9. Communication

But mechanisms for listening to employees range far wider than collective representation. Direct, two-way communications are an important approach in all of the organisations in the study and can take many different forms. For instance, the managing director of a transport firm held a meeting every few months on a Sunday morning in a local pub, to which all drivers were invited (and most attended). A housing association had a staff magazine compiled by employees rather than managers that occasionally took sideswipes at management. Other mechanisms adopted included employee attitude surveys, suggestion schemes and project teams.

A comparison with practice in the early 1990s shows some important changes. These include a clear trend to replace bolt-on techniques such as quality circles with more comprehensive approaches. Organisations today are more likely to use departmental teams to help in problem-solving and to see this as a central part of their employees' jobs. New media such as intranets and e-mail have complemented other mechanisms, particularly in organisations where staff have routine access to computers. There are also cases where employees have the chief executive's e-mail or phone number so they can make direct contact. One-way, downward communication is now much less common.