Antecedents and Outcomes of Diversity and Equality Management Systems: An Integrated Institutional Agency and Strategic Human Resource Management Approach

This study examines the development and impact of diversity and equality management systems (DEMS). A national sample of human resource managers from 155 Canadian firms responded to surveys about their firm's diversity and equality management (DEM) practices. Cluster analysis and latent class modeling identified three distinct approaches to DEM: classical disparity DEMS showing limited development of DEM‐related practices, institutional DEMS involving complex selection mechanisms and monitoring of employment statistics, and configurational DEMS linking diversity to business strategy. Hypothesis‐testing analyses indicated that both institutional and configurational DEMS were predicted by coverage by the Canadian employment equity program, federal contractor status, and the presence of a diversity expert on staff. Only configurational DEMS was predicted by inclusion of HRM in developing business strategy. Configurational DEMS positively predicted the employment of workers with disabilities and members of visible minority groups as well as ROA. These findings support the proposition based on strategic human resource management (SHRM) theory that DEM practices should be considered as bundles and that vertical linkage to strategy is important for DEM effectiveness. As such, SHRM theory explains how managers can structure strategic responses to institutional pressures that go beyond requirements to achieve strategic goals. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Managing diversity through human resource management: an international perspective and conceptual framework

This paper critically reviews the literature on managing diversity through human resource management (HRM). We discuss the major issues and objectives of managing diversity and examine the state of human resource diversity management practices in organizations. Our review shows that inequality and discrimination still widely exist and HRM has focused mainly on compliance with equal employment opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action (AA) legislation. Less attention has been paid to valuing, developing and making use of diversity. Our review reveals limited literature examining how diversity is managed in organizations through effective human resource management. We develop a framework that presents strategies for HR diversity management at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. Our review also discusses the implications for practice and further research.     

Psychological testing for selection purposes: a guide to evidence-based practice for human resource professionals

In order to be effective, HR practitioners need to be informed of best practice in a wide array of activities (Pfeffer 1994; Griffeth and Hom 2001). A key activity that is crucial to firm performance is recruitment and selection, yet many practitioners are poorly informed of the latest findings. In this review, evidence on the use of psychological testing for selection purposes was examined. Specifically, the focus of this paper is evidence that can be applied to ensure that psychological tests (ability and personality tests) are used in a way that ensures their effectiveness is maximized. A review of the extant literature identified five broad issues that relate to the use of psychological tests for selection purposes. These are: (1) how constructs for a particular job should be identified for selection purposes; (2) how test scores should be reported to a manager; (3) whether test information should be previewed prior to the interview;, (4) how psychological test scores and interview data should be combined; and, (5) whether a hiring recommendation should be given by the provider of candidate psychological test scores. The evidence on each of these issues is summarized and recommendations are made for effective HRM practices.     

The impact of employment equity regulations on psychological contracts in South Africa

This article will show the impact of employment equity legislation on the psychological employment contracts of the three main employee groupings in South African society. This study is important in that it fills the gap in the literature that identifies labour market regulations as an important shaping influence on the psychological contract. More than 500 managers from across South African industry and from all ethnic groups were surveyed to identify differences in psychological contracts and attitudes towards the social transformation regulations. We found that the legislation has impacted differentially on the three groupings mainly in terms of their loyalty to stay with their organizations, the focus on their career development in terms of the external labour market and the degree to which they felt they had been affected by the legislation. Additionally we find that the perceived linkage between job satisfaction and labour turnover is significantly weakened by labour market legislation in the case of the beneficiaries of the legislation, but that this may not be the case for those negatively affected by the legislation. The findings have significant implications for the HRM practices of multinationals operating in societies with significant labour market regulatory interventions.     

Singing the same song: translating HRM messages across management hierarchies in Australian hospitals

The management of expatriation has grown in importance as the numbers of multinational companies has grown significantly since the 1970s. However, public and non-government sector organizations have long traditions of managing expatriates. This paper presents the results of research that compared the manner in which Australian private, public and non-government sector organizations selected their expatriates. The results confirm the numerous reports in the international human resource management (IHRM) literature that, in private sector organizations, selection is carried out largely on the basis of technical competence, with minimal attention being paid to the interpersonal skills and domestic situations of potential expatriates. The limited role of HR managers in this process is also identified. The selection practices of public sector organizations reflect the merit selection policies of this sector. The non-government sector organizations' selection practices differ markedly from those of the organizations in the other two sectors, in that psychological testing is widely used and the family is treated as a unit and included in the selection process.     

Employment equity in Canada and South Africa: progress and propositions

In 1998 the South African government attempted to redress historical workplace discrimination through the introduction of the Employment Equity Act, largely modelled on the Canadian legislation. This paper provides a background to the rationale for employment equity and related practices in both Canada and South Africa. Policies and practices are compared and progress achieved thus far in both countries is discussed. Suggestions for future consideration by South African policy makers and business leaders are proposed that include issues that are more difficult to legislate, yet which will determine the optimal progress of employment equity in South Africa. The issues highlighted in this regard pertain to top management commitment, the development of holistic human resources policies and practices, the appreciation and management of employee diversity and the creation of inclusive organizational cultures that address historical systemic discrimination.     

Employers and child workers: an institutional approach

This article explores employers' perspectives on the introduction of child employment legislation in Australia 1 through the lens of the three pillars—regulative, normative and cultural‐cognitive—of institutional theory. The study extends the traditional industrial relations (IR) focus on regulation to examine how human resource (HR) practices around child employment become legitimised, normalised and socially supported.     

Reducing intentions to resist future change: Combined effects of commitment‐based HR practices and ethical leadership

Change management, and particularly the human side of change, is a central tenet of the strategy of contemporary organizations. However, there is little evidence concerning how strategic HR practices influence how individuals anticipate and react to the implementation of a major change and how direct supervisors influence that process. With a sample of 191 employees from multiple organizations, who completed two surveys with a four‐week lag, we examined the role of commitment‐based HR practices on employees’ intentions to resist future change. We found that commitment‐based HR practices contribute to a decrease in intentions to resist future change, measured four weeks later, via increased affective commitment to change. Moreover, we found that this relationship is conditional on ethical leadership, in that it is significant when ethical leadership is high but not when it is low. Building on social exchange and uncertainty reduction theories, our findings contribute to the literature by examining how and under what boundary conditions HR practices are an effective means for organizations to anticipate and manage change.     

Perceived fairness of personality tests and the impact of explanations for their use

Utilizing a sample of 138 printing firm employees, this field experiment tested two hypotheses regarding the perceived fairness of using personality tests in employment contexts. The results largely supported Hypothesis 1, which proposed that a selection procedure utilizing both an employment interview and a personality test would receive significantly lower fairness ratings than an interview-only selection procedure. In contrast, the results provided only partial support for Hypothesis 2, which proposed that negative fairness perceptions of personality tests can be reduced via the use of explanations for the use of such tests. In total, these findings suggest that it may be difficult to overcome negative perceptions toward the use of personality tests in employment contexts.     

The role of strategic HR practices in organisational effectiveness: an empirical investigation in the country of Jordan

This study responds to the call of researchers, and is conducted in a non-western context in the country of Jordan. The study contributes to our understanding of human resource (HR) practices' impact on organisational effectiveness. The empirical analysis is based on theoretical prepositions that motivated employees through good HR practices stay longer and contribute positively to the overall financial performance of organisations. Rigorous statistical testing of the data on the population of financial firms shows that careful recruitment and selection, training and internal career opportunities have a positive impact on reducing employee turnover. Training, in particular, is found to have a strong positive impact on financial performance measured by return on assets and return on equity. Furthermore, the findings provide strong support for the direct approach in strategic HR management–performance research that a group of best HR practices will continuously and directly generate superior performance. Despite such compelling arguments, however, we did not find evidence to support the notion that a bundle of HR practices impact better on financial performance than individual HR practices. It is possible that the optimal configuration may not only be contingent on national context, but could be due to the sector and the specific characteristics of the firm.     

Alternative diversity management: Organizational practices fostering ethnic equality at work

Taking a critical, performative stance, this study aims to advance our understanding of diversity management enhancing ethnic equality at work. Relying on a multiple-case study, we inductively identify organizational practices that foster the valuing of multiple competencies and the ability to express multiple identities, two key organizational markers of ethnic equality advanced in the gender and diversity literature. Our analysis indicates that ethnic equality is fostered by practices that broaden dominant norms on competencies and cultural identities, and avoid reducing ethnic minority employees to mere representatives of a stigmatized social group. In contrast to ‘classical’ diversity management practices which focus on individuals’ cognitive biases toward out-group members, these practices redefine what is ‘standard’ in the employment relationship, hereby structurally countering ethnic inequality within organizational boundaries.     

Why does firm reputation in human resource policies influence college students? The mechanisms underlying job pursuit intentions

Business periodicals, such as Fortune magazine, rank organizations in lists such as the “Best Companies to Work For,” providing applicants with information about firms' human resource practices, including pay, benefits, work‐life, and diversity practices. It is not clear what influence this reputational information about HR practices has on applicant interest in pursuing employment or, more important, why it does so. Given that firms invest substantial resources in HR practices to vie for positions on these lists, the current study sought to fill these gaps in the literature. In the 2 (compensation) × 2 (work‐family) × 2 (diversity) factorial design, 232 college students read about magazine rankings in which a firm's reputation in each HR practice was manipulated as ranking either high or low relative to competitors. We examined perceptions of organizational prestige, anticipated organizational support, and anticipated role performance as mechanisms that explain the influence of HR practice reputation on job pursuit intentions. Our results indicate that a firm's reputation in compensation, work‐family, and diversity efforts increase college students' intentions to pursue employment with a firm. They do so because college students perceive that the organization is prestigious, will be supportive, and will foster their job performance. Our results suggest that a strong employer brand derived from employee‐centered HR practices is important for recruiting college students. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Personality traits discriminating between employees in public- and in private-sector organizations

Based on data collected from public and private organizations in Greece, this paper examines the differences in individual traits between public and private-sector employees, differences which eventually influence employees' attitudes and behaviours towards their organizations and their consequent performance, specifically in organizational commitment and neglect behaviour. The findings indicate that there are some differences between the two groups of employees. In only three out of ten personality characteristics examined here (security needs, pay needs and Protestant work ethic), are there no distinctions between the groups. These findings imply that, besides the environmental and structural characteristics of the two sectors which may be the source of attitudinal differences, it might also be that persons attracted to the public sector have different personality characteristics from those attracted to the private sector. Regardless of the source of differences, results point to the need for changing recruitment and selection practices in public organizations as well as for implementing a number of human resource management practices, the lack of which seems to drive junior qualified staff away from the public sector where they are mostly needed. The later seems to be the case in Greece where the lower pay and the non-competitive, non-challenging atmosphere prevailing in most public-sector organizations seem to play an important role in driving most dynamic employees away from the public sector.     

Employment relationships: ideology and HRM practice

HRM appears to both believe that unitarism already exists in employment relationships and, at the same time, sees itself as the means to achieving unitarism through the introduction of systems of ‘high commitment management’ (HCM) in the workplace. The primary goal of HCM is empirical unitarism, achieved by the implementation of a system of practices aimed at aligning the interests and objectives of managers and workers. Not surprisingly these taken-for-granted values and beliefs in HRM about employment relationships have stirred debate in the literature, with many suggesting this is a flawed view of organizational life (Hart, 1993; Keenoy, 1999). This study has attempted to verify empirically these assumptions from a managerial perspective by first identifying the current employment values and beliefs of managerial workers and management and second examining the extent to which these influence, or are influenced by, the adoption of high commitment practices in the workplace. It finds managers do consider employment relationships in general to be pluralist, however, when it comes to employment relationships in their own organizations managers' report these to be unitarist. A relationship is also found to exist between the use of HCM in the workplace and managerial values and beliefs, with increased usage of HCM being associated with unitary values and beliefs.     

HR managers’ talent philosophies: prevalence and relationships with perceived talent management practices

Abstract

HR managers have different beliefs about the nature, value, and instrumentality of talent—referred to as ‘talent philosophies’. In line with cognitive psychology, we reason that talent philosophies are similar to mental models that influence how HR managers interpret and use talent management (TM) practices within their organizations. In this article, we explore the prevalence of four different talent philosophies (exclusive/stable; exclusive/developable; inclusive/stable; inclusive/developable) in a sample of 321?HR managers. We then explore how talent philosophies relate to organizational context (i.e. size, ownership form, multinational orientation) as well as to HR managers’ perceptions of their organization’s TM practices. Cluster analysis corroborated the presence of the four talent philosophies in our dataset. All four talent philosophies were represented almost equally often in the overall dataset. Organizational size was found to be related to talent philosophies, such that HR managers who worked in smaller organizations were more likely to hold an inclusive talent philosophy. We also found support for the relationship between talent philosophies and perceptions of the exclusiveness or inclusiveness of the organization’s definition of talent, and its degree of workforce differentiation. Contrary to expectations, results did not support a link between talent philosophies and perceived talent identification criteria.     

Dynamism and realignment in the HR architecture: Online labor platform ecosystems and the key role of contractors

Given the widespread contribution of independent contractors to organizational innovation and competitive advantage, it is timely to reassess assumptions about the HRM practices appropriate to their management and the rationale for organizations to work with them. In the original and highly influential HR architecture model of Lepak and Snell (1999), contractor status is viewed as an outcome of the low value and/or low uniqueness of human capital resulting in the proposition to externalize and manage them using either none or minimal compliance-based HRM practices. Developments in digital technologies and algorithmic management epitomized by online labor platforms prompt us to reconsider these assumptions and to challenge the proposed links between value/uniqueness of human capital, employment mode and HRM practices that are assumed by the HR architecture model. Using insights from online labor platforms, we argue that the significant benefits to firms of working with contractors, coupled with the possibilities offered by algorithmic management to efficiently monitor and regulate their behavior, provide a compelling reason for organizations to choose external employment modes even when workers are key to value creation. We challenge the alignment and stability of the relationships proposed by the HR architecture model, and offer propositions to extend the model by reconsidering the rationale for, and nature of, HRM practices associated with contractors. This reassessment is both timely and relevant given the growing prominence of business models where externalizing workers is central alongside the development of new forms of algorithmic human resource management to control them.     

Quasi-structural estimation of a model of childcare choices and child cognitive ability production

This article evaluates the effects of maternal vs. alternative care providers’ time inputs on children’s cognitive development using the sample of single mothers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. To deal with the selection problem created by unobserved heterogeneity of mothers and children, we develop a model of mother’s employment and childcare decisions. We then obtain approximate decision rules for employment and childcare use, and estimate these jointly with the child’s cognitive ability production function. To help identify our selection model, we take advantage of the plausibly exogenous variation in employment and childcare choices of single mothers generated by the variation in welfare rules across states and over time created by the 1996 welfare reform legislation and earlier State waivers.     

Bridging knowledge in ambidextrous HRM systems: empirical evidence from hidden champions

Managing the tension between efficiency and flexibility is one of the core challenges that organizations must tackle in order to survive in the global competitive environment. Ambidexterity has been identified in the literature as a key way of managing this tension. Despite the enormous popularity of the concept of ambidexterity, the questions of how HR practices influence exploration and exploitation and support organizational ambidexterity remain underexplored. Drawing on our empirical case studies of three mid-sized ‘hidden champions’ in different high-tech manufacturing industries, we show how an ambidextrous human resource management (HRM) system works. We demonstrate that ambidextrous HRM systems can be regarded as a special type of high-performance work system (HPWS) that facilitates the continuous integration of exploration and exploitation in the pursuit of flexibility and efficiency. In particular, we elucidate how firms apply integrative employment practices and integrative work practices to facilitate collaboration and to create and strengthen a common frame of reference that fosters knowledge integration. Finally, setting up an ambidextrous HRM system supports the complementary interplay between a common frame of reference and a firm's ability to integrate knowledge in order to manage the conflicting demands of exploration and exploitation.     

HR practices and turnover intention: the mediating roles of organizational commitment and organizational engagement in a selected region in Malaysia

This study examined the mediating effects of organizational commitment (OC) and organizational engagement (OE) on the relationship between human resource (HR) practices (career management, performance appraisal, compensation, person–job fit and job control) and turnover intention. A total of 457 employees working in various sectors in a selected region in Malaysia participated in this study. It was found that all the variables used to measure HR practices have significant effects on OC and OE. However, multiple regression analyses indicated that career management and job control did not have any significant influence on turnover intention. OC and OE were discovered to give partial mediating effects on the relationship between HR practices and turnover intention.     

The use of personality measures in personnel selection: What does current research support?

With an eye toward research and practice, this article reviews and evaluates main trends that have contributed to the increasing use of personality assessment in personnel selection. Research on the ability of personality to predict job performance is covered, including the Five Factor Model of personality versus narrow personality measures, meta-analyses of personality–criterion relationships, moderator effects, mediator effects, and incremental validity of personality over other selection testing methods. Personality and team performance is also covered. Main trends in contemporary research on the extent to which applicant “faking” of personality tests poses a serious threat are explicated, as are promising approaches for contending with applicant faking such as the “faking warning” and the forced-choice method of personality assessment. Finally, internet-based assessment of personality and computer adaptive personality testing are synopsized.