The nature of employee engagement: rethinking the employee–organization relationship

Research interest in the new concept of employee engagement has grown dramatically in recent years. Employee engagement represents a work-related state of mind characterized by feelings of vigor, fulfillment, enthusiasm, absorption and dedication. However, scholars are still ambivalent about its theoretical contribution to explaining the employee–organization relationship. The goal of the study is to strengthen the theoretical foundation of the employee engagement concept in light of this relationship. We first compared employee engagement to other close concepts such as psychological empowerment and psychological contract. We then examined its contribution to the explanation of work centrality over and above psychological empowerment and psychological contract. Our study is based on an interactive sample of 593 employees from both private and public organizations in Israel. Our findings demonstrate that employee engagement is distinct from psychological empowerment and psychological contract and has an incremental value for work centrality over and above psychological empowerment and psychological contract. Implications of our findings are discussed the light of the employee–organization relationship.     

The production of outstanding leadership — an analysis of leadership images in the Swedish media

In this paper the constructive and ideological aspects of (business) journalism provide the starting point for an exploration of the images of (outstanding) leadership (re)produced in the Swedish printed media. Using an ethnographic semantics method, articles in five major Swedish publications during two separate weeks were scanned, selected and analysed, resulting in 853 media statements about leadership subsumed under 60 leadership categories. These statements were further categorised and analysed, resulting in 12 underlying leadership themes that together suggest a dominant implicit model of leadership. The results were found to be consistent to some extent with central aspects of a “Swedish leadership style” as reported in previous studies, but they also gave rise to some interesting paradoxes. These paradoxes were partly resolved by introducing a distinction between leadership in a political as opposed to a business context. The analysis shows that institutional contexts seem to generate different implicit models of leadership, but within the same national framework. Excellent leadership is evidently exercised and enacted as an expression of socially constructed institutions and culturally grounded values.     

Fetal protection policies: A threat to employee rights?

Corporations utilizing toxic substances in the workplace are faced with the possibility that the use of those substances will cause reproductive damage in their employees. In the face of complex and confusing government regulation on the issue and scientific uncertainty about the effects of many substaces, several major corporations have sought to minimize legal liability for any potential reproductive damage by excluding the fertile female worker from the workplace, Yet, by adopting such fetal protection policies, corporations have opened themselves up to a host of new problems and threatened the rights of workers.     

Who will be a good employee in the future?

This article examines the attributes necessary for the successful employee in the future. Many of these are already familiar to the manager: flexibility and adaptability, a team approach, and the ability to see the bigger picture. Implications for the educational process and its development of successful employees are also presented.     

Modes of cross-cultural leadership adjustment: adapting leadership to meet local conditions and/or changing followers to match personal requirements?

In this article, we present a study that explores modes of cross-cultural leadership adjustment (CLA) and investigates the forces influencing them. Nigel Nicholson’s theory of work role transitions was used as the theoretical foundation to explore work role requirements (consisting of role discretion and novelty of job demands) as potential predictors of modes of CLA. Our data were collected from expatriate senior managers working in Thailand. The results show that the majority of our expatriate executives make adjustments to their leadership approach and try to change Thai employees – thus demonstrating the adoption of an exploration mode of adjustment – and that role requirements, Thai employee characteristics, the local hierarchy system and the expatriate leaders’ perceptions all influence the latter’s modes of adjustment. Based on our findings, we develop a theoretical framework and a number of research propositions. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings.     

Which HRM practices enhance employee outcomes at work across the life-span?

Abstract

Based on the social exchange theory and on ageing and life-span theories, this paper aims to examine: (1) the relationships between perceived availability and use of HRM practices, and employee outcomes (i.e. work engagement and employability); and (2) how employee age moderates these relationships. Using a sample of Nmaximum = 1589 employees, correlational analyses and multiple hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. First, confirming our hypotheses, results showed predominantly positive relationships between work engagement and both perceived availability and use of development HRM practices, such as HRM practices related to learning, development, and incorporating new tasks. The study outcomes opposed, however, our hypotheses with predominantly negative relationships between work engagement and perceived availability and use of maintenance HRM practices. Predominantly positive relationships were furthermore found, as was hypothesized, between employability and perceived availability and use of development as well as maintenance HRM practices. Generally speaking, these results were not more pronounced for any of the age groups. That is, age appeared to not play any significant moderating role. Research limitations, implications for practice and directions for future work are also discussed.     

Organizational citizenship behaviour and employee retention: how important are turnover cognitions?

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between perceived job alternatives, intention to search, intention to leave and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), with a view to determining the extent to which these variables are related. Two surveys using separate samples (Study 1, n = 651, and Study 2, n = 226) were used. First, in both studies, perceived job alternatives provided a better account of OCB towards the organization (sportsmanship and civic virtue) than OCB towards individuals (helping and altruism). Second, the results of Studies 1 and 2 indicate that the relationships between OCB and intention to search and between OCB and intention to quit are different. The findings suggest that one part of the research model appears to be generalizable, while the other part appears to be explained by the context of employment. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Vertical disintegration and training: evidence from a matched employer–employee survey

The mechanism through which outsourcing favourably impacts on workplace performance, particularly productivity, is still unclear. I explore the hypothesis that it does so by impacting workers?? training. I use AWIRS-1995, a matched employer?Cemployee survey that reports ample information on the extent of technology and organizational change in Australian workplaces. I find that there is a positive and significant impact of outsourcing on training when I do not control for the correlation between ununobservable factors in these two binary outcomes. However, once I control for this correlation using a bivariate probit estimator, the training impact of outsourcing becomes negative. I then assess the sensitivity of the outsourcing effect to endogeneity by using the method advocated by Altonji et?al. (J Polit Econ 113(1):151?C184, 2005) to find that this latter result persists even in the presence of a low correlation between unobservables.     

Wrongful termination: Balancing employer and employee rights—A summary with recommendations

The employer's right to terminate for any cause has been seriously constrained. Recent court rulings and discrimination legislation make employee termination a hazardous undertaking. The prevailing logic is based on the concept of just cause. This concept attempts to balance employer, employee, and society's rights and fit action to the situation. Recommended management action involves little more than careful management of human resources as practiced by well managed firms for many years.     

Do women followers prefer a different leadership style than men?

In an era that leadership is a key to organizational success, several researchers have tried to identify the ‘best style.’ This study aims to make a contribution toward this direction by examining followers' perceptions of the preferred leader profile from a gendered perspective. Evidence from 2008 individuals employed in the Greek public sector revealed that men and women do hold different views of how the ideal leader behaves. Furthermore, the need for achievement is responsible for greater variations in perceptions of the preferred leader profile, confirming the fact that men and women cannot be considered as uniform groups when examining leadership preferences.     

The ‘country-of-origin effect’ in employee turnover intention: evidence from China

The increasing presence of foreign direct investment in China has boosted the competition for talent among different multinational corporations (MNCs) from diverse national backgrounds. This article investigates the differences in the human resource management (HRM) approaches adopted by the US, European, and Japanese MNC subsidiaries operating in China and explores the relationships between employees' perceptions toward the HRM approaches and turnover intention. Significant differences in the HRM approaches and employees' level of turnover intention were found, indicating a ‘country-of-origin effect’ in HRM approaches that subsequently influences employees' attitudes. In addition, this article produces evidence suggesting that the perception of HRM characteristics predicts employees' intentions to quit. Implications for HRM convergence or divergence debate are discussed.     

From pay to praise? Non-cash employee recognition in Canadian and Australian firms

Despite deep theoretical roots, a prominent place in the practitioner literature, and increasing use by organizations, non-cash employee recognition plans have thus far received relatively little empirical study by academic researchers. Drawing on survey data from 349 Canadian and Australian firms, this study examines the incidence of individually based and group-based non-cash recognition (NCR) programmes, ascertains whether there are relationships between use of non-cash and cash-based reward practices, and identifies possible predictors of NCR programmes. Results indicate that non-cash plans are indeed common in both countries, but do not appear to substitute for cash-based performance plans, contrary to enthusiasts' suggestions. The most important predictor of non-cash programmes is unionization, which is negatively related to both individually based and group-based NCR programs in Canada, and to group-based programmes in Australia.     

Evaluating the multi-dimensional view of employee commitment: a comparative UK–Chinese study

This study evaluates the contribution of the multiple constituencies of commitment framework to the explanation of work attitudes and behaviours among samples of manufacturing workers in the United Kingdom (UK) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). Our findings suggest that the organization, the supervisor, co-workers and the union were seen by respondents as separate commitment foci. Consistent with the ‘compatibility hypothesis’, the relationship between commitment and outcome was stronger where the constituency focus was matched. However, the ‘cultural hypothesis’, on the greater salience of person- or group-based commitments in the PRC context, was generally not accepted. The findings are discussed in the light of the comparative cultural and industrial relations contexts of the two countries.     

What is the role of perceived leadership capacity in presidential politics?

The relevance of leadership models in presidential leadership, and principally the role of perceived leadership in presidential election years, is an area of study with limited development but increasing importance. This study explores the relationship between young voters' leadership assessment of presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, and their reports of voting behavior during the 2008 presidential election. Leadership perceptions were collected from 812 respondents prior to the election. Results indicate that candidate leadership assessments have a significant effect on candidate preference after controlling for the impact of party identification and self‐perceived political efficacy. Further, political efficacy significantly impacted respondents' intent to vote in the election after controlling for these same variables. Party affiliation produced significant differences across the political ideology, leadership ratings, political efficacy, and likelihood of voting variables. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications as they pertain to political leadership.     

Agreeing to disagree? Explaining self–other disagreement on leadership behaviour

ABSTRACT

Leadership research tends to treat differences among ratings of the same leaders as measurement error. Our study makes such varying perceptions of leadership behaviour its main phenomenon of investigation. We conceptualize divergent leadership ratings based on the difference between managers’ self-ratings and team members’ assessments of leadership behaviour. Using data from three German public organizations on 51 teams and 190 leader–follower dyads, we find that divergent leadership ratings are a function of managers’ motivation, their use of managerial reflection routines, and team members’ personality. The findings point to the importance of using multisource feedback and developing managers’ self- and other-awareness.     

Person–organization fit and employee outcomes: test of a social exchange model

Data obtained from subordinate–supervisor dyads (N = 314) of a large manufacturing company in South Korea were used to test a moderated mediation model of the processes linking person–organization (P–O) fit and employee work attitudes and behaviors. The results revealed that the influence of P–O fit on work attitudes and behaviors was indirect through perceived social exchange with organization. In addition, the relationship between P–O fit and perceived social exchange with organization was moderated by leader–member exchange (LMX) quality. Specifically, a high-quality LMX enhanced the positive effects of P–O fit on perceived social exchange with organization.     

“Why did I do this?”: Understanding leadership behavior through a dynamic five‐factor model of leadership

Leadership theories referring to complex adaptive system theory (CAS) describe leadership as a dynamic process of interdependent, cooperating agents. However, research on leadership behavior focuses mainly on the leader as an influencing, active agent. This article offers a different perspective by focusing on factors that influence leadership behavior. A dynamic five‐factor model of leadership is introduced, which identifies (1) the leader's individual competence, (2) the group, (3) the organization, (4) the context, and (5) the immediate situation as all influencing factors on leadership behavior. To address the problem of the procedural nature of leadership behavior, the dynamic five‐factor model is combined with a scenario‐based approach. The scenario approach focuses on situational developments in a given context, whereby a previous situation influences a leader's behavior in the subsequent situation. By integrating the dynamic five‐factor model into a scenario approach, one can understand a leader's behavior in its procedural nature. The practical usability of the dynamic five‐factor model and the scenario approach was assessed in a leadership development program with 81 military officers. Structured feedback from participants indicated that the model and the approach were perceived as helpful and relevant for understanding leadership behavior.     

Family-supportive organizations and supervisors: how do they influence employee outcomes and for whom?

In the present study, we examine a model which seeks to specify the process through which work-family supportive organizations and supervisors influence important organizational outcomes, including commitment and performance. Findings indicated that family-supportive organization perceptions are best conceptualized as influencing family-supportive supervisor behaviors, which in turn influence subordinate self-efficacy, subordinate affective commitment to the organization and subordinate perceptions of supervisor work effort. Subordinate self-efficacy and affective commitment were also both found to independently mediate the relationship between family-supportive supervisor behaviors and self-rated performance. Interestingly, the model functioned similarly for employees with and without dependent care responsibilities, indicating that work-family policies and support are important for all employees, regardless of their familial status. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations and future research directions are discussed.     

‘Business as usual?’ Retail employee perceptions of organizational life following cross-border acquisition

The question of whether strong organizational cultures can be exported across borders has been continually debated in the management and business literature. With increased retail internationalization, the question arises in how far global retailers will be able to transpose their cultural values – which are regarded as key levers to business success – into other national contexts. A case study of the acquisition of a UK retailer reveals workforce compliance to behavioural norms and consent to company values at Schein's () second tier of organizational culture. However, the cultural integration espoused in the retailer's literature is not achieved, but differentiation and fragmentation (Martin, , ) prevail at store level, despite the probable existence of a strong sectoral culture (Ogbonna and Harris, ).