Executive Summary
Employees play a major role in the success of a company. They are charged with the responsibility of implementing organisational policies. They also represent the firm’s values and interests. Many businesses, however, fail to acknowledge the role of these stakeholders in their success.
As a result, they fail to exploit their full potential. Employee involvement and engagement is set to change this. Involvement is a process spearheaded by the management with the aim of increasing access to information among workers. It helps to promote trust within an organisation. It also supports informed decision making processes.
Employee engagement, on the other hand, is a situation where workers are committed to a firm and its values. They become citizens of the organisation that they work for. Employee involvement and engagement are crucial to the success of Coca-Cola Great Britain. As a result, the company has maintained a motivated workforce. Better results can be achieved through the adoption of human resource management practices aimed at increasing flexibility and job design.
Introduction
Coca-Cola Great Britain is based in the UK (Ignatius 2011). Its headquarters are located in West London. It is a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company. The parent firm wholly owns the organisation. It was established with the aim of serving the UK market more efficiently.
Like its parent company, it is involved in the manufacture of non-alcoholic beverages (Senker & Foy 2012). It also oversees other activities, which include distribution, marketing, and retailing. Coca-Cola Great Britain engages in the preparation of syrup concentrates, which are later sold to bottling plants across the country.
The bottlers control specific territories within the region. Coca-Cola remains the company’s main brand (Ignatius 2011). Its formula was developed by John Stith in 1886. The formula is a closely guarded secret in the company. It is considered as intellectual property. Subsidiaries, such as Coca-Cola Great Britain, are also required to safeguard the secret on behalf of the parent company.
To ensure this, employee loyalty is required. The company has achieved this by promoting employee involvement and engagement. Coca-Cola Great Britain consists of a team of 110 individuals (Senker & Foy 2012). They are involved in the running of seven manufacturing plants spread across the country.
Their main responsibility is to ensure that the existing brands are manufactured in adequate quantities to satisfy the demand in the UK market (Senker & Foy 2012). At the same time, they promote the brands in an attempt to increase its consumption rates. The organisation also seeks to develop new brands. The only way to achieve this is through innovation. A motivated workforce is, therefore, required.
Innovation is aimed at increasing efficiency at the point of manufacture, retailing, distribution, and marketing. With over 4650 individuals currently employed in enterprises operated by Coca-Cola Great Britain, there is need to develop effective human resource management (HRM) practices to increase the productivity of the workforce.
Problem Statement
Employees are important in ensuring the success of their organisations. However, their role is often overlooked. As a result, the management is not keen to develop HRM strategies aimed at addressing issues affecting them. For this reason, their productivity within a firm tends to go down.
They lack motivation to work towards the success of their firms. Employees are also mainly excluded when it comes to decision making (Henderson 2011). Managers tend to make decisions affecting the entire organisation without consultations. The result is that employees lack trust in the firm’s leadership. They are also less motivated to work beyond the terms of their employment contract.
They also lose faith in the values upheld by the business (Balantyne 2004). The only way to avoid this shortcoming is by involving employees more in the day-to-day running of the firm. The management often achieves this by giving the workforce access to more information concerning their organisation.
The practice promotes employee engagement. Workers get committed to their firm and its values. At the same time, they develop the will to assist their colleagues. However, many firms are not aware of the importance of putting in place effective HRM practices.
As a result, the performance of their employees tends to be dismal. Organisations also fail to acknowledge the importance of flexibility and job design in promoting success. As a result, the work requirements of their employees are not satisfied. Consequently, their performance is negatively affected.
Research Questions
The study focused on the assessment of the impacts of HRM practices on employee involvement and engagement in relation to the performance of Coca-Cola Great Britain. The study also sought to examine the role played by flexibility and job design. The importance of these elements to the company was also assessed. Consequently, the study sought to respond to the following research question:
- 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?
Human Resource Management
Employee involvement is an initiative taken by the management to increase workers’ access to information (Daniels, Davis & Shipton 2008). The move is aimed at enhancing their commitment to the firm, its values, and objectives (Holm 2013). It is a form of top down communication within an organisation.
Information emanates from the top leadership positions. A number of forums are used to promote employee involvement. For example, managers can hold meetings and briefings where workers are informed of the progress made within their organisation (Balantyne 2004).
Newsletters and memos can also be used to pass information. However, there have been concerns that these methods of communication do not give employees a chance to offer prompt feedback. As a result, they feel neglected in the decision making process. Face-to-face communication is recommended to avoid this.
In the past, management had a tendency to rely on third parties to pass information to employees (Kiessling & Harvey 2006). Such parties included representatives and workers unions. Little information was given to the workers. It was passed only on a ‘need-to-know’ basis.
Direct communication, on the other hand, means that no third party is involved in the link between the management and the employees. It is considered to be the most effective strategy. Modern HRM professionals believe when workers know about their business, they become willing and committed to complete their tasks (Marchington & Wilkinson 2012). As such, the practice increases productivity.
However, there are concerns that increased involvement of employees may translate to more work and stress. For example, they are required to be more involved in decision making (Albrecht 2010). As such, their responsibilities within the firm are increased. An increase in roles induces stress and, eventually, translates to poor performance.
There are different forms of employee involvement. They range from task participation to financial involvement, downward communication, and upward problem solving (Cox, Zagelmeyer & Marchington 2006). Task participation mainly involves job redesigning and enrichment. Redesigning entails restructuring of tasks, roles, and responsibilities associated with a particular job.
As a HRM practice, it is aimed at inspiring and motivating employees (Daniels, Davis & Shipton 2008). Job enrichment, on the other hand, involves assigning additional responsibilities to workers. It is aimed at motivating persons who are self-driven. It is mostly evident among employees at higher levels within the organisation.
Task participation can also be in the form of teamwork. It offers employees a chance to exchange ideas with others. As a result, they gain a better understanding of their organisation and the issues affecting it. The management can increase employee commitment through financial involvement (Bratton & Good 2012). It involves providing financial incentives to workers in order to motivate them.
Profit sharing is one of the most commonly used incentives. Management can directly or indirectly make payments based on the profitability of the firm. The payment is in addition to the regular salaries and bonuses. The companies that are publicly traded often resort to allocation of shares to their workforce. The arrangement is referred to as a share ownership scheme (Boxall & Purcell 2012).
Through financial involvement, employees are made aware of their organisation’s performance. They also get the opportunity to share the profits made by the firm. As a result, they are more willing to contribute to the success of the business. Downward communication emanates from people in top management positions (Gruman & Saks 2011).
A good example is an address from the chief executive officer to junior officers. Most of these communications are aimed at giving employees updates on future plans by the management. As such, they can adequately prepare for any changes that may occur at their place of work. It may also involve passing information on matters affecting production and the delivery of services either directly or indirectly. As such, employees have a clear picture of what is expected of them within their organisation. Their ability to make decisions is also increased.
Upward communication is another form of employee involvement. It is aimed at solving problems that arise within a firm (Noe & Noe 2012). The management encourages employees to come up with ideas that would help solve these challenges. The leaders also seek to encourage innovation. The reason for this is to ensure that the organisation gains competitive advantage over its rivals through product differentiation (Noe & Noe 2012).
The management may also organise attitude surveys to establish how much their employees are committed to the objectives of the firm. Staff surveys may also enable the management to learn the areas of HRM that need to be changed. Through problem solving groups, employees are able to provide suggestions that improve the day-to-day running of the organisation.
Employee engagement
Employee engagement is viewed as commitment to an organisation and its values. The workforce also exhibits willingness to help their colleagues improve their performance (Daniels 2006). It is also commonly referred to as organisational citizenship. It can only be offered to a firm willingly.
As such, it cannot be demanded from an individual as one of the terms of the employment contract (Kiessling & Harvey 2006). In this case, employees have the ability and the desire to ensure the success of their firm. Their desire and commitment is exhibited through discretionary efforts in the form of such acts as working extra time (Amabile & Kramer 2011).
Employee engagement also entails willingness to put in intellectual effort to ensure that an organisation performs well. Individuals also carry out their tasks with a positive attitude (Armstrong & Taylor 2014). They also relate well with others to meet organisational goals and objectives. They also feel lucky to be involved in the activities of the organisation. They tend to take it as an opportunity to enhance their skills.
Businesses can achieve employee involvement and engagement by allowing their workers to speak out on matters affecting the business. They feel that their contribution to the firm is valued (Bratton & Good 2012). They also get the impression that the employer is transparent with them.
As a result, they gain trust in the management and its activities. Employee engagement in many firms is achieved through the involvement of the workforce in decision making. Effective HRM practices require ideas emanating from workers to be taken into consideration. Their contribution should be acknowledged and appreciated by the management (Cummings & Worley 2014).
Employees should also be able to communicate openly with the organisation’s leadership without fear of retribution. As a result, they do not feel sidelined when it comes to decision making and formulation of policies (Cummings & Worley 2014). Research shows that employee involvement and engagement at Coca-Cola Great Britain has been as a result of eased relations between the workforce and the management (Torrington et al. 2011).
Individuals working for the organisation are encouraged to generate new ideas. The management is also keen to acknowledge the contribution of the employees. It often rewards their commitment, especially through better pay (Little & Little 2006). As a result, a culture of innovation has been developed. The ‘Share a Coke’ campaign aimed at promoting the Coca-Cola brand was associated with a lot of success.
The success can be attributed to the commitment of employees to the success of their organisation. The commitment is expressed by constantly generating new ideas (Rees & French 2010). There are a number of positive outcomes associated with the HRM practices. To begin with, cases of absenteeism have drastically decreased.
The productivity of the employees has also gone up owing to the increased efforts. Error rates have also declined following the development of organisational citizenship (Luthans & Peterson 2002). Workers have grown more emotionally attached to their firm.
Role of Flexibility and Job Design
Litheness is an important quality within any organisation. It is the ability of a firm to adapt to the composition, responsiveness, size, and cost of the human capital required to achieve its goals and objectives (Felstead, Jewson & Walters 2003). It is an important HRM goal for any business.
Employers and employees view flexibility from different perspectives. In the case of the employer, employee flexibility is all about efficiency (Felstead, Jewson & Walters 2003). They feel that the workforce should be able to change its schedule with relative ease to deal with emergencies (Rayer & Adam-Smith 2009). As such, the organisation is able to deal with emerging issues without outsourcing for human capital.
On the other hand, employees view flexibility as the ability to juggle between work and home with ease. The needs of employers and employees in relation to flexibility at the workplace should be balanced to ensure optimum productivity (Lockwood 2007). At Coca-Cola Great Britain, employee flexibility is viewed as one of the organisational goals. The company respects the rights of the workers (Ignatius 2011).
For example, employees are allowed time-off during working hours for ante-natal care. Maternity leaves are also granted. During the time, workers are entitled to pay for a period of 39 weeks as per UK laws. Maternity leaves can extend to one year. Workers at Coca-Cola Great Britain are also given leave to attend to paternal, parental, and adoption issues.
Dependants are also allowed time-off to attend to their households (Ignatius 2011). Their responsibilities may range from children to parents and spouses. As a result, the organisation’s workforce enjoys a better work-life balance. Employees are able to attend to their responsibilities both at work and at home with relative ease.
Besides these instances, it is important for the company to allow persons who have offered more than 26 weeks of continuous service to request for leaves with justified reasons. The move is a legal requirement for all firms operating in the UK.
Flexibility at the organisation has helped reduce cases of absenteeism (Felstead et al. 2002). Unpaid leaves are the most effective strategies in ensuring this. Employees are discouraged from missing work unless when it is absolutely necessary. Their morale to work is also boosted.
The reason behind this is that they feel the company strives to benefit them. In the process, organisational citizenship is achieved. Job satisfaction among employees is also enhanced. As a result, the rate of employee turnover at Coca-Cola Great Britain is generally low. When employees are allowed time-off when need arises, they get to relax and are not fatigued. Upon their return, they become more efficient in their activities and are associated with high levels of productivity.
Job design
It is an important aspect of HRM practices. It involves putting together a range of tasks and responsibilities to be undertaken by a particular individual within an organisation (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development [CIPD] 2008a). In other terms, it entails specifying the contents of various jobs. The reason for this is to ensure job satisfaction among employees.
The potential of workers is also fully utilised (Luthans & Peterson 2002). Through job redesigning, organisations can completely engage their workers. More responsibilities mean increased involvement. The reason behind this is that one will be more involved in decision making in the areas of operations entrusted to them. They tend to develop a sense of responsibility by supporting the day-to-day running of their organisations (Mohr & Zoghi 2006).
Their effects on the firm are also felt and valued. In the process, they become more engaged and develop organisational citizenship. Coca-Cola Great Britain is known to use job design to motivate its employees. The company mainly achieves this through task enlargement (CIPD 2008a).
The process involves lengthening the work cycle by extending the range of activities and responsibilities within the same level. It involves a combination of many activities (Den 2011). Consequently, one is expected to perform different tasks. Boredom at the place of work is eliminated. Employees are more enthusiastic about their work.
Job enrichment can also be used to motivate employees (Pilbeam & Corbridge 2010). It is mainly achieved by assigning additional responsibilities to workers. Additional roles often come with a raise in pay (Edwards 2003). As such, employees feel that they are valued in the organisation.
Such individuals are motivated to work hard to ensure that their effect is felt throughout the company. Job enrichment is, however, often a reserve of employees occupying higher levels in the organisation (CIPD 2008b). The reason behind this is that they have better knowledge of the company’s operations. Improved results can be achieved at Coca-Cola Great Britain by combining job design with rewards.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that employee involvement and engagement enhance the success of a company. The two ensure that workers are involved in the day-to-day running of their organisation. Employee involvement means that they are provided with information concerning the business and its objectives. As such, they are empowered to make better decisions.
In the process, they are able to promote success. Employee engagement, on its part, involves the development of organisational citizenship. It involves the initiation of emotional attachment to the firm. As such, individuals strive to ensure the continued success of their firm. Improved HRM practices can be developed by promoting job design and flexibility.
The two are important sources of employee motivation. They result in increased productivity, which promotes success. Organisations operating in a dynamic market can gain competitive advantage by putting in place effective HRM strategies. Improved employee relations will ensure continued innovation.
For this reason, Coca-Cola Great Britain should put in place HRM practices aimed at promoting employee involvement and engagement. Job design and flexibility should also be encouraged.
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