Structural analysis of approaches for worker participation

The participation of workers is one of the main topics of manufacturing enterprises. The goal is to increase the satisfaction, motivation and thus the productivity of workers, to use the creativity and the knowledge of the whole workforce to improve processes and to reward workers for their commitment. The approaches for worker participation vary widely. Examples would be surveys about labor conditions, participation in planning processes for the layout of their workplaces or employee profit sharing. In the course of a rising spread of lean production systems the degree of participation increases. The common consent for participation declines as more responsibility is assigned to the worker. In this paper the different forms of participation will be described and clustered. Furthermore, criteria for the selection of adequate methods of participation will be derived.