The link between perceived HRM practices,performance and well‐being: the moderating effect of trust in the employer

The present study examines the interaction between perceived HRM practices and trust in the employer on employee performance and well‐being. Specifically, the study tests whether trust in the employer moderates the relationships between perceptions of HRM practices and task performance (as rated by employees’ supervisors), organisational citizenship behaviour, turnover intentions and employee well‐being. Support was found for the majority of the hypotheses using data from 613 employees and their line managers in a service sector organisation in the UK. Trust in the employer moderates the relationships between perceived HRM practices and task performance, turnover intentions and individual well‐being, but not organisational citizenship behaviour. Implications of the findings for organisations and future research are discussed.     

Predicting pro‐change behaviour: the role of perceived organisational justice and organisational identification

This study sets out to determine some of the key factors that foster employees’ behavioural support for change management interventions. Specifically, we examine the relationships between organisational justice, organisational identification and employees’ pro‐change behaviour by analysing questionnaire‐based survey data from 137 market research employees. Full structural equation modelling results indicate that out of the four main organisational justice types, only interpersonal justice perceptions play a significant role in predicting pro‐change behaviour after controlling for same source bias effects. In particular, the relationship between interpersonal justice and pro‐change behaviour is partially mediated by organisational identification. The results additionally indicate that age is positively associated with pro‐change behaviour and tenure with organisational identification. The study as such indicates that while perceptions of fair treatment based on respectful and courteous interactions are important in encouraging employees’ behavioural engagement in change management interventions, key in this process is the role that they play in encouraging identification with the employing organisation.     

Work‐life balance and the software worker

This article examines the impact of employer flexibility to work‐life issues and negative spillover from work to non‐work life on the attitudes of software developers. Software workers present an interesting case for work‐life balance issues – Ackroyd et al (2000) designate them the key occupation to examine in future studies of ‘knowledge workers’, and Barrett (2001) states that they are the ‘vanguard’ of new working practices, with the separation of work and life being substantially more ‘blurred’ than for more traditional occupations. Despite this general perception of the work‐life boundary, our results show that intrusion of work into private life for this group of workers still has a substantial impact on work‐related attitudes. Work‐life boundary variables affect trust in the organisation which plays a mediational role in these variables' relationship to job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Our results suggest that even within this industry, where employees are relatively individualistic in orientation, highly marketable and unlikely to show attachment to a single organisation, mutual gains for employee and employer can be attained by an accommodating approach to non‐work commitments which may lead to greater organisational attachment.     

Reconciling traditional Chinese management with high‐tech Taiwan

The traditional view of management culture among the overseas Chinese is that of an autocratic, paternalistic and centralised organisation with low levels of trust of ‘outside’ professional managers and employees. By contrast, the organisational culture associated with successful innovation and/or high technology is that of a decentralised organisation with high levels of employee autonomy. Existing research indicates that the overseas Chinese have become successful by sticking to the business sectors compatible with their preferred management culture, and that this holds true for Taiwan. What, then, explains the Taiwanese success in high‐technology ventures? This article offers initial evidence that management culture in Taiwan is adapting in order to enable industrial development in new areas. In‐depth interviews with 20 Taiwanese companies indicated that the change is being led by the high‐technology businesses. However, while many of these business culture changes are in a direction towards the organisational culture associated with high‐technology companies, it is also clear that a strong Chinese influence remains.     

Talk,trust and information flow: work relationships between Japanese expatriate and host national employees in Indonesia

This paper broadens the understanding of work relationships between expatriate and host national employees in transnational organisations/corporations, who have tended to be investigated separately. By exploring interpersonal interactions between expatriate and host national employees, this paper highlights the importance of their relationships in the implementation of organisational activities. With a focus on both Japanese expatriate and host national employees in a Japanese organisation in Indonesia, this ethnographic study examines the ways in which they worked in unfamiliar circumstances, managed differences and provided essential support for each other. Their transnational connections, characterised by what Granovetter calls ‘the strength of weak ties’, function to diffuse information and knowledge effectively. I argue the significance of ‘talk’, particularly small talk, as an initial action that supports such information flow and builds trust. This paper attempts to demonstrate the vital roles of expatriate and host national employees as mediators, by using network analysis as a framework. Finally, I conclude that both expatriate and host national employees, the latter often seen merely as backseat players, are in fact keys to the successful activities of transnational organisations/corporations.     

The Social‐Cognitive Underpinnings of Employees’ Ambidextrous Behaviour and the Supportive Role of Group Managers’ Leadership

Although research on organizational ambidexterity has exploded in the past several years, the determinants of individual‐level ambidexterity have received little scholarly attention. This is surprising given that management scholars increasingly highlight the benefits of combining explorative and exploitative activities in individual employees’ work roles. Using data collected by a two‐wave survey of 638 employees nested in 173 groups across 34 organizations, our research demonstrates that both psychological factors and leadership predict employees’ ambidextrous behaviour. Our results demonstrate that general self‐efficacy positively predicts ambidextrous behaviour through learning orientation. In addition, we show that employees exhibit higher ambidexterity when their group managers demonstrate paradoxical leadership; that is, a leadership style that couples strong managerial support with high performance expectations. Paradoxical leadership also moderates the relationship between learning orientation and individual ambidexterity such that employees’ ambidextrous behaviour is highest when paradoxical leadership and employee learning orientation are simultaneously at high levels.     

HR,perceived organisational support and organisational identification: an analysis after organisational formation

Academic research has rarely investigated the role that people management plays in encouraging employees to identify with their employing organisation. This article reports on a study investigating the role that employee perceptions of the HR environment plays in encouraging organisational identification and the importance of perceived organisational support in this relationship. Two research surveys are discussed, one carried out shortly after the formation of the new organisation within the UK National Health Service, and one is a replication study undertaken 13 months later. The results show that key HR‐related factors predict organisational identification; this effect is both direct and indirect through perceptions of organisational support. The findings also demonstrate that, as the organisation matures, there are some interesting changes in which aspects of the HR environment predict identification and perceptions of organisational support.     

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.     

‘Too scared to go sick’—reformulating the research agenda on sickness absence

This article argues that our understanding of absence and absenteeism, deriving from seminal studies in the sociology of work and employment, has been overtaken by hugely significant developments in political economy, regulation and employment relations. A new research agenda that addresses the changed organisational politics of absence management and the consequences for employees is urgently required.     

Organisational communication and supportive employees

The importance of the social dimension of organisations is currently a strong focus of emphasis in the literature. From a managerial perspective, however, it is important that the community spirit within an organisation falls in line with its strategic direction. The study discussed in this article shows that high quality internal communication may be important in encouraging such a supportive attitude. What is considered ‘good’ internal communication does not directly engender more support for the organisation's strategic direction. However, evidence from research in five organisations (with 791 respondents distributed across 19 work units) suggests that there are two ways to foster support. One is to create a sense of commitment within the organisation; the other is to establish trust in the management. Both approaches appear to have a positive relationship with good internal communication. The quality of task‐related communication is important in creating commitment. What is vital in creating trust, however, is the quality of non‐task‐related communication. The study at the focus of this article addresses the following question: does organisational communication help foster a positive attitude towards the strategic direction of an organisation?     

Influence of high performance work systems on employee subjective well-being and job burnout: empirical evidence from the Chinese healthcare sector

Over the last two decades, high performance work systems (HPWSs) research has been dominated by examining the effects of these systems on firm performance. Research on the impact of HPWSs on employees has been marginalised. This study examines the impact of HPWSs on two psychological outcomes for employees, namely, subjective well-being (SWB) and workplace burnout, by utilising data collected from 1488 physicians and nurses in 25 Chinese hospitals. It also examines the moderating effects of employees' organisational based self-esteem (OBSE), as an individual intervention and physician–nurse relationships, as an organisational intervention, on the relationship between HPWSs and employee outcomes. HPWS is found to increase employees' SWB and decrease burnout. Such well-being-enhancing and burnout-relieving effects are stronger when employees have high OBSE. The positive effect of HPWS on SWB is also stronger when there is a collaborative relationship among employees in an organisation. The major contribution of this study is to unpack the ‘black box’ of how HPWS influences employee well-being in the Chinese healthcare sector context.     

Transitioning ageing workers from paid to unpaid work in non‐profits

Resource constraints and retention issues associated with an ageing workforce have challenged non‐profit institutions. Human resource management professionals in these organisations can stem the loss of organisational learning by developing strong social exchanges that encourage employees to pursue post‐retirement volunteering. This paper developed a conceptual model that described how ageing workers may evaluate and connect the quality of the relationships they build at work through social exchanges to their fit with the organisation, workgroup and vocation. Alignment of fit may create an intention to volunteer upon retirement, although we argue that this will be strengthened if the organisation is perceived to value volunteering activities. This value is also shaped through social exchange and might include attitudes toward the extra‐role activities of both employees and volunteers in the current organisation.     

Work context and employee behaviour as antecedents for intrapreneurship

Intrapreneurial employees and intrapreneurial projects are considered to be an important driver of innovation and strategic renewal within companies. While many studies addressed the top-down implementation of innovative projects, analyses of employee initiatives in promoting innovation within companies are scarce. This paper therefore takes a bottom-up approach and focuses on employee behaviour and how it can be stimulated towards intrapreneurship. We propose and test a two-step model where formal and informal work context affects employees’ intrapreneurial behaviour, which then provides the basis for bottom-up initiated intrapreneurial projects. Our empirical data consist of questionnaire responses of 176 employees in six Dutch companies. The results of structural equation model estimations indicate that formal organisational factors (horizontal participation, resource availability) affect employees’ intrapreneurial behaviour, but also highlight informal factors such as trust in the direct manager. We also find that innovativeness and personal initiative, but not risk taking, play a role for an effective translation of employees’ behaviour into intrapreneurial projects.     

Challenged and satisfied: the role of organisational ownership and employee involvement

Abstract

This study aims to offer a more fine-grained approach to our understanding of the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction. Building on organisational theory and Job Demand-Control model, we investigated an important institutional characteristic – organisational ownership – as an additional moderator to influence the interactive effects of job demands and control upon job satisfaction. Using data collected from 1838 Chinese retail sector employees, we found that this three-way interaction was strongest for employees working in foreign-invested firms, who experienced higher employee involvement at work and perceived a high level of challenge-related stress. The relationship was weakest for employees in state-owned enterprises who reported low levels of both employee involvement and challenge-related stress. Our study constitutes an early attempt to assess the impact of institutional characteristics such as ownership on aspects of human resources management, and highlights the need for further research to recognise the importance of such characteristics as contextual factors that influence the effect of organisational practices and the work environment upon individual work-related outcomes. The paper’s concluding sections elaborate on the contributions our research makes both to theory as well as to the practicalities faced by human resource managers in contexts such as China.     

Opportunity,fair process and relationship value: career development as a driver of proactive work behaviour

In line with recent findings from organisational justice theory, we hypothesised that employee proactive behaviour and careerist orientation is predicted by the interplay of perceived favourability of career development opportunities, the perceived fairness of the procedures used to decide them, and employee organisational commitment. Employees (N = 325) of a large financial services organisation responded to a self‐completion questionnaire. As predicted, when career development opportunities were viewed unfavourably, perceived procedural justice was significantly and positively related to individual proactive behaviour and significantly and negatively related to careerist orientation but only when organisational commitment was high. It appears that high procedural justice may only ‘offset’ the negative effects of unfavourable career development opportunities when employees identify with, and are committed to, their organisation. Further support is presented for a relational, rather than instrumental, model of procedural justice when reflecting on employee reactions to their employers’ policies and decision‐making. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

High‐commitment human resource practices and employee outcomes: The contingent role of organisational identification

In this paper, we examine whether the relationship between high‐commitment human resource (HR) practices and two employee outcomes, quit intentions and organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs), is contingent on organisational identification. Incorporating insights from both social exchange and social identity theories, we propose that the relationship between high‐commitment HR systems, intention to quit, and OCBs is attenuated when employees strongly identify with their organisation. This proposition was tested and supported with employees of a Swedish relocation company and a Greek shipping organisation. For high identifiers, as perceptions of HR practices deteriorated from high to low, they were associated with smaller increases in quit intentions and smaller decreases in citizenship behaviours. But overall, high identifiers always had lower quit intentions and higher citizenship behaviours than low identifiers, which is managerially reassuring.     

Ringing the changes? Union recognition and organisation in call centres in the UK finance sector

The massive rise in UK call centre employment in recent years has been closely related to developments in the finance sector. This paper analyses these developments in order to contextualise the organisational experiences of unions in the sector. Recruitment activity in both hostile and compliant employer environments, and findings from the first national survey of call centre employees’ attitudes towards trade unionism, are discussed, and the prospects for union recruitment and organisation are assessed.     

Employee development,commitment and intention to turnover: a test of ‘employability’ policies in action

Participation in three types of development activities is examined among salaried employees of a firm that significantly increased access to development after a series of layoffs in the late 1990s. Analyses of survey and archival data representing 667 employees show that on‐the‐job training was positively related to organisational commitment and negatively related to intention to turnover. Participation in tuition‐reimbursement, which provides more general or marketable skills, was positively related to intention to turnover. However, intention to turnover was reduced after earning a degree through tuition‐reimbursement if employees were subsequently promoted. Implications for an employment relationship based on ‘employability’ are discussed.     

The paradox of employee psychological well-being practices: an integrative literature review and new directions for research

Abstract

It is well established that many HR practices aimed at increasing employees’ psychological wellbeing (PWB) and organisational performance conflict and even contradict one another. We address this long-standing issue by undertaking an innovative integrative literature review using the paradox metatheory as a lens. Unlike the contingency approach, a paradox perspective deems real-world tensions as normal, which can also be harnessed, and benefit employees and the organisation. We make three contributions; firstly, we identify contradictory employee PWB and organisational performance HR practices; secondly, we offer a solution in addressing the inherent tension between PWB and organisational performance by developing a new sensemaking conceptual framework; and thirdly, we offer a more nuanced perspective of prevailing arguments by distinguishing endogenous factors that organisations can influence to enhance the synergies between employee PWB and organisational performance HR practices. The intended impact of this paper is to instigate a paradigm shift and shape a new trajectory of thinking about how employee PWB and organisational performance practices can exist side-by-side.     

Partnership at work and worker participation: an NHS case study

This article considers issues of workplace union strategy in a study of a National Health Service hospital trust in which the focus of the investigation is the ‘employee voice’ gains, or losses, arising from partnership and worker participation. The impact of government policy on local management and, in turn, employees’ opportunities to participate in organisational decision making is therefore the main theme explored in this analysis.