The impact of Investors in People on employer‐provided training,the equality of training provision and the ‘training apartheid’ phenomenon

This article draws on data from WERS 2004 to provide a follow‐up to previous research using WERS 98, which evaluated the relationship between Investors in People (IiP) and training. This follow‐up is undertaken in order to consider whether the Standard, which was revised in 2000, is now more effective in ensuring that recognised workplaces genuinely engage in training activity. An evaluation is also undertaken of the Standard's new aim of ensuring equal opportunities with regard to training provision. In the event, the analysis demonstrates that the proportion of employees in IiP workplaces that have not received formal training did not change between 1998 and 2004, but employees were now less likely to disagree that managers at their workplaces encourage people to develop their skills. However, the analysis finds greater evidence of inequality of training provision in IiP workplaces than in non‐IiP workplaces and that the Standard neither boosts training levels for typically disadvantaged employee groups, nor overcomes the ‘training apartheid’ phenomenon.     

Employers’ Perspectives on the Canadian National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace

Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in Canada, with costs estimated at 51 billion dollars annually in addition to significant social costs. The Canadian National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard), recently released by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, aims to promote psychological health and safety in Canadian workplaces. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of Canadian employers on the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. Ten employers from large, medium, and small workplaces participated in qualitative semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis was used to identify themes. Employers are concerned with workplace mental health and see value in the Standard, but are relatively uninformed about it. Employers identified leadership as a critical ingredient for effective Standard implementation, and believed that benefits of the Standard can be far reaching. Roger’s (2003) Diffusion of Innovations model is applied to conceptualize the uptake of this important social change. Employers’ perspectives and foundational knowledge about the Standard provides a starting point for collaborations between human resource professionals, workplace consultants, and workplace leaders to move the implementation of the Standard forward and create psychologically healthy work environments.     

Employee involvement and participation: developing the concept of institutional embeddedness using WERS2004

It is widely accepted that employee involvement and participation (EIP) is a key component of the high commitment bundle of HRM, but that it can take a range of forms in practice. Much of the analysis to date has either treated different forms of EIP as a single construct or has measured EIP by virtue of its presence or absence alone. Drawing on earlier work based on the data from WERS1998 examining the link between various forms of EIP and employee outcomes such as job satisfaction and organisational commitment, the authors re-apply and extend these ideas to data from WERS2004. In particular they develop the concept of institutional embeddedness, in order argue that both the depth and breadth of EIP have important associations with commitment though not with satisfaction.

This association held for workplaces employing 25 or more workers, and here it was apparent that the more that employees are involved at workplace level – through a wider number of EIP practices that are held more frequently and include opportunities for workers to have their say – the more likely it is that investments in EIP will reap the reward of organisational commitment. For smaller establishments, given that they tend to operate with relatively few formal schemes, it is likely that managers in these workplaces find alternative ways in which to engage the workforce, and that informal EIP offer similar levels of embeddedness in these situations. A clear implication to be drawn from the findings is that, in a context of lower levels of formality within organisations (large and small), line managers are more than ever the key link between HR policy and the embodiment of actual practice at the workplace.     

A microeconometric evaluation of rehabilitation of long‐term sickness in Sweden

In this study the effects of various types of rehabilitation programmes on labour market outcomes are estimated. A main feature of this study is that it jointly evaluates multiple treatments by nonparametric matching estimators. The study is based on a large sample of persons in western Sweden who are long‐term sick and could participate in rehabilitation programmes. Our results suggest that workplace training is superior to the other rehabilitation programmes with respect to labour market outcomes, but compared to non‐participation no positive effects are found. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equality and diversity in British workplaces: the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey

Drawing on key findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004), this article examines developments in the incidence, scope and substance of equal opportunities policy provision and practice in Britain. The discussion then considers the extent to which workplaces might be adopting diversity management practices, the potential for further research on equality and diversity using WERS 2004, and the issues that might be considered in future workplace employment relations surveys.     

The Impact of Sexual Harassment Policy in the Dutch Police Force

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the outcome of sexual harassment policy in the Dutch Police Force. Using a survey, sexual harassment was measured in 2000 and again in 2006 and we tested whether sexual harassment is associated with the comprehensiveness of policies. To be able to identify divisions with comprehensive policies, we interviewed 29 key persons in semi-structured interviews. It appeared that between 2000 and 2006 sexual harassment did not decrease: neither for women nor for men. Furthermore, the risk of sexual harassment was not lower in divisions that implemented comprehensive policies than in divisions with less comprehensive policies. The results suggest that sexual harassment is a workplace hazard that is very difficult to prevent in male dominated workplaces and implementing a comprehensive policy is not sufficient to prevent this workplace hazard.     

Claims of employment discrimination and worker voice

Using the U.S. National Study of the Changing Workforce survey, we show that claims of racial and gender discrimination emerge less frequently in workplaces with established worker voice mechanisms. This result accords with the hypothesis that participation enhances perceptions of workplace fairness. We show that while having a supervisor of the same race or gender is associated with reduced discrimination claims, the role of voice tends to be larger when the race or gender of the supervisor is different from that of the worker. This suggests that voice may be particularly important in heterogeneous workplaces.     

21st‐century models of employee representation: structures,processes and outcomes

The 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey allows further exploration of the fate or workplace‐based forms of employee representation charted by earlier surveys. We describe the occurrence and diversity of representational forms, union, non‐union and ‘hybrid’, and the structural characteristics of workplaces where they are found. We go on to analyse a number of structural and processual differences and differences in outcomes. In particular, we try to estimate the effects of different forms for outcomes such as wage dispersion, procedural ‘fairness’ and productivity. The data show that ‘hybrid’ systems of union and non‐union representation are associated with the best outcomes, therefore, notwithstanding the continuing decline in the diffusion of the ‘traditional’ union‐based model of workplace representation, union presence is still a prerequisite for effective representation, while ‘pure’ non‐union forms serve neither employee nor employer interests.     

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.     

The influence of calculative (“hard”) and collaborative (“soft”) HRM on the layoff‐performance relationship in high performance workplaces

We investigate the effect of employment systems on the layoff‐performance relationship. We construct a typology of two types of HPWS (Calculative or “hard” HRM and Collaborative or “soft” HRM) and two non‐high performance systems (Traditional HRM and Low HRM). We use attribution theory as a framework from which to draw hypotheses. We examine survey responses from two waves of panel data. We employ cluster analysis to identify distinctive configurations of employment practices used in UK workplaces. We use the cluster outcomes as explanatory variables in moderator regression analysis. Following layoffs, we find that Calculative workplaces experience lower subsequent performance than Collaborative workplaces. Over the next five years, Calculative and Collaborative workplaces experience equivalent amounts of performance change but Calculative workplaces fail to make a full recovery.     

Rhetorical Styles in University Accreditation: Judgmental Rules or Collaborative Creation?

The university accreditation process is at a crossroads. After more than a century of allowing universities to function as self‐governing institutions, legislatures are now demanding more accountability. That puts pressure on the accreditation process to impose more external rules, which are diametrically opposed to the high value placed on heterogeneity and the spirit of free and independent inquiry. However, accreditation, and the assessment practices that accompany it, need to resist this restrictive methodology. Assessment is a rhetorical social practice, and as such, the kind of rhetoric we use when we engage this practice influences how we think and feel about the work and contributes to the effectiveness of our practice. Aristotle's distinction between forensic and deliberative rhetoric provides a heuristic framework for us to think about regional accreditation and internal assessment of universities. A close look at recent accreditation guidelines reveals that the context of much regional and local assessment calls for a deliberative rhetoric (thinking together about how to create a common future) rather than forensic rhetoric (gathering evidence to judge a past event). However, habituated responses to existing assessment genres can cause those involved in accreditation and assessment to fail to move beyond a mentality of mere compliance and miss the opportunities of progressive, aspirational assessment practice, a practice that requires a deliberative rhetoric in order to set us on the open pathway of building educational community.     

A multilevel examination of skills‐oriented human resource management and perceived skill utilization during recession: Implications for the well‐being of all workers

This article examines whether organizations can enhance employee well‐being by adopting human resource management (HRM) practices strategically targeted to improve skill development and deployment in a recessionary context. Employee skill utilization is proposed as the mediating mechanism between HRM practice and well‐being. The role of workplace skill composition is also examined as a boundary condition within which HRM differentially impacts employee outcomes. Using a nationally representative survey of UK workplaces (Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2011) and matched management and employee data, the analysis focused on organizations that had implemented some recessionary action following the 2008–2009 global financial and economic crisis. The findings show that human capital enhancing HRM and enriched job design positively influenced both job satisfaction and work‐related affective well‐being through increased employee skill utilization. Organizations with predominantly high‐skilled workforces were more likely to adopt these skills‐oriented HRM practices. Nevertheless, the effects of HRM on employee outcomes via skill utilization applied across organizations, regardless of workforce skill composition. The findings demonstrate employee skill utilization as a driver of HRM outcomes and the sustainability of “best practice” HRM arguments across all skill levels, even in the face of recession.     

Malaysian industrial relations at century's turn: Vision 2020 or a spectre of the past?

Malaysia's industrial relations (IR) has been characterized by extensive state control guaranteeing a high level of managerial prerogative within the workplace, minimal overt conflict and very little bargaining power for labour. These arrangements were an integral component of the package to attract investors when Malaysia's industrialization strategy focused on low-cost, export-oriented industries. Since then, however, Malaysia has adopted the goal of developed country status by 2020 and embarked on a higher value-added, more capital-intensive industrialization strategy. This paper analyzes current Malaysian IR at the workplace level, posing the question as to whether the economic progress towards 'Vision 2020' is being accompanied by a transformation of Malaysia's IR. It will be seen that there is evidence of substantial growth in training, the implementation of multi-skilling in some workplaces as well as isolated instances of some 'lean production' practices. Fundamental change, however, is not occurring; workers remain excluded from the decision-making process both within and outside the workplace.     

Family‐friendly work practices in Britain: Availability and perceived accessibility

Using linked data for British workplaces and employees, we find a low base rate of workplace‐level availability, and a substantially lower rate of individual‐level perceived accessibility, for five family‐friendly work practices' parental leave, paid leave, job sharing, subsidized child care, and working at home. Our results demonstrate that statistics on workplace availability drastically overstate the extent to which employees perceive that family‐friendly policies are accessible to them personally. British workplaces appear to be responding slowly, and perhaps disingenuously, to pressures to enhance family‐friendly work practices. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An evaluation of the Investors in People Standard

The authors describe the Investors in People Standard and explain the process which organisations need to complete to gain the accolade Investor in People. A postal survey with 455 respondents is described and findings given. A total of 17 case studies were also conducted, as were seven interviews with key agencies in this field. The authors conclude that there is evidence of positive perception of the impact of human resource development (HRD) on organisational performance and that there is a common acceptance of certain strategies as best practice. There is also evidence that the adoption of a systematic process to adjusting training and development to business strategies results in a more normative commitment to employee development.     

Employee voice regimes and the characteristics of conflict: an analysis of the 2003 survey of employment tribunal applications

This article investigates the extent to which the characteristics and outcomes of Employment Tribunal Applications (ETAs) differ according to whether (1) unions have a role in workplace voice and whether (2) HR departments have a role in workplace voice. We find that ETAs from workplaces with a union presence are less likely to result in an adverse ruling against the employer. Interpreting the judgement of employment tribunals as an evaluation of the effectiveness of workplace voice regime, this finding suggests that Employment Tribunals (and the employment legislation they consider) provide unions with a framework within which they contribute to workplace performance.     

The implementation of equality legislation: the case of disabled graduates and reasonable adjustments

This article explores how reasonable adjustments, part of UK equality legislation, are secured in the workplace, and argues that an implementation gap exists where the impact of the law is weak, despite legal mandates to aid disabled people in employment. The research points to the importance of employers' knowledge of the effects disability as a key determinant of securing workplace adjustments.     

Human Capital Spillovers within the Workplace: Evidence for Great Britain*

In this paper, we use a unique matched worker–workplace data set to estimate the effect on own earnings of co‐workers’ education. Our results, using the 1998 GB Workplace Employee Relations Survey, show significant effects. An independent, significantly positive effect from average workplace education is evident; own earnings premia from years of education fall only slightly when controlling for workplace education. This result suggests that the social returns to education are strongly positive – working with colleagues who each had 1.2 years (1 standard deviation) of more education than the average worker, boosts own earnings by 11.1%. An additional year of any single co‐worker's education is worth about 3.2% of an additional own year of education. We also test for interactions between own and co‐worker education levels and for ‘skills incompatibility’ when worker education levels are heterogeneous. The interactions appear negative: own education is not much valued at workplaces where co‐workers’ education levels are already high. There is no evidence that workplace heterogeneity in worker education levels adversely affects own earnings. This result runs counter to theoretical predictions, and suggests that workers compete in tournaments for high‐paying jobs.