How the impact of HR practices on employee well‐being and performance changes with age

With changing retirement ages and an aging workforce, interest is growing on the potential contribution of relevant bundles of HR practices in eliciting well‐being and performance among aging workers. Drawing on theories on lifespan development and self‐regulation, we distinguished two bundles of HR practices: development HR practices that help individual workers reach higher levels of functioning (e.g. training), and maintenance HR practices that help individual workers maintain their current levels of functioning in the face of new challenges (e.g. performance appraisal). Further, based on lifespan theories, we expected and found that the association between development HR practices and well‐being (i.e. job satisfaction, organisational commitment and organisational fairness) weakens, and that the associations between maintenance HR practices and well‐being, and between development HR practices and employee performance, strengthen with age. In addition, a third bundle of ‘job enrichment’ HR practices emerged that elicited higher job performance among aging workers.     

From personal wellbeing to relationships: A systematic review on the impact of mindfulness interventions and practices on leaders

This study provides a systematic review of prior empirical research on the impact of mindfulness interventions and practices on leaders. The aim is to integrate existing knowledge and identify future research needs. Mindfulness as a leader-specific practice is defined and discussed to provide conceptual clarity and to highlight the importance of understanding the phenomenon and its value in the context of leadership and individual leader development. A conceptual framework is presented which synthesizes findings from prior works and shows that leaders' mindfulness practices affect various developmental outcomes viewed as important for leaders and leadership. A comprehensive future research agenda for theoretical and empirical advancement is proposed that recommends looking beyond the essential wellbeing and work productivity outcomes and exploring the transformative outcomes of mindfulness interventions and practices related to leaders' relationships and inner growth that involve enhanced self-awareness and social/contextual awareness.     

Linking strategy and human resource practices: How employee and customer contracts are created

Organizations implement their business strategies through the human resource (HR) practices they use. These practices are major determinants of employees' psychological contracts. How employees interpret the terms of their employment impacts motivation, innovation, and customer service. This article describes four common types of psychological contracts in US firms and the HR practices that create them. It develops a framework for understanding how each contract shapes employee performance, retention, cooperation with fellow employees and customer responsiveness. It presents recommendations for more effectively managing the link between business strategy and the psychological contract of employees. © 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Demographic diversity in the workplace and its impact on employee voice: the role of trust in the employer

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between demographic diversity principles and evaluations of employee voice. An analysis of survey data from 707 employees working at 37 hospitality institutions with different star categories confirmed that trust in the employer, followed by the modest contribution of education, is of the utmost importance in the evaluation of voice systems by all employees. Employee evaluations of voice opportunities were found to display differences between male and female employee groups. While generational cohort was a differentiating attribute for the male group, job tenure had the same effect for the female employees. Implications for future research and for HR managers are discussed.     

Exploring the efficacy of healthcare quality practices, employee commitment, and employee control

This exploratory study examines healthcare quality program practices, employee commitment and control initiatives, and perceived results by surveying the directors of hospital quality programs. U.S. hospitals are renowned to be among the highest in quality, but recent studies assert that the majority of error-related deaths per year are preventable. In response, healthcare organizations have adopted quality management programs. Employee commitment and control theories propose that employee initiatives are critical to patient safety. However, little research has focused on the efficacy of employee commitment and control initiatives for quality programs at healthcare organizations. This study examines the responses from Quality and Risk Directors of 372 U.S. hospitals. The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) demonstrate that perceived quantitative and qualitative quality program results are more highly related to employee commitment and control initiatives than they are related to quality practices.     

Work and family practices in Japanese firms: their scope,nature and impact on employee turnover

Using firm-level data from Japan, this study examines the effects of four commonly used work and family practices on employee turnover: flextime, maternity leave, child care leave, and nursing care leave. Overall, we find statistically significant associations between work and family practices and female employee turnover in Japan. In stark contrast, we do not find such a statistically significant linkage between work and family practices and male employee turnover. As such, this study highlights the potential moderating effect of individual characteristics such as gender on the relationship between work and family practices and employee attitudes and behaviours.     

The effect of adverse impact in selection practices on organizational diversity: a field study

Based on a sample of 154 organizations across Canada, we examined the influence of the use of different employee selection methods on workplace minority representation rates. Results indicated that usage of cognitive ability and personality testing significantly influences minority representation after controlling for other diversity management practices. In particular, cognitive ability testing appears to be associated with lower levels of minority group representation in organizations as a whole and in their management ranks; personality testing is associated with higher levels of minority representation in organizations. To advance our understanding of the organizational factors that influence minority group representation and the use of different selection practices, we also examined HR manager perceptions of test bias and the effects of employment equity (EEA) legislation on selection test usage. Results indicated that firms covered under employment equity legislation were less likely to use cognitive ability tests. Interestingly, HR managers reported that personality tests may be more biased against minorities than cognitive ability tests. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Revitalizing social dialogue in the workplace: the impact of a cooperative industrial relations climate and sustainable HR practices on reducing employee harm

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to unravel the relationship between current forms and realities of social dialogue in the workplace, the industrial relations climate, HRM, and employee harm. We tested a model specifying associations between (1) indicators of revitalized social dialogue, (2) perceived cooperation within the industrial relations climate, (3) perceived sustainability in HR practices, and (4) management perceptions regarding employee harm. The test was based on a survey conducted among 356 (HR-)managers and CEOs in Belgium. The results support the idea that a cooperative industrial relations climate and sustainable HR practices can reduce employee harm. More specifically, efficiency in social dialogue fully mediated the relationship between cooperative industrial climate and employee harm. In turn, industrial relations climate partially mediated the relationship between sustainable HR practices and employee harm. Finally, sustainable HR practices correlated positively with a cooperative industrial relations climate, suggesting that HR and employee relations reinforce rather than weaken each other.     

The impact of human resource activities on employee trust

Most of the literature on HR activities and trust has presumed that employees' trust affects the success and effectiveness of HR activities. However, social exchange theory suggests an alternative and complementary notion—that HR activities affect the development of employee trust. Previous research and exchange-based theories, including organizational justice, leader-member exchange, spiral reinforcement and perceptions of organizational support, suggest hypotheses that need to be investigated in order to understand the relationship between HR activities and trust better and to design HR activities to build trust and improve organizational effectiveness.     

李晶：如何让员工与公司同呼吸、共命运

随着经济的飞速发展,越来越多的机会摆在国人面前,尤其是那些有经验、有能力的人才,更是要面临形形色色的外界诱惑。因此,人员流动率的增大成了一个不争的事实,也成了各个企业HR最为头痛的事情。面对日益严重的人才流失的恐慌,HR应如何面对？以下是华晨宝马汽车有限公司人力资源高级副总裁李晶女士对此的作答     

The impact of employee perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility practices on job performance and organizational citizenship behavior: evidence from the Chinese private sector

This paper examines the impact of employee perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on their job performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Hierarchical regression analysis on two-wave data from 184 supervisor/subordinate dyads from three organizations located in Zhejiang Province, South-East China, revealed that employee perceptions of CSR toward social and non-social stakeholders strongly influenced their OCB. However, employee perceptions of CSR toward employees, customers and government influenced neither their job performance nor OCB.     

High‐commitment HR practices,employee effort,and firm performance: Investigating the effects of HR practices across employee groups within professional services firms

In this study, the authors examine the relationship between high‐commitment HR practices and firm performance in professional services firms through the mediator of employee effort. In addition, they contribute to the debate in the field of strategic HRM on whether high‐commitment HR practices should be used across all employee groups within a firm. Their study's results show that high‐commitment HR practices positively relate to firm performance through employee effort for two employee groups within professional services firms. Further, they found that the relationship between effort and performance is contingent on the value of the employee group to firm competitive advantage, suggesting that companies may only want to expend the effort and resources on building a high‐commitment HR system for employee groups that are clearly tied to creating firm competitive advantage. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Trust as moderator in the relationship between HRM practices and employee attitudes

The study contributes to the debate in the HRM literature by examining the role of trust in management in moderating the effect of HRM practices on employee attitudes. The novelty of the study lies in our interest in assessing this relationship not only on a system of HR practices, but also considering whether the influence varies according to specific ‘bundles’ of practices. Adopting a Structural Equation Modelling approach, we first test the moderation using an HRM index of seven practices on a sample of 9,000 employees from 46 Italian organisations. Then, following the AMO approach, we assess the relationship on three ‘bundles’ of practices, one oriented to increasing ability, another motivation and the third opportunity to participate. Results confirm the moderation with the overall HRM index. Interestingly, the effect varies depending on the HR bundles, being significant only with the motivation practices and not relevant in the other two bundles.     

Life on the line: exploring high‐performance practices from an employee perspective

Through a case‐based approach, this study addresses the call for employee‐focused research to help us understand whether the high‐performance causal chain is the result of discretionary effort or management control and work intensification. Findings highlight the role of the manager and workplace relationships and emphasise the need for ‘good practice’.     

Hours underemployment and employee turnover: the moderating role of human resource practices

Using Canadian nationally representative, multisource longitudinal data, this paper examines relationships between hours underemployment, employee turnover and human resource practices. The results of hierarchical linear models indicate that underemployed employees are more likely to leave an organisation that relies heavily on part-time workers, whereas they are more likely to stay when their employers hire regularly from within the company. These findings extend the literature on hours underemployment from individual-level direct effects to organisational-level moderating factors, and accordingly, they provide empirical evidence that human resource professionals can use to address the detrimental effects of underemployment.     

A global perspective on diversity and inclusion in work organisations

This Academy of Management, Human Resources Division, Ambassadors' Programme special issue presents a collection of empirical papers examining workplace diversity and inclusion in a global context. We introduce this topic raising three overarching challenges: to develop more context-specific definitions of diversity and inclusion; to include dimensions pertinent to a global context in the definition of diversity and inclusion; and to consider the impact of diversity and inclusion practices on performance outcomes across countries as well as within multinational corporations. We explore these challenges through three diversity and inclusion lenses – gender, age and nationality – exploring global perspectives at the national, organisational and team levels of analysis. In conclusion, we present an agenda for future research.