Mapping the relationships between high-performance work systems,employee resilience and engagement: a study of the banking industry in China

Abstract

There is now growing interest in employee resilience in the organizational context and its contribution to organizational performance. However, little is known the extent to which high-performance work systems (HPWS) contributes towards enhancing employee’s resilience as well as their levels of engagement. This study examines the relationships among HPWS, employee resilience and engagement, using a sample of 2040 employees in the Chinese banking industry. Drawing on the job demands-resources model and strategic/high-performance human resource management theory, we develop three hypotheses to test the relationship between HPWS and employee resilience, resilience and employee engagement, and the mediating effect of resilience on the relationship between HPWS and engagement. All hypotheses are supported and suggest that HPWS can be used as a job resource to positively affect resilience and subsequently employee engagement. The key message of the paper is that employee resilience can be viewed as a set of skills and attributes that can be developed through the effective use of HPWS to benefit both individuals and the organization.     

High performance work systems and organizational performance: an empirical study of Taiwan's semiconductor design firms

This paper presents a study examining the relationship between high performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance in Taiwan's semiconductor design industry. The hypotheses are tested by matching and analysing data collected from field interviews with 21 HR managers and surveys of 21 senior operations managers and 1,129 employees. The results of the statistical analysis demonstrate that the effective use of employee empowerment practices is positively related to organizational performance.     

The relationship between ‘high-performance work practices’ and employee attitudes: an investigation of additive and interaction effects

In order to improve our understanding of mediating variables inside the ‘black box’ of the firm's labour management, this paper examines the relationship between high-performance work system (HPWS) practices and employee attitudes. Using a randomly selected, national population sample, clear evidence was found for a positive relationship between HPWS practices and the attitudinal variables of job satisfaction, trust in management, and organizational commitment, implying that HPWS can provide win-win outcomes for employees and employers. However, the study also tests – from an employee perspective – the ‘complementarities thesis’ and finds negative interaction effects among HPWS practices. This strengthens the argument that there are likely to be limits to the positive outcomes of HPWSs for employees. Evidence of sequencing in the employee attitudinal responses to HPWSs was also found, with job satisfaction as the key mediating variable.     

How and when matter: Exploring the interaction effects of high‐performance work systems,employee participation,and human capital on organizational innovation

Existing research on the relationship between high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational innovation has paid insufficient attention to the boundary effects of employee participation and human capital. Bridging the human resource management (HRM) and employment relations literature, this study contributes to the contingency view of HRM and China‐specific research by investigating how human capital and employee participation, direct voice mechanism, and corporate governance participation jointly moderate the relationship between HPWS and organizational innovation. We test our three‐way interaction model using a sample of 108 firms and 1,250 employees in China. The results suggest that HPWS are positively associated with organizational innovation when employees with relatively less human capital are coupled with more direct voice mechanism or less corporate governance participation. In contrast, HPWS are negatively related to organizational innovation when employees possessing greater human capital are coupled with more direct voice mechanism. The theoretical and managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.     

The role of employee HR attributions in the relationship between high‐performance work systems and employee outcomes

Although research has shown that the use of high‐performance work systems (HPWS) is associated with employee outcomes, our knowledge of the meanings employees attach to HPWS systems and how these shape employee outcomes is still limited. This study examines the signalling impact of enacted HPWS on HR well‐being and HR performance attributions, and how these influence happiness‐ and health‐related outcomes. Using multilevel data (1,065 employees nested within 150 work units) obtained from multiple sources (line managers and employees), our results show that coverage of HPWS was positively associated with the two HR attributions. In addition, HR well‐being attributions were associated with higher levels of commitment and lower levels of job strain. HR performance attributions were associated with higher levels of job strain. The findings of this study highlight the importance of taking into account how employees attach meaning to enacted HPWS in order to predict employee outcomes.     

A multilevel examination of high‐performance work systems and unit‐level organisational ambidexterity

This paper examines the process linking high‐performance work systems (HPWS) and organisational ambidexterity both at the unit and firm level of analyses by integrating strategic HRM, human capital and social capital perspectives. Multisource and multilevel data from 2,887 employees and 536 managers of 58 banks was collected. Results revealed that firm‐level HPWS were positively related to unit‐level employee human capital. Unit‐level employee human capital partially mediated the relationship between firm‐level HPWS and unit organisational ambidexterity. Furthermore, firm‐level social climate moderated the effect of firm‐level HPWS on unit organisational ambidexterity through unit‐level employee human capital. This paper contributes to HPWS and ambidexterity research by revealing the impacts of firm‐level HPWS and mediating mechanisms, as well as identifying boundary conditions for pursuing unit‐level organisational ambidexterity.     

Crossing the level of employee's performance: HPWS,affective commitment,human capital,and employee job performance in professional service organizations

Extant research on high-performance work systems (HPWS) has primarily examined the effects of HPWS on firm-level performance from a macro perspective and mostly in manufacturing settings. This study extends this literature by integrating social exchange theory and human capital theory perspectives to examine how shop-level HPWS affect employee individual performance in the service context, especially focusing on the small-scale professional service organizations. Data collected from multiple sources included 97 hair salon shop owners and 284 hairdressers as well as objective job performance measured in terms of each hairdresser's average monthly service sales. Results from cross-level analysis indicated that the relationship between shop-level HPWS and employee job performance was mediated by employee affective commitment and their human capital. These findings shed new light on the mechanisms through which HPWS impact employee outcomes and serve to bridge between macro and micro perspectives of human resource management.     

Influence of high performance work systems on employee subjective well-being and job burnout: empirical evidence from the Chinese healthcare sector

Over the last two decades, high performance work systems (HPWSs) research has been dominated by examining the effects of these systems on firm performance. Research on the impact of HPWSs on employees has been marginalised. This study examines the impact of HPWSs on two psychological outcomes for employees, namely, subjective well-being (SWB) and workplace burnout, by utilising data collected from 1488 physicians and nurses in 25 Chinese hospitals. It also examines the moderating effects of employees' organisational based self-esteem (OBSE), as an individual intervention and physician–nurse relationships, as an organisational intervention, on the relationship between HPWSs and employee outcomes. HPWS is found to increase employees' SWB and decrease burnout. Such well-being-enhancing and burnout-relieving effects are stronger when employees have high OBSE. The positive effect of HPWS on SWB is also stronger when there is a collaborative relationship among employees in an organisation. The major contribution of this study is to unpack the ‘black box’ of how HPWS influences employee well-being in the Chinese healthcare sector context.     

A multi-level examination of quality-focused human resource practices and firm performance: evidence from the US healthcare industry

In today's business world, the role of quality has become ever more significant for organizations to compete in a global marketplace. Based on the quality management theory, this study empirically examines the relationship between quality-focused human resource practices (QHRP) and organizational performance outcomes. Data from 69 healthcare organizations indicate a strong support for this relationship. A Human Resource (HR) system focused on quality management was directly related to multiple dimensions of organizational performance outcomes (i.e., intangible – employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction – and tangible – profit). Specifically, two measures of QHRP, knowledge management and strategic management, were found to be positively related to the financial performance of firms implementing quality management. Process management is found to be negatively related to employee satisfaction. General Human Resources were positively related to both employee and customer satisfaction. Employee focus of the firms is also positively related to employee satisfaction. In addition, employee satisfaction is also related to both customer satisfaction and financial performance while customer satisfaction is found to be positively related to employee satisfaction. The findings indicate a generally strong positive relationship with the organizational performance outcomes. The results of this study are particularly important in showing HR's contribution to the organization's bottom line.     

Guanxi and high performance work systems in China: evidence from a state-owned enterprise

Abstract

Existing high performance work system (HPWS) research has rarely considered cultural influences. This study investigates the relationships between guanxi, HPWS and employee attitudes in China. A data-set consisting of 226 employees in a Chinese state-owned enterprise in the railway sector was used to test the hypotheses. Using structural equation modelling as an analytical tool, we found that guanxi was positively related to HPWS and trust. Similar to research in the Western context, HPWS was found to be positively related to trust and job satisfaction. Moreover, the results also revealed that HPWS mediated between guanxi and both trust and job satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications are both discussed.     

High-performance work system and intention to leave: a mediation model

To address recent calls in the literature for additional work on the role of high-performance work systems (HPWS) in determining individual outcomes, this study examines the relationship between employees' perceptions of HPWS and intention to leave, as well as the possible mediating role of job satisfaction, procedural justice and intrinsic motivation in this relationship. The model is tested with EQS 6.1, on a sample of 155 engineers from 19 different companies and industries. Results indicate that HPWS is associated positively with job satisfaction, procedural justice and intrinsic motivation. Results also show that only job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HPWS and engineers' intention to leave, whereas procedural justice and intrinsic motivation mediate the relationship between HPWS and job satisfaction.     

Do high performance work systems generate negative effects? How and when?

A high-performance work system (HPWS) is defined as a series of performance-enhancing human resource management practices. Many studies have demonstrated the positive relationship of HPWSs with organizational, group, and individual performance. However, evidence has indicated that HPWSs can also exert negative effects. In this paper, taking a dialectical view, we elaborate several propositions regarding why HPWSs have negative effects and when these negative effects occur, mainly from the perspective of employees. We also propose several research directions enriching knowledge of the relationship between HPWSs and organizational outcomes.     

Computer-integrated manufacturing and high performance work system: the case of Taiwan

This study investigates the relationships between computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) and high-performance work system (HPWS) that can arguably improve human capital in the firm and enhance the effectiveness of these advanced manufacturing technologies. Our data were drawn from two surveys of Taiwanese manufacturing establishments in 1998 and 2005. Results showed that high-degree CIM was positively associated with the practices of the each HR practice and HPWS, including high pay level, rigorous selection, extensive training, developmental performance management, performance- and competency- based rewards as well as employee stock ownership.     

Who should be the respondent? Comparing predictive powers between managers' and employees' responses in measuring high-performance work systems practices

This study first examines the association between the effectiveness of high-performance work systems (HPWS) and two types of firm performance (the financial performance and productivity of a firm) in Korea and then compares the relative predictive power between employee responses and manager responses. The results indicate that the effectiveness of HPWS has a statistically significant positive effect on firm performance and that employee perception of the effectiveness of human resource (HR) practices explains more variance in the financial performance and productivity of firms than does managers' corresponding perception. This study highlights the importance of a firm's employees as a source of HR information.     

The impact of diversity and equality management on firm performance: Beyond high performance work systems

This article demonstrates that a diversity and equality management system (DEMS) contributes to firm performance beyond the effects of a traditional high‐performance work system (HPWS), which consists of bundles of work practices and policies used extensively in high‐performing firms. A DEMS typically includes diversity training and monitoring recruitment, pay, and promotion across minority or other disadvantaged groups. Our analysis of quantitative data from service and manufacturing organizations in Ireland confirms that HPWS practices are associated with positive business performance and finds specifically that DEMS practices are positively associated with higher labor productivity and workforce innovation and lower voluntary employee turnover. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Determinants of employee training: impact on organizational legitimacy and organizational performance

Employee training is one of the most studied human resource practices, as it is considered critical for organizational success. However, employee training and its impact on organizational performance have usually been studied from an economic-rational perspective, in terms of the economic and competitive advantages that companies can achieve by training employees. This study goes beyond the economic-rational approach and draws on institutional theory. We introduce contextual factors in the analysis of the determinants of employee training to complement the variables of competitive advantage and explain the relationship between employee training and organizational outcomes. Data were collected from 374 organizations using a questionnaire administered in Spain. The findings support the idea that both economic-rational and institutional determinants influence employee training. There are also two different kinds of outcome from training employees: organizational legitimacy improves at the same time as organizational performance.     

Team autonomy,organizational commitment and company performance – a study in the retail trade

The study focuses on the relationship between perceived team autonomy and company performance through highlighting organizational commitment as a mediating factor in this relationship. Data collected in 2007 came from 25 small-sized companies in the retail trade, covering both the employer and employee levels (n = 369). This study aims to shed light on the following questions: first, is team autonomy associated with organizational commitment and company performance? Second, does commitment mediate the relationship between team autonomy and company performance? Results indicated that team autonomy was both directly and indirectly positively associated with company performance. Furthermore, organizational commitment partially mediated the relationship between team autonomy and company performance. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

An Exploration of How the Employee–Organization Relationship Affects the Linkage Between Perception of Developmental Human Resource Practices and Employee Outcomes*

abstract The purpose of the present study was to examine whether and how the quality of the employee–organization relationship (EOR) influences the relationship between employee perception of developmental human resource (HR) practices and employee outcomes. Analyses of 593 employees representing 64 local savings banks in Norway showed that four indicators of the EOR (perceived organizational support, affective organizational commitment, and procedural and interactional justice) moderated the relationship between perception of developmental HR practices and individual work performance. A strong and direct negative relationship was found between perception of developmental HR practices and turnover intention, but perceived procedural and interactional justice moderated this linkage. No support was found for a mediating role of the EOR indicators in the relationship between perception of developmental HR practices and employee outcomes. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Perceived human resource system strength and employee reactions toward change: Revisiting human resource's remit as change agent

Although scholars have highlighted human resource's (HR's) important role as a change agent, we know little about the extent to which HR influences the change context to foster positive employee responses and support organizational changes. This study positions perceived HR system strength as an important internal context factor that influences employees' reactions toward change. Drawing on emotion theory and social exchange theory, we analyze the mechanisms through which employees' perceptions of HR system strength lead to positive employee responses to organizational change. Data from 704 employees in a UK police force showed that employees' perceptions of HR system strength were positively related to their ability to cope with organizational change and that this relationship was simultaneously mediated by state positive affect and perceived organizational support. Moreover, our findings demonstrated that coping with organizational change was positively related to employees' change‐supportive behavior. This study is important because it broadens the remit of HR's role as change agent and provides valuable insight into how HR positively influences employee outcomes during organizational change.