The article examines the potential of industrial democracy as a means of engaging employees in their organization’s economic activities and enhancing their productivity. The author explores the challenges associated with underestimating the positive impact of industrial democracy on labor productivity at the state level in present-day Russia. The article provides examples from domestic and foreign practices in which elected workers’ self-government bodies have significantly increased labor productivity at enterprises. It also demonstrates the other advantages of industrial democracy. It should be noted that modern researchers often equate the concepts of “industrial democracy” and “participatory management,” which is not entirely correct. It is essential to distinguish between these concepts depending on the type of enterprise in question: traditional commercial or collective. The maximum level of employee involvement can only be achieved in collective enterprises, whose distinctive feature is the election of managers and control over their activities, which is the essence of industrial democracy. The study indicates that, given the ongoing efforts to enhance labor productivity in Russia and the absence of a state-level solution to this issue, the implementation of various forms of industrial democracy should receive greater attention.
