Management of employee’s voice in the context of changing economic market relations: a case of Kazakhstan

Abstract

This paper addresses the key aspects of project management of organizational performance in the context of changing economic market relations and seeks for an alternative approach to fill the representation gap. Employee’s voice is chosen as the case of organizational performance, as it is important in many ways. In this context, key question is whether partnership mechanism could help labor union revival and increase mutual gains outcomes. In order to address the issues, first of all, the paper reviews the concept of employee’s voice, the features of direct communication, and representative participation, including consultation and partnership. Next, it explores the recent evolution of industrial relations in Kazakhstan and explains why the representation gap is important. Then it looks into the real business case study of the National Railway Company Kazakhstan to understand the features of partnership. The conclusion suggests that there is a need for a mix of direct communication and representative participation to fill the representation gap effectively, and partnership could be an effective mechanism to establish the cooperative industrial relations. AcknowledgmentThis paper was written within PhD project “Barriers and solutions to small and medium entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan” (Ayana Zhaxylykova, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University).