Employee Relations: An International Journal

Opgenhaffen, Michaël; Claeys, An-Sofie

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-04-2016-0086

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine employers’ policy with regard to employees’ social media use. Specifically, the authors examine the extent to which employers allow the use of social media in the workplace, what opportunities can be related to employees’ social media use and how social media guidelines are implemented within organizations.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews were conducted with HR and communication managers of 16 European companies from different sectors and of varying size.FindingsSome organizations believe that social media should be accessible to employees while others ban them from the workplace. Most respondents believe that organizations can benefit from employees sharing work-related content with their own network. However, they encourage the sharing and retweeting of official corporate messages rather than employees developing their own messages. This fear regarding employees’ messages on social media is reflected in the broad adoption of social media guidelines.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should chart the nature of existing social media guidelines (restrictive vs incentive). Accordingly, the perceived sense and nonsense of social media guidelines in companies should be investigated, not only among the managers but also among employees.Practical implicationsOrganizations should remain in dialogue with employees with regard to social media. Managers seem overly concerned with potential risks and forget the opportunities that can arise when employees operate as ambassadors.Originality/valueThe use of in-depth interviews allowed the authors to assess the rationale behind social media guidelines within organizations in depth and formulate suggestions to organizations and communication managers.

Roper, Ian; Etherington, David; Lewis, Suzan

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-05-2015-0092

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider the resilience of a national-level initiative (Improving Working Lives (IWL)) in the face of local-level initiative (Turnaround) in an NHS hospital and compare to Bach and Kessler’s (2012) model of public service employment relations.Design/methodology/approachCase study research consisting of 23 in-depth semi-structured interviews from a range of participants.FindingsThe principles behind IWL were almost entirely sacrificed in order to meet the financial objectives of Turnaround. This indicates the primacy of localised upstream performance management initiatives over the national-level downstream employee relations initiatives that form the basis of the NHS’ claim to model employer aspiration.Research limitations/implicationsThe case study was conducted between 2007 and 2009. While the case study falls under previous government regime, the dualised system of national-level agreements combined with localised performance management – and the continued existence of both Turnaround and IWL – makes the results relevant at the time of writing.Originality/valueSome studies (e.g. Skinner et al., 2004) indicated a perception that IWL was not trusted by NHS staff. The present study offers reasons as to why this may be the case.

Kundu, Subhash C.; Mor, Archana

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-06-2015-0114

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employee perceptions of diversity (i.e. significance of diversity and diversity management, and value of diversity practices employed) and perceived organizational performance. It also attempts to examine whether the perceptions of diversity vary among employees from different diversity backgrounds (i.e. across gender and categories) in Indian IT industry.Design/methodology/approachPrimary data based on 402 respondents were analysed using statistical tools like factor analysis, correlations, analysis of variance, means, grand means, and regression.FindingsResults indicated that employees irrespective of their diversity backgrounds positively acknowledged diversity and diversity management. However, limited but significant differences were observed among employee perceptions regarding valuing the diversity practices employed based on their diversity backgrounds. Further, employees’ perception of promotion of gender diversity was found to be positively related to perceived organizational performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper relied on self-report surveys for data collection. Future studies should collect data using multiple methods to avoid common-method bias. As the sample was drawn from India, specifically from IT industry, the conclusions may not be generalized to other industries. Future studies may be conducted across industries covering different cultural settings.Practical implicationsImplications are first, that, in addition to investing in initiatives for promoting diversity, especially gender diversity, organizations need to ensure positive perceptibility of these initiatives by employees. Second, to foster acceptance and effectiveness of gender/diversity initiatives in organizations, managers need to ensure men and majority group employees are part of these initiatives. Third, IT industry needs to reassess their hiring strategies and should design diversity programmes with goals in mind, if not quotas, to hire and retain diverse employees to explore their potential contribution.Originality/valueInclusion of employees of Indian IT industry of different categories will definitely add value to the existing knowledge on diversity, management theory, and practice.

Lu, Jingfu; Li, Min

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-03-2016-0052

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the boundary-spanning behaviors of Party organizations, and the processes and constraints of these behaviors in controlling worker unrest in Chinese resource-based state-owned enterprises in the “new work-unit system” using boundary-spanning theory.Design/methodology/approachThis case study was carried out in a resource-based state-owned enterprise in the “new work-unit system” in China. The research utilized interviews and archival documents, and then coded and analyzed the data using NVivo.FindingsIn China, Party organizations’ boundary-spanning behaviors (PBSBs) in labor relations management are identified, and classified into the behaviors of the ambassador, task coordinator, and scout. Worker unrest can be controlled by these behaviors through the mediation effect of the behaviors of agents in the “new work-unit system” but can also be provoked in the transformation of the “new work-unit system.”Originality/valueThe Communist Party plays a key role in labor relations management in China’s SOEs; however, this role has not been explored in any depth. This study builds a model to reveal the “black box” in which the PBSBs influence the agents’ behaviors and how the agents’ behaviors then influence the workers, and in this way control worker unrest.

Farouk, Ummu Kolsome

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-08-2014-0089

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between management’s commitment and effective occupational safety and health committees (OSHCs), which are a form of representative employee involvement in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachUsing data from a survey of 231 manufacturing companies in Malaysia, the study empirically examines both passive and active management commitment and its relationships with the perceived effectiveness of OSHCs.FindingsRespondents to the survey, who were members of OSHCs, felt that both passive and active management commitments had significant, positive relationships with OSHCs’ perceived effectiveness, with active management commitment having a stronger relationship with the dependent variable – the effectiveness of OSHCs. All three variables were perceived to be at the medium level, with active management commitment recording the lowest mean value.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited by the fact that it is cross-sectional. However, this allows its findings to be placed in the context of past research, underpinned by Malaysia’s manufacturing sector and legislative framework.Practical implicationsThis paper provides suggestions for how the perceived effectiveness of OSHCs can be improved in the Malaysian context.Originality/valueThis study conceptualises management’s commitment in terms of passive and active commitment, given the context of the current legislative framework, and it addresses the relationships between both types of management commitment and the effectiveness of OSHCs, in the heretofore-unexamined Malaysian manufacturing context.

Yizhong, Xie; Lin, Zhibin; Baranchenko, Yevhen; Lau, Chi Keung; Yukhanaev, Andrey; Lu, Hailing

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-02-2016-0042

PurposeGraduate employability is a key concern for many observers particularly at a time when education is increasingly available for the masses. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of graduate perceived employability on job search by integrating theory of planned behavior and to identify how job search self-efficacy, subjective norms, intention and intensity change over time.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from a six-wave survey study with a sample of Chinese university graduating students.FindingsResults show that perceived employability has a positive and significant effect on job search self-efficacy, attitude, intention and intensity; and that all the repeated measuring variables (except job search attitude) decreased over time.Practical implicationsThe study is useful for educators, employers and prospective students. It prompts discussion of reforms in the curriculum to increase graduate awareness of the complexity of the job search process and existing opportunities. The study could also help to explain how job search behavior changes over time.Originality/valueThe findings carry implications for both higher education research and the measures of improving graduate employability. The study fills the gap in the literature by integrating employability and the theory of planned behavior into one framework in order to analyze the process of Chinese university graduates’ job search behavior.

Nesheim, Torstein; Olsen, Karen Modesta; Sandvik, Alexander Madsen

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-09-2016-0185

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the association between networking ability, autonomy and work performance.Design/methodology/approachThe data, collected from a sample of 510 employees in a professional service firm, were analysed using regression analysis.FindingsFirst, networking ability and autonomy are positively associated with in-role and extra-role performance. Second, the greater the job autonomy, the stronger the effect of networking ability on in-role performance.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the growing body of literature on demand for social and interpersonal skills in organisations. The authors combine the literature on work design with the literature on networking ability and complexity in employment relations. The authors’ findings show the importance of networking ability and autonomy for work performance, as well as pointing to factors such as age and work experience.

Hickland, Eugene

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-11-2016-0209