workplace democracy
Staff-run decision making
Workplace democracy describes organizational structures that give workers meaningful participation in decisions affecting their jobs—from electing managers to setting policies to sharing ownership.
The term encompasses various arrangements: worker cooperatives, employee-owned companies, unionized shops with strong collective bargaining, or simply management styles that solicit genuine input.
The tech startup experimented with workplace democracy, letting teams vote on project priorities.
The concept challenges traditional top-down corporate hierarchies.
- self-managementGoverning oneself independently
- flat hierarchyOrganization with few levels
- worker councilsEmployee-run decision-making groups
- worker cooperativesCollectively owned democratic businesses
- shared ownershipJoint holding of property
syndicalism · labor movement · rank and file · voting systems · solidarity · town hall meeting · egalitarianism · collective bargaining · representation · democratic oversight · unions · transparency · social enterprises · arbitration · empowerment · voting · workers' councils · shop floor
- labor rightsworker rights, labor laws, union rights, employee rights, right to strike
- labor unionsunion dues, trade union, union membership, labor union, union shops
- union activismlabor strikes, picket lines, union rallies, walkouts, work stoppages
- workplace voiceemployee input, employee feedback, suggestion box, suggestion boxes, employee involvement
- worker democracyworker control, worker cooperatives, worker councils, workers councils, self-management
- collectivespair, duo, trio, quartet, quintet
workplace democracytop-down management
Leadership from the hierarchy's apex
centralized authority · scientific management · Taylorism · one-man rule · chain of command
workplace democracyat-will employment
Job without guaranteed duration
union busting · exploitation · Taylorism · scientific management