Personnel Review

Elaine Farndale; Veronica Hope‐Hailey; Clare Kelliher

2011 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/00483481111095492

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between employees' perceptions of a particular subsystem of HRM practices (performance management) and their commitment to the organisation. In addition, the study seeks to examine the mechanisms by which these perceptions translate into employee attitudes and behaviours. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 524 questionnaire responses were collected from four organisations in the UK. Findings – The findings show that the link between employee experiences of high commitment performance management (HCPM) practices and their level of commitment is strongly mediated by related perceptions of organisational justice. In addition, the level of employee trust in the organisation is a significant moderator. Research limitations/implications – This is a cross‐sectional study based on self‐report data, which limits the reliability of the findings. The findings may also be specific to a particular context. However, the results by company support their generalisability. Practical implications – The findings lead one to believe that it is essential to observe the actual experiences of HCPM practices and outcomes at employee level, and to consider the broader organisational context, if one is to understand their effects on performance. Originality/value – When exploring the impact of high commitment work practices on firm performance, little attention has been paid to the employee perspective: employees ultimately are the recipients of an organisation's HRM practices, and as such their perceptions of these practices affect their attitudes and behaviour in the workplace.

Erik de Haan; Vicki Culpin; Judy Curd

2011 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/00483481111095500

Purpose – Executive coaching is gaining in popularity, both as part of personal or organisational development programmes and as a tailored form of individual consulting. The purpose of this study is to examine how various aspects of the executive coaching intervention make a difference to the clients of coaching themselves. Design/methodology/approach – The study involved a web‐based questionnaire (163 closed and three open questions) completed by 71 executive coaching clients shortly after the beginning of their coaching contract and by 31 of those again approximately six months later. Findings – The research found that clients' appreciation of coaching was high. In response to the research question “What determines helpfulness for clients?” a picture emerged of a client valuing the relationship with and the qualities of the coach, while making little distinction between specific interventions of that same coach. The findings support the idea that common factors are at work in executive coaching, so that helpfulness is much less predicted by technique or approach than by factors common to all coaching, such as the relationship, empathic understanding, positive expectations etc. Research limitations/implications – For further quantitative research into the effectiveness or helpfulness of executive coaching it will become increasingly important to explore the relative effectiveness of the various common factors. Practical implications – The findings show that professional executive coaches would do well to enhance the common factors in their work, such as the quality of their empathic understanding, the quality of the coaching relationship as perceived by the client, and the expectations of their client. Originality/value – This research shows that a broad range of techniques are deemed helpful, and equally so. It is therefore not the preference for a specific technique that makes a difference, but rather the ability to employ many techniques, to use them well and at the right moment. This is clear support for a common‐factors perspective on executive coaching

Morris B. Mendelson; Nick Turner; Julian Barling

2011 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/00483481111095519

Purpose – Prior research has demonstrated the positive effects of high involvement work systems on various outcomes but none to date has conducted a comparative test of alternative, plausible models of these systems. This paper aims to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach – A test of five high involvement work system models was conducted. The models were tested using employee perceptions of the presence and effectiveness of the organizational practices included in these systems, whereas a majority of prior studies have measured high involvement work practices based on managers' perceptions only. Measures of eight high involvement work practices (i.e. employment security, selective hiring, extensive training, contingent compensation, teams and decentralized decision making, information sharing, reduced status distinctions, transformational leadership) were used to compare the fit of these five models using confirmatory factor analysis. 317 non‐management employees from five Canadian organizations participated. Participants rated both the extent to which they perceived their organizations to have implemented each of the practices and the perceived effectiveness of these practices. Participants' work attitudes (i.e. affective commitment, continuance commitment, job satisfaction) were used to assess the concurrent validity of the tested models. Findings – For both the perceived presence and effectiveness models, confirmatory factor analyses suggested the superiority of a second‐order model, demonstrating concurrent validity with participants' positive (i.e. affective commitment, job satisfaction) and negative (i.e. continuance commitment) attitudes. Originality/value – This is the first study to conduct a comparative test of five alternative models of high involvement work systems and one of the few studies to address employee perception of these practices.

Keith Townsend; Helen Lingard; Lisa Bradley; Kerry Brown

2011 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/00483481111095528

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a labour process theory interpretation of four case studies within the Australian construction industry. In each case study a working time intervention (a shift to a five‐day working week from the industry standard six days) was implemented as an attempt to improve the work‐life balance of employees. Design/methodology/approach – This paper was based on four case studies with mixed methods. Each case study has a variety of data collection methods which include questionnaires, short and long interviews, and focus groups. Findings – It was found that the complex mix of wage‐ and salary‐earning staff within the construction industry, along with labour market pressures, means that changing to a five‐day working week is quite a radical notion within the industry. However, there are some organisations willing to explore opportunities for change with mixed experiences. Practical implications – The practical implications of this research include understanding the complexity within the Australian construction industry, based around hours of work and pay systems. Decision‐makers within the construction industry must recognize a range of competing pressures that mean that “preferred” managerial styles might not be appropriate. Originality/value – This paper shows that construction firms must take an active approach to reducing the culture of long working hours. This can only be achieved by addressing issues of project timelines and budgets and assuring that take‐home pay is not reliant on long hours of overtime.

Tingting Chen; Peiguan Wu; Kwok Leung

2011 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/00483481111095537

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships of individual performance appraisal with appraisees' reactions towards their workgroups and the mechanisms underlying these relationships. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was conducted involving 185 full‐time employees in China. Regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Findings – The results showed that developmental and evaluative performance appraisals were related to appraisee reactions to the workgroup, both positive and negatives, respectively. As expected, these two relationships were mediated by perceived cooperative goals and competitive goals, respectively. Furthermore, procedural justice moderated the positive relationship between evaluative performance appraisal and perceived competitive goals in such a way that the relationship was stronger when perceived procedural justice of the performance appraisal was high. Originality/value – This is the first paper that links individual performance appraisal to group‐oriented appraisee reactions. The mediating effects of goal interdependence can shed light on the mechanisms underlying these relationships. In addition, the paper extends the current literature on the interaction of outcome favorability with procedural justice by considering the role of procedural justice in accentuating the effect of evaluative performance appraisal on competitive goals within a group.

Jonathan Crawshaw; Felix Brodbeck

2011 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/00483481111095546

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the antecedents of careerist orientations to work. Hypotheses are drawn from referent cognitions theory. First, it is proposed that trust mediates the relationship between an individual's perceptions of procedural justice and their careerist orientations to work. Second, perceptions of distributive justice, regarding the allocation of career development opportunities, will moderate the relationship between trust and careerist orientations to work. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 325 employees of a large UK financial institution completed a structured questionnaire. Regression analysis (using SPSS version 11) was used to test the presented hypotheses. Findings – All hypotheses were confirmed. However, the interaction effect observed was different from that hypothesised. It appears that trust only matters, in terms of the development of careerist orientations to work, when individuals feel that they are receiving equitable career development opportunities. Research limitations/implications – Much more research is required in different organisational contexts if one is to fully confirm and understand these relationships. However, these findings suggest that employers will only reduce the development of careerist attitudes in their workforce if they ensure the fair distribution of career development opportunities and engender trusting relations through the implementation of fair decision‐making procedures. Originality/value – This paper adds much needed empirical research to the literature on new career realities and careerist orientations to work. Moreover, referent cognitions theory is presented as a new theoretical framework for understanding the cognitive processes involved in an individual's development of careerist attitudes.

Jassem Abdulla; Ramdane Djebarni; Kamel Mellahi

2011 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/00483481111095555

Purpose – The aim of this study is to identify the factors affecting job satisfaction in the UAE. Specifically, the study seeks to examine the relative effects of demographic and environmental factors on job satisfaction among Dubai police employees. Design/methodology/approach – A scale development process was used. The first stage was a review of the literature on the determinants of job satisfaction in order to generate a pool of items that reflect the job satisfaction construct. A list of items was gathered to cover all aspects of job satisfaction. In‐depth interviews and a focus group were also used to generate additional items. Findings – Overall, the findings show that, in a collectivist culture such as the UAE, both intrinsic and extrinsic factors can be a source of job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Originality/value – Given the importance of understanding the determinants of job satisfaction, and the paucity of research on the topic in the Middle East, this study is of great importance to both scholars and practitioners in the region.