitteratur, Frederiksberg.
Ignatius, A 2011, ‘Shaking things up at Coca-Cola’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 89, no. 10, pp. 94-99.
Kiessling, T & Harvey, M 2006, ‘The human resource management issues during an acquisition: the target firm’s top management team and key managers’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 17, no. 7, pp. 1307-1320.
Marchington, M & Wilkinson, A 2012, Human resource management at work, 5th edn, Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, London, UK.
Rayer, C & Adam-Smith, D 2009, Managing & leading people, McGraw Hill, CIPD, London, UK.
Senker, C & Foy, D 2012, Coca Cola: the story behind the iconic business, Wayland, London, UK.