The Dialectics of Trust and Control: About Different Concepts in Human Resource Management and Mandatory Co-determination

The paper elaborates the differences of two functional equivalent institutions which give labour a voice in production processes. HRM is primarily understood as a sophisticated method of personnel management which usually includes schemes of direct participation by employees, particularly through teamwork. At first sight HRM and mandatory participation seem functionally equivalent. Both give employees a voice in firms’ decision making - the works council a collective voice, HRM an individual voice. Both are devices for conflict resolution and for labour-management cooperation. Works councils are more focussed on conflict resolution, while HRM focuses more on cooperation. Both devices base on trust relations with the employees. The trust provided by HRM depends on a self-binding strategy by management whereas works councils are democratic institutions which function as trust agencies controlled by the vote of their electorate.