Employee Relations: An International Journal

Michael Lyons; Meg Smith

2007 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450810835383

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact on the new federal wage fixing system on gender pay equity in Australia. Design/methodology/approach – The article is divided into four parts. The first section briefly examines the policy approach to the issue of gender pay equity in other Anglophone counties and the history of pay (in)equity under the Australian tribunal based industrial relations system. The second section overviews the recent developments at the State level in Australia focused on gender pay equity. The third section discusses recent cases in State wage fixing systems in Australia designed to remedy the gender based undervaluation of children's services employees. The fourth and final section discusses the implications of the new “national” workplace relations laws in the context of gender pay equity in Australia. Findings – The capacity of State tribunals to continue to apply gender free wage determinations is under threat because of the federal government's 2006 “reforms” to the Australian industrial relations and wage fixation systems. Originality/value – The commissioned case studies and inquiries demonstrate that governments – and State Labor governments in particular – have placed the issue of the gender earnings gap on the policy agenda.

Richard S. Allen; Gail Dawson; Kathleen Wheatley; Charles S. White

2007 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450810835392

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between employee perceptions of diversity within the senior management, management and non‐management levels of their organizations and their perceptions of organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach – Surveys were administered to 391 managers or professionals in 130 organizations located in the southeastern United States to determine their perceptions of diversity and performance within their organizations. Findings – Regression analysis found strong support for the hypothesis that employee perceptions of diversity at the senior management level of an organization is positively related to perceptions of organizational performance. Likewise, there was support for the hypothesis that employee perceptions of diversity at the non‐manager level were positively related to perceptions of organizational performance. Research limitations/implications – The current study was based strictly on perceptual measures. Future research could also consider the use of more objective measures of diversity to gauge any potential differences between perception and reality. Considering that the sample was drawn strictly from the southeastern US, the conclusions may not be applicable to other cultures in other parts of the world. Practical implications – Organizations need to be sure that they focus on initiatives that have a positive influence on employee perceptions of diversity within the ranks of senior management and non‐management. Originality/value – This research sheds new light on the importance of employee perceptions of diversity within the various levels of employees in their organizations and organizational performance.

Lynette Harris

2007 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450810835400

Purpose – Public sector reforms and external performance review has meant that the HR function in UK local government is not only expected to continuously review working practices but is also facing major changes in its role and its own service delivery. This paper explores how changes driven by the pursuit of efficiency and cost cutting may impact on the function's ability to fulfil the employee champion role that Ulrich identifies as essential to it making a valuable strategic contribution. Design/methodology/approach – The findings are drawn from interviews, focus groups and desk research conducted in three large local authorities Findings – The emergent concerns, tensions and dilemmas across the case study organisations suggest that changes, both planned and actual, to HR's role and services will impact on the function's ability to act as an “employee champion” due to reduced employee contact and more fragmented HR roles. Research limitations/implications – The findings are based on three case studies, so there is an issue of their wider application – and they provided rather more insights into the views of HR staff and line managers than of other employee groups. Practical implications – The devolved, decentralised, outsourced and self service models of HR service provision require careful internal evaluation as this study's findings indicate they may well have hidden costs in terms of promoting employee commitment in large public sector organisations. Originality/value – A qualitative study of how changes to the HR function's role and service delivery can impact on the HR's responsibilities for employee relations rather than the more usual considerations of cost effectiveness and efficiency.

Stephanie Jones

2007 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450810835419

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the delivery of corporate objectives in customer service in the training of employees in a cultural context at odds with the proposed training outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – A training program created to encourage collaborative and competitive styles in customer interaction, delivered in a major bank in the UAE, was the focus of the case. Findings – A literature review suggests that collaborative and competitive styles (of all the five conflict mode preferences) are positively correlated with business performance. The overwhelming preference for compromising and avoiding styles found amongst trainees in this bank showed that specific cultural context can significantly modify the desired outcomes of Western‐style training programs. The conflict mode preferences seen to encourage collaborative and competitive styles were significantly below best‐practice averages in this case. Research limitations/implications – Significant differences are discovered between the attitudes of the trainee group and the conflict mode preferences described in an international benchmarking study of excellence and quality in customer service. Practical implications – The practical implications for training effectiveness in the Arab world (one of the largest consumers of corporate training worldwide) are explored, together with a study of how the current approaches to training in the region might be modified to improve training results. Originality/value – This study of 70 UAE bank trainees suggests that in the task of trying to achieve corporate needs to increase efficiency, productivity and profitability, culture poses an important barrier. The paper provides further evidence of the importance of cultural context in management practices, in a little‐studied region of the world.

Dimitris Manolopoulos

2007 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450810835428

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of the relationship between work motivation and organisational performance in the extended public sector, by testing empirically common elements of existing theoretical frameworks. Design/methodology/approach – A unique questionnaire‐based survey was carried out in three organisations/corporations where the state is the major stakeholder. Of the 1,000 questionnaires distributed, 454 were returned and included in the analysis. By using descriptive statistics the provision of extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motives in the extended public sector of Greece was identified. Findings – Findings show that the public sector in Greece is more likely to provide extrinsic than intrinsic rewards, however the latter seems to be related to better organisational outcomes. Both individuals' ability and demographic characteristics are core determinants of employees' motivational preferences. Research limitations/implications – The core of this paper tests empirically the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation with performance in a country of EU “periphery”. Caution should be exercised in generalizing the results for more advanced economies. Practical implications – Organisational leaders and public management in Greece need to conceive work motivation as a complex system and recognize the importance of intrinsic incentives. Originality/value – There is currently limited evidence on the impact of motivation in the performance of the extended public sector. This research is one of the very few that has been made from the perspective of employees. To the extent of the author's knowledge, this is the first time that a detailed public sector level analysis on work motivation has been presented for Greece.

Epp Kallaste; Krista Jaakson; Raul Eamets

2007 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425450810835437

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discover how non‐unionised representatives (NERs) are created and what their role is in comparison to unionised representation. The authors aim to analyse why the institution of non‐unionised employee representation is created if its functions overlap with those of the unions, including the functions of collective bargaining and information‐consultation. Design/methodology/approach – The case study involves interviews with representatives and executive directors, as well as a survey of the employees of two companies. Findings – The results show that when there is a weak union, the employers initiate an NER in order to involve the whole workforce in the collective agreement. The NER is elected by employees even though it was initiated by the employer. The roles of the two representatives do not differ much, the main function for both being collective bargaining with some provision for information and consultation. Originality/value – The unique situation in Estonia, which is about to change with adoption of EU directive 14/2002/EC, enables the analysis of cases involving two different representative institutions with the same functions in the same company. This provides valuable input for researchers describing in practice the behaviour of representatives and employers in this situation. It also provides East‐European policy makers some idea about how policies that address collective bargaining and the involvement of workers should be designed.