Collective and individual benefits of trade unions: a multi‐level analysis of 21 European countries

In light of internationally declining union density, this article examines to what extent employees derive advantage from trade unions. Data collected in 21 countries through the European Social Survey 2010 are being used. Multilevel analyses show that it is not so much individual membership but unions' collective power that matters. Perceived union influence and a union‐friendly industrial relations regime (mainly the organized corporatism in the Nordic countries) are positively linked to the occurrence of regular workplace meetings and to the impact of these meetings on organizational decisions. Employees also appear to benefit from unions' collective power in terms of appropriate pay and job security, although the regime pattern is then less clear.     

An exploratory analysis of the influence of human resource management activities and organizational climate on job satisfaction in Turkish banks

This study aims to explore the influence of human resource management (HRM) activities and organizational climate on job satisfaction in Turkish banks. The study first examines the relative influence of eight HRM activities of: (i) behavior and attitudes (in recruitment and selection); (ii) teamwork; (iii) extensive training; (iv) written policies; (v) training in multiple functions; (vi) incentives; (vii) performance appraisal; and (viii) feedback on performance on job satisfaction. Second, the influence of six factors relating to organizational climate are examined, again from the view point of their influence on job satisfaction. The second group factors are: (i) support for innovation; (ii) managerial competence and consistency; (iii) workload pressure; (iv) cohesion; (v) organizational boundaries; and (vi) organizational ethics. The data collected through interviews from 346 employees from 19 banks show that in addition to the positive impact of HRM activities, organizational climate in particular makes a significant contribution to job satisfaction. The paper presents the influence of the two groups of factors on job satisfaction and the mechanisms through which these factors foster job satisfaction and their implications for practitioners.     

Managerial telework allowance decisions – a vignette study among German managers

Managers play an important role in the implementation of telework in organizations since they frequently have final approval over employees' requests for telework arrangements. Drawing upon March's (1994) dual-logic theory of decision making, the study examines antecedents of managers' responses to employees' requests for telework. Using a vignette study with a balanced experimental design, we investigated the impact of person-related, task-related and organizational context factors on managerial telework allowance decisions in German organizations. Several person- and task-related factors were found to be significantly related to managers' telework allowance decisions. Organizational context factors, such as a family-supportive organizational culture and formal policies were found to either directly or indirectly influence managers' responses to employees' requests for telework. More specifically, formal telework policies were important in stimulating favorable managerial telework allowance decisions when applicant criticality was low and the organizational culture was family-unsupportive. In line with March's (1994) theory of decision making, the study shows that utility maximization is only one perspective of decision making which managers apply to telework allowance decisions. Rule following and considerations of appropriateness are also taken into account by managers when deciding upon employees' telework requests.     

Individual job‐choice decisions and the impact of job attributes and recruitment practices: A longitudinal field study

The present research is intended to contribute to the understanding of how job‐choice decisions are made and the role of effective and ineffective recruiting practices in that process. The issues are examined by tracking job seekers through the job search and choice process. At multiple points in the process, structured interviews are used to elicit information from the job seekers pertaining to how they are making their decision and what factors play a role. Results provide theoretical and practical insights into the organizational and job attributes important to job choice, as well as how specific recruiting practices may exert a significant influence, positive or negative, on job‐choice decisions. For example, our findings reinforced the importance of providing job seekers the opportunity to meet with multiple (and high‐level) organizational constituents, impressive site‐visit arrangements, and frequent and prompt follow‐up. Also, imposing a deadline (i.e., “exploding offer”) showed little effect on job‐choice decisions. Recommendations for recruitment practice and continued research are provided. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Employee organizational commitment: the influence of cultural and organizational factors in the Australian manufacturing industry

The importance of enhancing employee organizational commitment (EOC) is highlighted by the extensive literature revealing its positive impact on employees' job performance, reducing absenteeism and turnover rates, and improving employees' adaptability to organizational change. This study provides an insight into how EOC levels can be enhanced by examining the contextual factors that can influence EOC. Specifically, the study examines the association between cultural, organizational, and demographic factors with the level of EOC in the Australian manufacturing industry. Data were collected by a survey questionnaire from a random sample of 500 managers with the results revealing that two cultural factors (outcome orientation and stability) and three organizational factors (organizational size, perceived organizational support and job satisfaction) were found to be significantly associated with the level of EOC. Further analysis provides a preliminary insight into how to enhance the EOC of specific managers with different cultural and organizational factors found to be associated with the EOC of managers at different levels in the organizational hierarchy. The findings have important implications for practitioners attempting to improve the level of EOC of their employees with the subsequent enhancements in the level of EOC likely to contribute to improvements in productivity and growth in the Australian manufacturing industry.     

Personality,self-efficacy and job resources and their associations with employee engagement,affective commitment and turnover intentions

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the extent to which personality characteristics influence employees’ psychological connection to their work beyond that predicted by job context factors. More specifically, using Job Demands-Resources theory, we examined the influence of HEXACO personality facets, self-efficacy, and job resources on engagement, affective commitment and turnover intention. We used structural equation modelling on data collected from 623 participants working in a variety of organizational settings to test a proposed and a re-specified model. The results showed that both job resources and individual differences factors had direct and indirect effects on engagement, affective commitment and turnover intention. The personality facet liveliness was positively associated with engagement; sentimentality was positively associated with affective commitment; and social boldness, diligence and sentimentality were positively associated with self-efficacy. The model explained 69% of the variance in engagement, 60% of the variance in affective commitment and 33% of the variance in turnover intention. Despite the stronger influence of job resources, the results suggest that both individual factors and job context factors influence employees’ psychological attachment to their work. Practical implications in terms of selection, engagement and organizational development interventions, and further research opportunities are identified.     

Work and non-work-related antecedents of expatriates' well-being: A meta-analysis

Studies show a reduction in expatriates' well-being while abroad which entails a risk of low performance or even termination of the assignment abroad. To extend the knowledge of antecedents of expatriates' well-being, this meta-analytic review combines the empirical results from 24 studies. Concerning the conservation of resources theory, we distinguish between work-related and non-work-related antecedents (resources) and expose their relationship with expatriates' work well-being and general well-being. The meta-analysis shows that work well-being is positively anteceded by organizational support, work adjustment, and spousal support, whereas job factors and work-family interference are associated with decreased work well-being. General well-being negatively relates to work-family interference factors. The antecedents with the highest relative effect size are job factors on the negative side (resource loss) and organizational support on the positive side (resource gain). Work-family interference has the broadest impact on both work well-being and general well-being.     

The role of assessment centers in job satisfaction and organizational commitment: a case of the Korean government

While many studies have shown how assessment centers affect employees’ career success or job performance, these studies do not demonstrate how employees’ attitudes are affected by their perception of assessment centers. This study aims to investigate the influence of employees’ perception of assessment centers on their job satisfaction and organizational commitment, which are the key elements in predicting working behaviors, such as job performance, job involvement, and turnover intentions. To analyze the nature of the influence, 306 employees who had been evaluated by an assessment center in the Korean Rural Development Administration (KRDA) were surveyed. Regression analysis revealed that although there is no influence on their organizational commitment, employees with a positive perception of assessment centers experience higher levels of job satisfaction (p < .01). These results suggest that the positive perception of assessment centers affects the general feeling of organizational members about their work even though it does not affect their emotional attachment to the organization or dedication to organizational values. Thus, assessment centers can be used as a tool not only to select capable candidates but also to yield positive effects on organizational members’ job attitudes.     

Relationships between self-concepts,aspirations, emotional responses,and intent to leave a downsizing organization

This study examines how individual-level factors, such as task self-confidence, self-esteem, personal goals, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment affect workers' decisions concerning intent to leave the downsizing organization. Results indicate that task self-confidence and role self-esteem had positive, largely direct effects on intent to leave, which can be contrasted with the inverse relationship between the self-concept and intent to leave typically found in non-downsizing organizations. From this investigation, several implications for managing human resources in the downsizing organization are drawn and discussed in the context of planning for downsizing, implementing downsizing, and managing the downsized organization.     

Linking job insecurity to well-being and organizational attitudes in Belgian workers: the role of security expectations and fairness

The aim of this study was to investigate how perceptions of job insecurity and fairness associate with individual well-being (job satisfaction and general health) and organizational attitudes (organizational commitment and turnover intention), under the condition that the psychological contract as perceived by the employee includes a promise on job security, or not. More specifically, we suggest that (H1) job insecurity is negatively related to individual well-being and organizational commitment and positively related to turnover intentions when job security is expected as part of the psychological contract, (H2) that job insecurity is negatively related to fairness perceptions when job security is expected as part of the psychological contract, (H3) that fairness associates positively with individual well-being and organizational commitment and negatively with turnover intentions and (H4) that the association between job insecurity, individual well-being and organizational outcomes is mediated by fairness under the condition that job security is expected as part of the psychological contract. Thus, we propose a model of mediated moderation. Results based on a sample of Belgian employees (N = 559) supported our hypotheses for organizational outcomes. For individual well-being, the mediation framework was not conditional upon a perceived promise of job security as part of the psychological contract. We conclude that employees' perceptions of job insecurity and fairness are important factors in employees' well-being and their attitudes towards the organization. More importantly, these perceptions can in part be shaped by organizational agents such as managers and supervisors. Additionally, the active utilization of the psychological contract in management strategies seems to have favourable results for the fostering of pro-organizational attitudes among employees.     

Linking work–family conflict to job attitudes: the mediating role of social exchange relationships

This study uses social exchange theory to develop a model of the processes linking work–family conflict to job attitudes. This model was tested on a sample of 236 employees in Taiwan's high-technology industry. The regression results revealed that perceived organizational support and leader–member exchange fully mediated the influence of work–family conflict on intentions to quit and affective organizational commitment, and partially mediated work–family conflict's influence on job satisfaction. The implications are discussed in this article.     

Ethno-cultural diversity and organizational effectiveness: a field study

This paper examines the relationship between ethno-cultural diversity and attitudinal and non-attitudinal measures of organizational performance in a field setting. Data were collected from ninety-eight respondents in seven branches of a leading Canadian bank. As compared to culturally homogeneous branches, the culturally heterogeneous branches experienced lower levels of absenteeism and achieved higher productivity and financial profitability despite their lower scores on job satisfaction, organizational commitment and workplace coherence, and higher rates of turnover. These relationships were moderated by age, job tenure, organizational position, children's age, location of education and previous employment, birthplace and education level.     

Intercultural competence and expatriates

This study examines the simultaneous effects of employees' fit with their organization, job and supervisor on their job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention in Turkish banks by paying special attention to the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS) in these relationships. Survey data collected from 213 employees who work in five different banks operating in Istanbul, Turkey, show that employees' value fit with their organization increases their job satisfaction and organizational commitment significantly while having no direct effect on their turnover intention. The results also suggest a positive association between employees' fit with their job (needs–supplies fit) and their job satisfaction along with the negative, direct impact of job fit on turnover intention. The hypothesized relationships between employees' value fit with their supervisor and selected employee outcomes are not supported. With respect to the moderating role of POS, the overall findings indicate that a high level of organizational support suppresses the effects of employees' value fit with their organization on their job satisfaction and organizational commitment as well as reducing the relationship between their job fit and job satisfaction and turnover intention.     

Upward influence tactics and their effects on job performance ratings and flexible working arrangements: The mediating roles of mutual recognition respect and mutual appraisal respect

Supervisor's human resources (HR) decisions have a significant impact on the employees they manage but have been found to be subject to bias. The upward influence tactics use by subordinates can play a role in this. We investigated the effects of seven upward influence tactics on supervisor job‐performance ratings and the extent of subordinate flexible working arrangements (FWAs). Supervisors are often responsible for determining whether employees are granted FWAs. We posit an alternative theoretical mechanism by which upward influence tactics bring about their effects, mediated through two distinct types of respect, mutual appraisal respect and mutual recognition respect. We collected data from 389 matched supervisor–subordinate dyads, and found that both mutual appraisal respect and mutual recognition respect mediated relationships between several upward influence tactics and both job‐performance ratings and FWAs. Our findings show that upward influence tactics affect the quality of the relationship between employees and their supervisors, specifically, these two forms of mutual respect. Further, both mutual appraisal respect and mutual recognition respect may explain why supervisors show favoritism to some subordinates over others, in reaching HR decisions in these areas.     

Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Role Breadth: A Meta‐Analytic and Cross‐Cultural Analysis

We provide a meta‐analysis of the empirical literature concerning role breadth, defined as the degree to which employees consider organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) to be an inherent part of their job. Results based on a combined sample size of 9,222 showed: (a) Confucian Asians consider OCB as part of their job to a greater extent than do their Anglo counterparts; (b) affiliative kinds of OCB (e.g., helping, conscientiousness, and courtesy) are more likely to be considered part of one's job than are change‐oriented OCB (e.g., voice, taking charge, and initiative); and (c) OCB‐inclusive role breadth correlates strongly with OCB (r_c = .43). The implications of these findings for human resources practice, such as competency modeling, employee selection and training, organizational rewards, and employee‐employer/supervisor relations, are discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Exploring the link between organizational values and human resource certification

We contribute to the discussion of human resource (HR) certification by identifying organizational values as a key antecedent to (1) an organization's use of HR certification and (2) whether organizational members choose to pursue HR certification. Building on research which has looked at the influence of organizational values on the behavior and attitudes of the organization and its employees, we propose that key organizational values will influence the extent to which an organization and its members value HR certification. Specifically, we explore the relationship between the organizational values of innovation, people orientation, and stability and the extent to which an organization uses HR certification for selection purposes. In addition, we propose that these key organizational values will also influence whether the organization's members pursue HR certification. Exploring the link between key organizational values and HR certification is critical to our understanding of an organization's HR practices and the behavior of its employees. By taking a more organization focused perspective, we highlight the top-down effects of organizational values on the value of HR certification and call for additional research on the antecedents of the value of HR certification.     

The Role of Perceived Organizational Performance in Organizational Identification,Adjustment and Job Performance*

abstract Favourable organizational status and prestige has a substantial role in shaping constituents' attitudes and actions. The status and prestige of an organization is often a reflection of its achievements or performance. In the present study, we investigate the role of organizational performance or achievement (as assessed by organizational members) in evoking employees' identification, adjustment, and job performance. The results of this study indicate that two forms of organizational performance (labelled as perceived social responsibility and development and perceived market and financial performance) are associated with organizational identification. However, when compared to perceived market and financial performance, perceived social responsibility and development had a larger effect on organizational identification, which in turn resulted in enhanced employees' work outcomes – adjustment and job performance.     

The effects of supportive management and job quality on the turnover intentions and health of military personnel

To be competitive in today's increasingly complex and rapidly changing envi‐ronment, organizations must retain personnel and promote the well‐being of employees. We examine the relationship of both support provided to person‐nel and job quality with employee health and turnover intentions among a sample of 450 military personnel. Factors involving the supportive manage‐ment of personnel (i.e., supervisory support, organizational support, and work‐life balance) and factors pertaining to job quality (i.e., work stimulation and job clarity) were indirectly related to health and to turnover intentions through the mediating influence of job satisfaction. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Exploring the mechanisms of the relationship between website characteristics and organizational attraction

With the development and application of Internet technology, the Internet has become a critical tool for employee recruitment. The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether the characteristics of corporate websites would predict job seekers' perceptions of person–organization fit and person–job fit, which in turn would predict the seekers' attraction to the organization. Data were collected from 353 job seekers through a bulletin board system and websites of job-related forums. The results indicate that the website content (i.e. organizational culture, compensation, and job preview) and website stylistic features (i.e. aesthetics and navigational usability) had differential effects on job seekers' fit perceptions, which in turn affected organizational attraction. Directions for future research and practical implications are also discussed in this paper.     

Push and pull factors in medical employees' turnover decisions: the effect of a careerist approach and organizational benefits on the decision to leave the job

This paper aims at understanding the relative impact of 'careerist' attitudes and organizational benefits on prospective turnover decisions. We argue that the push/pull trade-off between careerist attitudes and organizational benefits in relation to turnover is occupation-specific. This is assessed by combining the sociological hypothesis of occupational 'market viability' and the organizational focus on opportunities. Testing this assertion, we examined turnover decisions for four occupational groups from eight medical institutions located in seven geographic areas. Initial results showed occupational variations in the weight given to 'careerist' versus organizational benefits in turnover decisions. Results from two logistic regression models suggest that organizational benefits, in contrast to a 'careerist' orientation to work, restrain occupation-specific turnover behaviour, even when controlling for the effect of perceived opportunities. These results are interpreted in terms of the 'market viability' hypothesis which stresses occupational variations in opportunities. Economic fluctuations for peripheral employees possessing general, rather than firm-specific skills may improve, rather than limit employment alternatives and hence enhance rather than constrain turnover decisions.