Collective bargaining and shared governance are both doctrines that present workers with power in their organizations. Collective bargaining allows for employees to come together and present their views concerning their terms of employment. Unionized workers are empowered to speak up through their representatives and get their organizations to improve their working conditions, among other grievances. Shared governance presents workers with the authority to take charge of practice-based decisions that they themselves get to initiate. Leaders or managers provide guidelines for the decision to be made and work with the decision arrived at by the staff. The paper describes the power of collective bargaining and shared governance in organizations.
Collective Bargaining
It is often difficult for a single employee to bargain for working conditions, pay or benefits. Luckily, labor unions exist for the purpose of ensuring employee welfare in various workplaces or organizations. Even then, a majority of employees, taking the case of the United States, are not members of labor unions. Labor unions sit with employees to negotiate the terms of employment for workers whom they represent. Various organizations and sectors are unionized, including teachers and health workers. Collective bargaining thus refers to the process by which a group of workers, represented by their union, negotiate the terms of their employment with their employer. Workers may be in need of better working conditions, better pay, paid leave, paid vacation time, healthcare benefits and retirement benefits, among others. This process of bargaining may result in an agreement that works for both parties involved or a disagreement that may lead to chaos in the workplace or organization. Labor unions can mobilize the workers to strike until their organization agrees to their terms, for instance.
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Collective bargaining thus gives power to the workers and allows them to stand for the rights. As an individual, one may have to comply with the guidelines and conditions of work, even if they are quite straining. Dharmapala et al. (2019), in the article, Collective Bargaining and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida presents, the view that collective bargaining renders groups with the power to preserve their employment and control their working conditions.
Collective Bargaining in Organizations
Collective bargaining, as stated above, involves a group of employees with the goal of making the working conditions better. Every worker in an organization has a specific working agreement with the organization. It is almost impossible for a single worker to bargain for better working conditions. It is much easier for the organization to eliminate the worker and get a replacement. At the organization level, unionized workers present their grievances to their union leaders, who then sit with the employers of the organization for negotiations. Collective bargaining allows shows solidarity and shows the organization that all workers are focused on the same agenda of terms of employment. In most cases, the organization, upon recognizing the solidarity of the workers, may come to an agreement with the workers union, which will then be communicated and implemented for the workers.
Shared Governance
Shared governance refers to the structural model of leadership in organizations where staff members are allowed to manage their practices with a greater level of autonomy. The major components of shared governance include partnership, ownership, accountability and equity. Practice-related decisions are put into the hands of the people who are to operationalize the decision. A leader does not simply allow employees to participate in a decision-making process and decides what decision to make by himself or herself. The workers are actively involved in finding the right decision to make while working under given guidelines. The decision arrived at by the team will ultimately be used by management. Shared governance differs from participatory leadership in this way. For instance, a leader may draw guidelines for the purchase of a new product and allow the employees to find the best product that satisfies the guidelines. The group would thus work to find the most suitable product which falls under the guidelines provided. This product would then be presented to the leader who will authorize its purchase. In contrast to participatory leadership or management, the leader still has the authority to decide to purchase another product that has not been recommended by the team.
Shared Governance in the Hospital
Shared governance is highly recommended in the healthcare setting, especially for nurses. In the hospital setup, every health worker or department needs to be accorded the autonomy to make practice-based decisions that will improve their work. Nurses are the majority in every hospital, and they carry out most of the processes in the healthcare setting. They thus need to be involved in practice-based decisions that will affect their conditions of work. According to Kutney-Lee et al. (2016), organizations that have implemented shared governance and have adequately fostered employee engagement perfume better than their counterparts in terms of performance, profitability and job retention and satisfaction. Kutney-Lee et al. (2016), in their study, cross-checked and reviewed data from various hospitals to examine nurse engagement in shared governance. The study found that nurses were less likely to report poor quality and safety ratings and unfavorable job conditions in hospitals that foster shared governance. Shared governance in the hospital greatly improves performance among health workers as they would be quite satisfied with their jobs. Shared governance allows every department in the hospital to take charge of their practice-based decisions and come up with the right solutions for the existing problems. It renders responsibility to the departments and allows them to present the administration with the appropriate budgets and modes of practice, among other things. Ultimately, shared governance provides health workers with a sense of ownership, accountability and equity, which is much needed to improve job satisfaction and performance among health workers.
Conclusion
Collective bargaining and shared governance, as described above, both present employees with power in the organization. Collective bargaining gives voice and power to employees and allows them to improve their terms of employment through their unions. It shows that all employees are focused on improving their working conditions and forces management to act accordingly. Shared governance renders workers with a sense of accountability, ownership and equity in their work, thus improving their job satisfaction and performance. In the healthcare setting, shared governance is much needed to help nurses and other healthcare workers deliver quality care. It also gives those at the frontlines, the authority to make appropriate decisions concerning their practice.
References
Dharmapala, D., McAdams, R. H., & Rappaport, J. (2019). Collective Bargaining and Police Misconduct: Evidence from Florida.
Kutney-Lee, A., Germack, H., Hatfield, L., Kelly, S., Maguire, P., Dierkes, A., Del Guidice, M., & Aiken, L. H. (2016). Nurse Engagement in Shared Governance and Patient and Nurse Outcomes. The Journal of nursing administration , 46 (11), 605–612. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000412
