The past few years have seen various politicians and commentators advocate for greater worker representation on boards.  The rationale is that doing so will help to create a healthier form of capitalism and reduce the apparent inequalities in society.

New research from the University of Michigan explores how worker representation helps not only the workforce generally, but low-wage workers in particular.  The study found that when low-wage workers were given a voice in their workplace, both employee satisfaction and retention rose considerably.

Given a voice

The researchers conducted a field-based, randomized control trial in a garment company in India with around 100,000 workers.  The company has traditionally experienced very high employee turnover rates, and the management recently announced that annual pay rises would be lower than expected.

The researchers randomly selected a portion of the workforce to complete an anonymous survey on various aspects of their job, from wages to managerial performance.  When the workers were subsequently analyzed, it emerged that those who had been able to share their views via the survey were less likely to both call in sick or leave the company.  Indeed, this was highest among those workers who were most disappointed, with the survey reducing the likelihood of the worker quitting by roughly 20%.

“Setting up that line of communication might actually generate less attrition, and that’s potentially of value to both workers and firms,” the authors explain.

Suffice to say, surveys are a fairly tried and tested tool, and the researchers hope to test their hypothesis more via the use of more modern tools such as mobile apps and text messaging to allow workers to express their views more frequently.  They’re also testing whether providing managers with incentives to act upon this feedback is beneficial.  They ultimately hope that their findings will be applied by businesses around the world.

“Firms act based on their bottom line, and maybe that’s how it should be, but there’s not often a very clear connection drawn between the welfare of workers and the bottom line,” they say. “Ultimately, making that connection is what the field of positive business is all about.”