Employee Voice: A Human Resource Management Perspective

Abstract

This article considers two dimensions of employee voice in nonunion businesses from both a strategic and a tactical human resource management perspective. The first dimension involves the formal nonunion grievance procedure, including the ombudsman, mediation, arbitration, and internal tribunals and peer review. The second dimension focuses on participative management, which takes such forms as total quality management programs. Like nonunion grievance procedures, participative management programs provide structured mechanisms for employees to provide information to management that is potentially valuable for decision-making purposes.