Middle manager: Friend or foe of employee involvement

Middle management resistance has been frequently identified as a significant barrier to the success of employee involvement practices. This paper reviews evidence from the literature and from 12 case studies on the role played by middle managers in employee involvement initiatives. There is evidence that middle management resistance often acts as a significant impediment to employee involvement. However, there is also evidence that this resistance is often a symptom of inconsistency between organisational systems and the goals of employee involvement and of inadequate training and support for middle managers. Employee involvement initiatives should pay attention to aligning organisational systems with the goals of employee involvement and treat middle managers as the targets as well as the implementers of employee involvement.