Employer‐supported volunteering benefits: Gift exchange among employers,employees, and volunteer organizations

Using gift exchange theory to explain the growing trend of employers offering employer‐supported volunteering (ESV) benefits, this article discusses the creation of exchange relationships between the employer and employee and between the volunteer organization and employee. Hypotheses derived from the employee's perspective are tested with a nationally representative sample of volunteers (n=3,658). Findings suggest that ESV benefits are positively related to hours volunteered by the employee. Volunteer hours predict employee perceptions of skill acquisition, and such perceptions are positively related to perceptions of job success and employer recognition. We discuss the implications of these findings for business, employees, and volunteer organizations, with an emphasis on human resource management policy and practice. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Health care and retirement costs in North America spiralling uncontrollably: what are employers to do?

This article addresses some of the issues related to the rising costs of employee benefits in the United States and Canada in terms of the cost of retirement pensions and employer-provided health insurance for employees and retirees. We examine various factors that affect the cost of these services for organizations as well as how these might affect the choices employers might be forced to make. We elaborate on how various factors might compel employers to shift the cost of benefits to employees. Specifically, we elaborate on various legislative, economic, and demographic constraints on these employee benefits and examine in detail two employer practices of concern, namely cash balance retirement plans and consumer-directed healthcare plans.     

Managing Employee Social Networking: Evolving Views from the National Labor Relations Board

With the development of social networking internet sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter, a new set of concerns has arisen for employers. A growing number of employers has asserted a right to regulate employee use of the internet and social networking sites despite the fact that such policies may be seen as an intrusion on workers’ privacy interests. This paper explores the conflict between the employees’ interest in internet use and employer efforts to regulate and control these activities. A number of National Labor Relations Board cases and supporting reports, as well as, arbitration decisions are examined in order to explore the critical issues that have emerged regarding employee use of social networking. Based on an analysis of the cases and literature, guidelines are provided for effective employer social networking policies. A high quality policy and an understanding of the changing standards are critical for successful management of employee social networking.     

Theorizing the relationship between discretionary employee benefits and individual performance

The literature on compensation has devoted little attention to the relationship between discretionary employee benefits and individual performance, perhaps because benefits are allocated equally to large groups of employees, are not tied to individual performance, and are viewed as entitlements. Discretionary benefits include all the benefits an employer provides to employees voluntarily (i.e., not legally required). Employees can use internet search tools to make comparisons between focal and referent firms of their expenditures on discretionary benefits, which can symbolize employer support for employee well-being or invoke perceptions of equity. In our paper, we provide a novel insight into the relationship between discretionary benefits and employee individual performance through a theoretical lens that combines insights from organizational support theory and equity theory shaped by perceptions of social and economic exchange relationships. In our conceptual model we develop theoretical logic that explains that perceived discretionary benefits, moderated by benefits satisfaction and mediated by perceived organizational support and perceived equity, are linked to individual performance. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical implications and directions for future research.     

Shape up or ship out? Employment discrimination against the overweight

Increasing health care insurance costs have focused employer attention on health-related factors in employee recruitment and retention. One such factor is weight. Employers have argued that overweight employees are absent more often, are more susceptible to on-the-job injuries and illnesses, and are less productive than others. They have also contended that overweight employees present poor role models and may cause “negative reactions” by others. Although no federal law addresses employee obesity specifically, a number of laws prohibiting other forms of discrimination present potentially litigious situations. This article reviews the background and legal framework of discrimination against the overweight and offers some guidelines for avoiding such charges.     

Wages,fringe benefits and worker turnover

Linked employer–employee data from Norway are utilised to study how employers use wages and fringe benefits in managing their workforce. The analysis shows that on average across all establishments, we observe a positive correlation between wages and fringe benefits. This indicates the presence of labour market frictions and thus is not supportive of the classical frictionless hedonic wage model. Higher wages and more fringe benefits reduce the worker turnover rate. Fringe benefits have stronger negative impact on the excess worker turnover rate than indicated by the reported monetary value.     

Understanding employee preferences for investing in employer stock: evidence from France

In this article, we broaden the focus of existing research on employee stock purchase plans by analysing employee preferences for investing in employer stock as a construct distinct from actual investment behaviour. In our analysis of original survey data in a sample of 900 employees in four French companies, we find that employee preferences are influenced by two common cognitive heuristics (representativeness and familiarity), organisational commitment, the perceived quality of corporate communications about these plans and perceived managerial commitment to employee ownership. We did not find, however, that risk aversion, turnover intentions or perceived employee involvement in decision making influenced preferences for investing in employer stock. Our findings have both theoretical and practical implications for understanding and operating these types of employee benefit plans, which are becoming more common across the globe.     

Managing Telework Programs Effectively

Telework has greatly increased in both popularity and use in recent years. The original impetus behind telework has shifted over the years away from social responsibility as employers have come to realize the significant benefits they can reap from a well-designed and implemented telework program. Despite the well-documented environmental, societal, employer and employee benefits associated with telework, telework changes the nature of the employer–employee relationship and can have some detrimental effects on an organizations if not implemented strategically. This paper explores the prevalence of and benefits and limitations associated with telework and provides recommendations as to how to most effectively implement telework.     

Are human resource practices linked to employee misconduct?: A rational choice perspective

This paper explains how well intended HR practices associated with performance appraisal and compensation can be linked to employee misconduct. Based on a rational choice perspective to ethical behavior, different types of HR configurations are likely to either increase the perceived costs or benefits of employee misconduct. This paper links specific HR configurations with both perceived costs and benefits of employee misconduct. Finally, this paper concludes with recommendations that are designed to promote both effective job performance and minimize problems of employee misconduct.     

Skill gaps in the workplace: measurement,determinants and impacts

Optimal training decisions require employers to have accurate information about their workers’ training needs. However, little is known with regard to the key factors determining the accurate transmission of worker training requirements. Using one of the few linked employer–employee surveys in the world, the 2006 Irish National Employment Survey, this article identifies the key factors determining the correct identification of skill gaps within firms. The impact of skill gaps on average training expenditures and labour costs is also measured. The research finds that both HRM and collective bargaining arrangements are important factors in facilitating the accurate identification of skill gaps within firms. The analysis confirms that skill gaps are a key determinant of training expenditures and tend to raise average labour costs. Finally, the evidence suggests that employee perceptions of skill gaps may be prone to higher levels of subjective bias relative to those based on the employers’ views.     

The future of employee development

A series of trends shaping the current workplace has changed the nature of human capital development practice to be more employee-driven. However, existing development research does not fully account for this shift and the anticipated benefits of employee-driven development. In this review we reflect on the current state of the employee development literature and propose a new, broader conceptualization of employee development characterized by a partnership between the employer and employee. In doing so, we offer three recommendations for how research needs to evolve to align employee development scholarship with current practices: (1) incorporate proactivity in the definition of employee development, (2) update the context for learning, and, (3) think differently about how human capital is valued. We suggest ways in which theory can be extended for increasing our understanding of several commonly used employee-driven development methods. Finally, we provide future research questions and practical suggestions based on our new conceptualization of employee development.     

The re-examination of the relationship between employee stock ownership and voluntary employer change intention in Taiwan

Although past literature had provided inconsistent conclusions as to whether or not employee stock ownership (ESO) can serve the function of employee retention, this paper proposes that the reason for such inconsistency lies in the inability to clarify ESO characteristics. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between ESO and voluntary employer change intention from the viewpoint of vested and portable characteristics. Study results indicated that vested ESO achieves the function of employee retention. However, when vested ESO is also portable, employees tend to spend more efforts searching for external ESO alternatives, which reinforce their voluntary employer change intention.     

The inside effects of a strong external employer brand: how external perceptions can influence organizational absenteeism rates

In this study, we invoke a social identity and job resources perspective to investigate the impact of an organization’s internal and external employer brand images on employee absenteeism. Specifically, using workforce samples of 56 Belgian companies (n = 12670) and a second independent study sample (n = 4461), we assess the relative importance of the internal employer brand image (i.e. employee perceptions) and the external employer brand image (i.e. non-employee perceptions) in predicting the absenteeism rate in these organizations. Results show that corporate absenteeism decreases as internal (employee) views and external (non-employee) views of the organization decline. Results further show that the external employer brand image may be a more important driver of absenteeism than the internal employer brand image. Such results highlight that an organization’s external image may be a strong antecedent of important internal organizational behavior outcomes.     

Dual Commitment: Contract Workers in Australian Manufacturing Enterprises

A growing trend in employment practices is for firms to concentrate on their core functions and outsource peripheral activities. While an assessment of the economic benefits of outsourcing has been the subject of a number of research projects, little attempt has been made to evaluate the impact of such practices on employee commitment. This is the purpose of this paper. The central questions are can employees be committed to their employer and to their host enterprise, and what determines each form of commitment? The research is based on a survey of employees working for a major labour hire firm. The key finding of the research is that employees can have a dual commitment, although different factors influence commitment to the employer and to the host firm.     

Positive effects of ageing and age diversity in innovative companies – large‐scale empirical evidence on company productivity

This article investigates how age diversity within a company's workforce affects company productivity. It introduces a theoretical framework that helps integrate results from a broad disciplinary spectrum of ageing and diversity research to derive empirically testable hypotheses on the effects of age diversity on company productivity. It argues that first the balance between costs and benefits of diversity determines the effect of age diversity on company productivity, and that second the type of task performed acts as a moderator. To test these hypotheses, it uses a large‐scale employer–employee panel data set. Results show that increasing age diversity has a positive effect on company productivity if and only if a company engages in creative rather than routine tasks.     

Human resource management's role in clarifying the new psychological contract

This article discusses the importance of understanding and managing the changing employee–employer relationship (psychological contract). It offers a brief discussion on changing employee–employer expectations and provides a definition and discussion on the importance of the psychological contract in managing employee–employer relationships. Several employee–employer interactions in which human resource management (HRM) personnel can help clarify and reshape the psychological contract are presented.     

Employees are paying for poor health habits

Realizing that corporate America may have limited control over how and when medical services are delivered, employers are beginning to attack the demand side of the health-care equation. That is, improving employee health status should result in a lower demand for medical services. However, to realize significant medical-claims savings, employers must encourage the least healthy employees both to enroll in work-site health-promotion programs and to permanently change their health-risk behaviors. One way to accomplish these objectives is to shift more financial risk onto employees by redesigning the company's medical benefit plan. As the 1990s progress and as medical costs continue to spiral upward, we are bound to observe greater employer involvement in employees' life-styles, both at work and at home. The bounds of discrimination and privacy laws will be tested as companies employ more restrictive policies and benefit plan designs to encourage employees to modify current poor-risk behaviors.     

Examining the link between flexible working arrangement bundles and employee work effort

Empirical evidence regarding the link between flexible working arrangements (FWAs) and work effort is mixed, with the literature showing that some practices are linked to more while others to less work effort. In this study, we argue that this discrepancy may be due to the existence of different types of FWA bundles with potentially distinct effects on work effort. Using Understanding Society, a British national survey, and building on theories related to social exchange, the study examines the link between employee‐centered and employer‐centered FWA bundles, and work effort. This study further tests whether these relationships differ depending on employees' family responsibilities. Based on a sample of 13,834 employees, results show that both employee‐centered and employer‐centered FWA bundles are negatively associated with work effort, and findings for the latter bundle are more pronounced. These negative associations are somewhat stronger for employees with fewer family responsibilities. We infer that employees appear to use employee‐centered FWAs for their intended purpose, that is, to balance life and job demands, while they might perceive employer‐centered FWAs as unfair, resulting in less work effort in an attempt to restore fairness.     

Corporate environmental responsibility,employer reputation and employee commitment: an empirical study in developed and emerging economies

Employer reputation is relevant not only to attract but also to retain qualified employees. While in the past financial incentives have been the most important instrument, corporate environmental responsibility (CER) is becoming more and more relevant as a determinant for employer attractiveness and employee commitment. On the basis of signaling theory, we conducted an empirical study among 215 firms in China, Germany, India and the USA. Our results reveal that green strategy & culture, green technology & products, green recruitment & evaluation and green communication positively influence the environmental reputation of a company as an employer and in turn employee commitment. The signaling effects of these CER activities are similar in Germany and the USA (developed economies) as well as in China and India (emerging economies). An exception is green communication, which has a more positive effect on environmental reputation in developed economies. We conclude with managerial and theoretical implications as well as recommendations for future research.     

Changing Organizational Forms and the Employment Relationship

This paper draws upon new research in the UK into the relationship between changing organizational forms and the reshaping of work in order to consider the changing nature of the employment relationship. The development of more complex organizational forms – such as cross organization networking, partnerships, alliances, use of external agencies for core as well as peripheral activities, multi‐employer sites and the blurring of public/private sector divide – has implications for both the legal and the socially constituted nature of the employment relationship. The notion of a clearly defined employer–employee relationship becomes difficult to uphold under conditions where employees are working in project teams or on‐site beside employees from other organizations, where responsibilities for performance and for health and safety are not clearly defined, or involve more than one organization. This blurring of the relationship affects not only legal responsibilities, grievance and disciplinary issues and the extent of transparency and equity in employment conditions, but also the definition, constitution and implementation of the employment contract defined in psychological and social terms. Do employees perceive their responsibilities at work to lie with the direct employer or with the wider enterprise or network organization? And do these perceptions affect, for example, how work is managed and carried out and how far learning and incremental knowledge at work is integrated in the development of the production or service process? So far the investigation of both conflicts and complementarities in the workplace have focused primarily on the dynamic interactions between the single employer and that organization’s employees. The development of simultaneously more fragmented and more networked organizational forms raises new issues of how to understand potential conflicts and contradictions around the ‘employer’ dimension to the employment relationship in addition to more widely recognized conflicts located on the employer–employee axis.