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.     

Different roads: changes in industrial and employee relations in the Czech Republic and East Germany* since 1989

This article examines the differential impact of post Communist restructuring on industrial and employee relations in the Czech Republic and East Germany. It reviews the pre and post Communist systems of industrial relations and personnel management in the two countries and draws on original survey data to examine how this influences employee relations at organisation level.     

Varieties and variability of employee relations approaches in US subsidiaries: country-of-origin effects and the level and type of industry internationalisation

This article investigates the relative importance and variability of the country-of-origin effect in employee relations approaches of US subsidiaries within the context of diversity of employee relations patterns in home- and host-country business systems and the influence of important industry forces. It is based on a representative survey of US subsidiaries and indigenous firms in the UK. The cross-sectional comparison with indigenous UK firms confirmed a distinct US country-of-origin imprint in employee relations patterns in US subsidiaries. However, the magnitude of such an effect cautions against assumptions of popular stereotypes and reflects, inter alia, the diversity of employee relations approaches among US parent companies as well as developments in the UK industrial relations landscape over the last decades. The intra-US analysis revealed the importance of both the level and type of industry internationalisation in shaping the strength and nature of the country-of-origin influence. On the basis of the findings, the article highlights lessons to be learned for the study of cross-border policy-transfer issues in MNCs.     

The non-union workplace in Australia: bleak house or human resource innovator?

This paper compares the employee relations practices and outcomes of non-union and unionized workplaces in Australia. It also examines the nature of those practices to ascertain whether non-union workplaces can best be characterized as human resource innovators or 'bleak houses'. The data for the study are drawn from the 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. The findings suggest that non-union workplaces are distinctly less innovative in a number of their employee relations practices and in general have less favourable employee relations outcomes than unionized workplaces in terms of dismissal and turnover rates. The non-union workplace is also distinguished by the individualistic nature of its contractual, remunerative and bargaining arrangements.     

ENTERPRISE WITHOUT UNIONS: THE MANAGEMENT OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS IN NON-UNION FIRMS

Employee relations in non-union settings remain largely uninvestigated by industrial relations researchers. This article examines the management of employee relations in establishments in high technology industries in the Southeast of England - a sector and locality frequently identified with high levels of non-unionism. Moreover, high technology firms are frequently seen as exemplars of new human resource management techniques designed to substitute for unions. Our data from postal and interview surveys of 115 establishments suggests that HRM is only one, and by no means the dominant, approach to managing employee relations in high technology establishments.     

The German model of employee relations on trial: negotiated and unilaterally imposed change in multi‐national companies

This article investigates the effects of negotiated and unilaterally imposed change on employee relations in the German subsidiaries of a Finnish and a German multi‐national company (MNC). We look at how the strategies affect the sustainability of the current German model of employee relations and highlight some of the disadvantages of this model for global MNCs.     

The same yet different: Worker reports on labour practices and outcomes in a single firm across countries

This paper examines cross-country differences in labour policies and practices and employee performance and attitudes toward work from a sample of nearly 30,000 employees in a large multinational manufacturing firm. The analysis shows: 1) large establishment and country differences in work practices, performance, and attitudes toward work across countries; 2) qualitatively similar responses of workers to work practices across countries; 3) a strong link between the establishment average of employee reports on the quality of labour-management relations and establishment average measures of employee performance 4) a positive relation between average employee performance and average employee-management relations at the country level, but no relation between country level performance in the firm and measures of the extent of national labour regulations or practices.     

The reluctant bargainers? McDonald’s,unions and pay determination in Germany and the UK

There is growing evidence that multinational enterprises (MNEs) increasingly develop organisation-based employment strategies, which promote the transmission of employee relations practices across national borders. This article provides an analysis of one MNE’s employee relations practice and what appears to be its preference for operating, where possible, independently of national industrial relations systems. The findings, which draw on a UK/German comparison, raise a number of questions about the adequacy of even highly juridifed national systems to protect workers rights in practice.     

Exploring the interaction of firm-level change and national institutional environments in shaping employment and union relations: a comparative case study of four European airlines

Drawing on the example of the airline industry, this paper explores in a longitudinal comparative case study the question of how firm-level changes and national institutional environments interact in shaping employee and union relations. Adding to previous research in comparative institutional analysis and comparative employment relations, we illustrate that the way in which industry pressures and national-level effects play out to influence employee and union relations depends on firm-level changes, mainly in the form of firm growth, acquisitions and the foundation of new subsidiaries. We show in particular that depending on firm-level changes, the very same firm might engage differently with a given institutional context at different points in time. Hence, our work illustrates the importance of firm growth, acquisitions and the foundation of new subsidiaries in explaining the shifting interaction between the firm and its institutional environment, and its implications for changing employee and union relations within firms.     

HRM practice in emerging economies: a long way to go in the Slovak hotel industry?

Using empirical data from interviews among leading hotels in Slovakia, this paper sets out to explore recent developments in human resource management (HRM) policies and practices and labour relations in an emerging Central European economy. The main areas explored are the HRM function, employee resourcing, employee development, employee relations and emerging HRM issues. The paper establishes that there has been a move away from the traditional rigid socialist type of personnel management, but it has not been fully replaced by HRM practices. The emergent 'model' is a hybrid of the traditional Western personnel management and basic HRM activities, alongside which some legacies of the socialist personnel function still exist.     

From Quality Circles to Self-Managed Work Teams: Are Employee Teams Legal in the United States?

This paper focuses on the legal status of employee teams, such as quality circles, that are commonly used within organizations in the United States. At present, the National Labor Relation Act (the Act), which governs labor–management relations, also has direct implications for the types of employee teams that can be legally implemented within organizations. This paper reviews the governing sections of the Act and analyzes how they apply to the use of employee teams. Suggestions for avoiding or dealing with illegally formed employee teams are offered.     

论企业和谐劳动关系的构建

企业劳动关系和谐与否不仅与职工个人相关,而且与社会存在着极为密切的关系。我国的社会关系与劳动关系整体上是协调的,但也存在着一些不和谐的因素。文章就企业如何构建和谐的劳动关系提出若干观点。     

Ideological currency in psychological contracts: the role of team relationships in a reciprocity perspective

This study focused on the role of ideology in psychological contracts, which has been a neglected theme in psychological contract research. A study among Dutch middle managers in education revealed that ideological psychological contract fulfillment explained additional variance in relation to employee obligations toward the organization. Moreover, it was found that team relationships moderated the relations between some aspects of employer contract fulfillment and employee obligations, but no significant interactions were found between employer ideological fulfillment and team relationships in relation to employee obligations.     

Disengaging from engagement

Two basic approaches to engagement are contrasted. Work engagement relates to an individual's psychological state of mind while at work. The problems with this and its limited relevance to HRM are considered: its concern with a minority of employees, the way non‐engaged staff are portrayed, the airbrushing out of conflict and the pernicious use of positive psychology. Employee or behavioural engagement is more relevant to HRM and employment relations but suffers from a lack of definition and a failure to specify the components that are associated with higher levels of employee engagement. It is usually a‐contextual and lacks the subtlety of earlier work on HR and performance, while covering the same ground. Problems remain with research seeking to show the connections with financial performance. Boiling engagement measures down to one score is particularly worrying. The management of employee engagement in the UK National Health Service illustrates that properly constructed studies of employee engagement can inform policies and practices to improve work relations, employee well‐being and aspects of performance.     

Employee voice: does union membership matter?

Industrial relations research has traditionally viewed trade unions as the primary mechanism for employee voice. With the decline in unionism in many advanced industrial economies over the past two decades, new direct non-union voice mechanisms have been introduced by employers. This focus on the mechanisms for employee voice, however, fails to take account of employees' perceptions of voice. We suggested that employee perceptions of voice vary between the different levels of an organisation and proposed that trade union membership will be more likely to enhance individual employee perceptions of voice at the wider organisational level. Contrary to our expectations, our analysis of 2,949 employees of a public sector scientific research organisation found that union membership had a significant negative impact on employee voice at the organisational level. The article concluded by offering possible explanations for this unexpected finding and the implications for theory, management and future research.     

A mutual gains perspective on workplace partnership: Employee outcomes and the mediating role of the employment relations climate

Recent years have witnessed increased research on the role of workplace partnership in promoting positive employment relations. However, there has been little quantitative analysis of the partnership experiences of employees. This article examines how the kinds of attributions employees make regarding indirect (union‐based) and direct (non‐union‐based) employee participation in workplace partnership might influence the process of mutual gains. It uses employee outcomes to reflect partnership gains for all stakeholders involved (i.e. employees, employers and trade unions). The article contributes to existing knowledge of workplace partnership by examining the potential role of the employment relations climate as an enabling mechanism for the process of mutual gains. The findings suggest mutual gains for all stakeholders are varied and mediated through the employment relations climate.     

Behavioral Effects of Sustainability‐Oriented Incentive Systems

Companies increasingly extend their existing incentive systems by integrating several sustainable performance indicators. Although these ‘sustainability‐oriented’ incentive systems clearly highlight which business objectives should be attained, little is known about the effects that these incentive systems have on employee behavior. Based on signaling theory, social identity theory and a person–organization fit (PO‐fit) perspective, we assume positive relations between sustainability‐oriented incentive systems and employee attraction, motivation and cooperation. Furthermore, we examine whether these relations are moderated by personal attitudes toward corporate sustainability activities as well as the underlying mechanisms at the moderation (mediated moderation). Our experimental results (with students as future employees) do not give support for a general positive relation between sustainability‐oriented incentive systems and employee behavior. However, our data show that a person's attitude toward corporate sustainability activities moderates the link between sustainability‐oriented incentive systems and employee behavior. Additionally, we find PO‐fit perceptions to mediate the interaction effects. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Local Bargaining in the National Health Service: New Approaches to Employee Relations

This research uses the establishment of local bargaining arrangements in the National Health Service (NHS) to examine managerial employee relations objectives. It finds a continued commitment to pluralism and a rejection of an HRM approach. Change is taking place, possibly involving a shift towards a consultative style, in a traditional industrial relations framework.     

Moderating effect of employee perception of responsible downsizing on job satisfaction and innovation commitment

Abstract

Firms strive to innovate and enhance their competitive advantage. However, firm innovation relies on employee willingness to innovate. Therefore, how job satisfaction motivates employees to innovate has become a crucial topic. Additionally, for firms implementing a downsizing strategy to achieve a competitive edge, employee perception of downsizing may moderate the effect of employee job satisfaction on innovation commitment. To investigate the relationships between critical variables and employee innovation, we studied 277 nonsupervisory employees and three groups of stakeholders in a company and employed quantitative and qualitative methods to examine our research construct. The results revealed that job satisfaction regarding direct supervisors, pressure at work, peer relations, support of family, and health substantially affected employee innovation commitment. Employee perception of responsible downsizing strategy altered the influence of these factors. The findings of this research construct can guide organizational research and managerial practices.     

Strategic human resource management,firm performance,and employee relations climate in China

We examined strategic human resource management (SHRM) and human resource practices in the People's Republic of China to assess the impact of these practices on firm performance and the employee relations climate. We also tested whether firm ownership moderates the above relationships. Empirical results from a sample of Chinese firms from various industries and regions showed that the levels of adoption of SHRM and HR practices were lower in state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) than in foreign‐invested enterprises (FIEs) and privately owned enterprises (POEs). Both SHRM and HR practices were found to have direct and positive effects on financial performance, operational performance, and the employee relations climate. However, the moderating effect of ownership type was significant for financial performance only. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.