Employee Relations: An International Journal

Sara J. Nadin; Colin C. Williams

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211191841

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the psychological contract from the employers' perspective, by examining violations where the employer rather than employee is the victim, an issue that has so far seldom been addressed in extant psychological contract research. Design/methodology/approach – Small business owners are studied using qualitative interviews, incorporating critical incidents technique. Interview transcriptions have been analysed using template analysis. Findings – The analysis reveals the significant disruption and damage caused by these incidents, with employers involving other employees in their response as they set about the essential repair work required. Employers actively mobilised shared understandings at the normative level of the group, reinforcing and sometimes renegotiating the employee obligations, as they seek to reaffirm their authority in the eyes of all of their employees. This response reflects the collective psychological contracts the employer holds with each of their employees and their concerns to limit the fall‐out/damage when one employee commits a violation. Research limitations/implications – The focus on small firms limits the generality of the findings with further research needed both in smaller and larger organisations to explore how organisational size impacts upon the processes identified, and the effect such incidents have when the organisation is represented by agents such as supervisors or managers. This calls for more in‐depth qualitative research in order to explore the highly nuanced experiences of employers and their representatives. The implications of the findings suggest the value of more explicit communication of employee obligations to prevent future psychological contract violation, and the role other employees may usefully play in this process. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the much‐neglected study of employers' experiences of psychological contract violations committed by their employees.

Sven Svensson

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211191850

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to analyse levels of generalized trust among employees who have adapted to increasing demands for flexibility in their working lives (nonstandard work) compared with employees in traditional employment (standard work). Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected using a self‐administered questionnaire distributed to randomly selected individuals in Sweden (2004, n =5,080) and a workplace survey study of temporary agency workers (2008, n =119). Data were analysed using chi‐square tests and logistic regression analysis. Findings – The results reveal that people in nonstandard positions display significantly lower levels of generalized trust compared to standard employees, where age, gender, and socio‐economic position are constant. Practical implications – Since trust has proved to be a prerequisite for innovativeness, and both flexibility and innovation are officially accepted solutions for the troubles of post‐industrial society, the findings point to a possible paradox in the “new economy”. Originality/value – The results of this study are unique in that they provide valuable support for the theory that flexible working conditions lead to decreasing levels of trust in society.

Ruta Kazlauskaite; Ilona Buciuniene; Linas Turauskas

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211191869

Purpose – This paper aims to clarify the meaning of empowerment concept and determine its role in the HRM‐performance linkage. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 211 customer‐contact employees at 30 upscale hotels in Lithuania was conducted to study organisational empowerment, as a bundle of HRM activities, and its association with employee attitudes and behaviour. Findings – A distinction was made between organisational empowerment, as a bundle of HRM activities, and psychological empowerment, as an employee work‐related attitude, and their role in the HRM‐performance linkage was defined. Organisational empowerment was positively related to psychological empowerment, job satisfaction, and affective commitment. Psychological empowerment and affective commitment were found to mediate the impact of organisational empowerment on customer‐oriented behaviour. Research limitations/implications – Data were collected in a single industry in Lithuania; therefore, further research in other services needs to be conducted to make generalisations on the applicability of the proposed empowerment‐performance model to other industries. Practical implications – In the upscale hotel context, where employee turnover reduction and service quality improvement are critical, organisational empowerment can enhance employee job satisfaction, commitment, psychological empowerment and customer‐oriented behaviour. Originality/value – The paper provides empirical evidence of the positive effect of employee perceived HRM practices (organisational empowerment) on HR‐related performance outcomes ‐ employee attitudes (psychological empowerment, job satisfaction, affective commitment) and customer‐oriented behaviour. Besides the role of empowerment in the HRM‐performance linkage is defined and empirically tested.

Anne Ellerup Nielsen; Hanne Nørreklit

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211191878

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the construction of discourses in current popular management models described in the field of management coaching in order to examine the disciplining forms and the type of authority appeal drawn upon in these models. Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply a discourse analysis to two selected works on management coaching in order to investigate the rhetorical articulation of the coaching concept in terms of established discourses of management. Findings – It seems that the analysed works draw on both a rationalistic and a spiritual paradigm of disciplining. Self‐realisation is mainly a superficial change. The discourse pattern thus fits into a wider social postmodern context in which social order seems to be constituted through a blending of rational and spiritual discourse order. Practical implications – The analysis provides insight into the extent to which management coaching practices are likely to facilitate intrinsic employee involvement and hence organisational innovation and learning. Originality/value – Since there are only sparse studies of discourse analysis within management coaching, the study provides new insight into how a rather new emerging management technique constructs and disciplines the employee's project of self‐realisation.

Soumendu Biswas; Arup Varma

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211191887

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between psychological climate, and transformational leadership, with employee performance. The paper builds on relevant research in this area, and extends such research to the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered from 357 participants in Indian organizations, who responded to questions regarding their work environment and perceived supervisory support. The respondents' demographic data were treated as control variables. Findings – As predicted, it was found that organizational psychological climate, and transformational leadership, predicted job satisfaction. Job satisfaction, in turn, predicted employee performance, a composite measure of in‐role and extra‐role performance. Research limitations/implications – All data were collected from the participants at one point of time – as such, causality cannot be inferred, and the results may be subject to common method bias. Practical implications – From a practical perspective, the results emphasize the need for organizations to create a positive climate, where employees can feel valued. Next, the results suggest the need for managers to adopt a transformational style of leadership over the transactional style, so that employees may learn and grow with the organization. Together, these shall result in increased employee satisfaction which shall ultimately lead to higher levels of employee performance. Originality/value – While there are numerous theoretical pieces exploring the antecedents of employees' performance, the number of empirical studies relating cross‐level variables using structural equation modeling is limited. Moreover, this is the first known study to examine the variables in the Indian context, which continues to gain importance on the world economic scene.

John Sutherland

2011 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425451211191896

Purpose – The paper aims to examine worker job attribute preferences, by which is meant the extent to which individuals desire a variety of specific qualities and outcomes from their paid work. It seeks to examine how these preferences are ranked and to identify their principal correlates. Design/methodology/approach – The study makes use of a quantitative methodology, notably the application of an ordered probit model to analyse a data set which has its origins in the 2006 Skills Survey. Findings – “Work you like doing”; a “secure job”; “friendly people to work with”; and “opportunities to use your abilities” are the four highest ranked job attribute preferences. Worker job attribute preferences vary with the characteristics of the worker, including gender, domestic circumstances, highest qualification held and occupation. Research limitations/implications – The study reports “correlations” and does not imply “causation”. The findings are for the year 2006. On the assumption that job attribute preferences are constrained by the employment opportunities available, the findings may change with the economic cycle, in a manner comparable to recent research findings about some facets of job satisfaction. Originality/value – This is the first detailed statistical examination of this subset of questions in the survey in question.