Involvement of Employees in Increasing the Efficiency of Production Processes for SMEs in the Baltic States

In the current global market, companies are focusing on ensuring their competitiveness. In today's business environment, there are no uniform standards or models that would ensure business development and efficient use of the existing resources. There are different management support standards, models, systems, however, the unifying criteria of these systems are a satisfied customer and reduced costs, which will be the basis for ensuring long-term competitiveness. Thus, the involvement of employees in increasing the efficiency of production processes is essential and can be a decisive factor in ensuring the sustainable development of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). In order to identify the factors contributing to the competitiveness of SMEs, the authors of this article have studied the nature of employee involvement in manufacturing companies. In order to achieve the set goals the monographic or descriptive method were used, the authors have studied the theoretical basis of employee involvement, analyzing the development trends of the SME sector in the Baltics and empirically studying the needs of employee involvement and influencing factors in the production of the SMEs in the Baltics. This study will provide companies with an understanding of the impact of employee involvement and the need to increase the efficiency of production processes. Analyzing the theoretical aspects, the authors have defined a unified approach to this situation from the point of view of its essence. Finally, the authors conclude that the involvement of employees in increasing the efficiency of production processes is one of the tools for ensuring the competitiveness of companies. Keywords: production, employees, process efficiency, competitiveness, SMEs