Employee Relations: An International Journal

Ye, Xiaoqian; Li, Ling; Tan, Xuejun

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-11-2016-0213

PurposeDrawing on recent literature and empirical data, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between perceived organizational support (POS), perceived overqualification (POQ) and turnover intentions (TI) in repatriates working in multinational corporations (MNCs).Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 145 repatriates who had been contacted beforehand from MNCs in China. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression are used to examine the data.FindingsIt is shown that POQ and POS both affect repatriates TI, with POQ having the stronger effect, while POS plays a mediatory role between POQ and TI. Specifically, under the same POQ, repatriates TI will decrease as the POS increases.Research limitations/implicationsThe study design is cross-sectional and based on self-reporting, which makes causal explanations of the results difficult.Practical implicationsPOQ and POS are both shown to influence TI, with POQ having the greater effect. This means managers can offset the effect of repatriates POQ on TI by providing better support and assistance, which can help MNCs reduce repatriates TI and retain employees.Originality/valueThis paper examines the antecedents of TI, and adds valuable new insights to the literature on repatriation through its research data, offering further evidence that managers in transnational corporations should pay more attention to organizational support policy on repatriates in order to reduce their turnover.

Wang, Wen; Seifert, Roger

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-04-2016-0078

PurposeSince the 2008 financial crisis, the UK workforce in general has experienced a period of stagnant and falling wages in both nominal and real terms. The main parties involved remain unsure of the consequences from such a historically unusual phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the main effect on job satisfaction and organizational commitment of those employees who had experienced pay reductions (nominal wage cuts or pay freezes under a positive inflation rate) as compared with those who experienced nominal pay rises during the recent recession; and second, to examine the moderating effect of employee involvement (EI) practices on that relationship. This was done by using aggregated employee perception data to measure organizational EI practices.Design/methodology/approachEmployee-employer matched data were used, involving 8,489 employees and their associated 497 organizations (medium or large sized). The number of employees from each organization was between 15 and 25. The data used were extracted from the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study in the UK to which the authors applied hierarchical linear regression in STATA 13.FindingsThe results indicate that when compared with those employees who had nominal pay rises during the recession, employees who had wage cuts or freezes (with 5 percent inflation rate) are significantly and negatively associated with their job satisfaction and organizational commitment, even when controlling for important variables such as perception of job insecurity and the degree of adverse impact caused by recession on the organization studied. That is to say, facing the same perception of job loss, those who experienced pay reductions are significantly unhappier and less committed than those who had pay rises. However, the adverse effect of pay reductions on employees’ work attitudes is much less in workplaces characterized by a high, as opposed to a low level, of EI practices.Research limitations/implicationsImplications, limitations, and further research issues are discussed in light of current employment relations’ practices.Originality/valueThe intention is to extend the current debate on employment relations under adverse changes such as pay reductions. Thus, the unique contribution of this study is to examine the value of EI in modifying extreme employee reactions to adverse changes.

Ampofo, Emmanuel Twumasi; Coetzer, Alan; Poisat, Paul

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-10-2016-0199

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore relationships between organisation embeddedness and life satisfaction, and community embeddedness and life satisfaction. The study also examined relationships between each sub-dimension of organisation embeddedness and community embeddedness and life satisfaction. These sub-dimensions are “links”, “fit” and “sacrifice”.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 549 employees in organisations located in four major business centres in South Africa. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling.FindingsBoth organisation embeddedness and community embeddedness were positively related to life satisfaction. Regarding the sub-dimensions of organisation embeddedness, only organisation fit and sacrifice were positively related to life satisfaction. As regards the sub-dimensions of community embeddedness, only community fit was positively related to life satisfaction.Practical implicationsAdopting practices which embed employees in the organisation and communities where they live is potentially beneficial for both organisations and employee well-being.Originality/valueThe bulk of research on job embeddedness (JE) and work-related outcomes has focussed on benefits for the organisation. The effects of embeddedness on employee well-being have been largely overlooked. The current study is an attempt to redress this imbalance in JE research.

Siyanbola, Tejumade Omowumi; Gilman, Mark W.

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-02-2016-0046

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the magnitude of employee turnover (E-turnover) in Nigerian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with particular focus on the manufacturing and service firms adjudged as central to the growth and development of Nigerian economy.Design/methodology/approachData from 602 employees and 94 owner/managers of SMEs located in three Southwestern Nigerian states were collected through survey questionnaire and analysed quantitatively.FindingsEmployees’ and management’s responses indicated that E-turnover still pervades the Nigerian SMEs surveyed with most employees leaving their jobs in less than a year of employment. Multiple exits also occurred; additionally, employees were more prone to exiting if they were male, older, had a smaller family size and/or worked in the manufacturing rather than service SMEs.Research limitations/implicationsMore needs to be done to comprehend owner-managers’ apparent deliberate disguise of employee over-casualisation in the SMEs studied, an act that appeared to limit the interpretation of status-related turnover extent among employees.Practical implicationsTwenty-first century businesses need to stimulate sustainable cost-effective employment relationship capable of thwarting the threat accompanying high E-turnover in businesses.Originality/valueThrough this research, extant global E-turnover literature (largely on western businesses) is enriched by dedicated empirical data on Nigerian SMEs that this study offers.

Bowkett, Cassandra; Hauptmeier, Marco; Heery, Edmund

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-11-2016-0229

PurposeCollective employer representation in the UK has changed in fundamental ways in recent decades. Collective bargaining has declined and instead, the authors have seen the emergence of a significant new form of collective organisation, the employer forum (EF), which promotes good corporate behaviour and typically focusses on issues of equality and diversity, social policy and community engagement. The purpose of this paper is to examine this new form of collective action through a case study on Business in the Community (BITC) Wales. It also compares this EF with traditional employers’ associations (EAs) in order to establish what is significant and distinctive about EFs.Design/methodology/approachBITC Wales is a “typical case” (Patton, 2014; Seawright and Gerring, 2008) that shares key characteristics and functions with other EFs across key analytical dimensions, and therefore provides insights into the wider population of EFs in the UK. In addition, the paper compares EFs, examined through a qualitative case study of BITC Wales, and traditional EAs, introduced and discussed in the literature review, along the same analytical dimensions. The aim of contrasting EAs with the case study on BITC Wales is to establish what is distinctive and significant about EFs and to consider the implications for employment relations in the UK.FindingsThe paper argues that EFs and EAs support employers in dealing with the challenges of managing the employment relationship and threats to profitability in different political contexts. The organisation of employers in EAs was a response to increasing trade union power and labour costs. EFs are helping employers to deal with a different set of challenges, including declining social cohesion in communities in which employers operate, reputational and legal risks posed by new equality and diversity legislation and expectations of good corporate citizenship by consumers and their own employees. EFs address these challenges by engaging in social projects in local communities, by promoting good corporate behaviour through benchmarking and codes of conduct, and by boosting the reputation of employers through award schemes and promotion of corporate social responsibility activities of member companies.Originality/valuePrevious literature has not examined EFs and their role in employment relations. This paper considers EFs as a new actor in employment relations.

Green, Ohad; Ayalon, Liat

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-07-2016-0136

PurposeMigrant home care workers constitute a vulnerable group in society, which is often exposed to work-related abuse. The purpose of this paper is to explore which characteristics are linked with their abuse.Design/methodology/approachOverall, 187 Filipino home care workers who work in Israel were recruited via snowball sampling and filled an anonymous questionnaire regarding work-related abuse incidents and working conditions.FindingsMore than half of the participants reported exposure to abuse (e.g. sexual, physical, or emotional) or exploitation (e.g. asking to do more than job requirements). Particularly vulnerable were migrant workers during their first year in the host country and those who were taking care of an older adult with cognitive impairment. Interestingly, men who served as care workers were more susceptible to abuse than women.Originality/valueThe findings point to specific characteristics which make home care workers more susceptible to abuse illustrate the need for a closer supervision on the working conditions of home care workers, especially during the initial period of their work. Training migrant home care workers in the area of dementia care is also important.

Bobek, Alicja; Devitt, Camilla

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-04-2016-0067

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the ethnically diverse workplace in Irish hospitals by examining the perspectives of foreign- and Irish-born professionals and their managers.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured qualitative interviews with 30 health professionals (foreign- and Irish-born) and with hospital managers (Irish-born). All interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.FindingsThe managers and professionals interviewed mostly perceived ethnically diverse workplaces as an asset. Health professionals also identified a number of challenges, including internal divisions based on ethnicity, language and communication problems and cultural differences. However, in general, discrimination on the basis of ethnicity was not highlighted by interviewees.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the qualitative design of the study allowed for an in-depth exploration of experiences in ethnically diverse workplaces in selected Irish hospitals, the relatively small sample size poses some limitations. The study brings to light the need for larger-scale survey-based research on the ethnically diverse workplace in Irish hospitals, which includes Irish- and foreign-born health professionals in the sample.Originality/valueThe study includes a variety of perspectives on experiences in ethnically diverse workplaces in Irish hospitals, including foreign-born health professionals, their Irish-born colleagues and hospital managers.

Imhof, Susanne; Andresen, Maike

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-08-2016-0162

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on the specific relationship between temporary agency workers (TAWs) and their employing temporary work agencies in Germany that is characterized – in contrast to other European countries – by agencies’ central role in employment and the prevalence of permanent contracts. The study addresses a research gap in understanding the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) provided by temporary work agencies in the relationship between employment-specific antecedents and TAWs’ subjective well-being (SWB).Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of 350 TAWs in Germany, the mediating role of POS provided by agencies is analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe authors show that procedural justice, performance feedback and social network availability positively relate to POS while perceived job insecurity shows the expected negative influence and distributive justice has no impact on POS. POS, in turn, positively relates to SWB. The partially mediating effect of POS between employment-specific antecedents and SWB is also confirmed.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on cross-sectional data and self-reported measures; this may limit causal inferences.Practical implicationsThe results highlight the importance of agencies creating POS and reducing perceived job insecurity for improving TAWs’ SWB.Originality/valueThe study contributes to previous POS research by focusing on the agencies’ role and by showing the mediating effect of POS on TAWs’ SWB in Germany.

Belwal, Rakesh; Belwal, Shweta

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-09-2016-0183

PurposeThe participation and productivity of women in Oman’s labor force are very low and heavily skewed toward the government sector. There are few women in the private sector and the reasons for this are not well-known. The challenges that women workers face specifically in the Arab World are worth understanding from a participation and policy perspective. The purpose of this paper is to explore employers’ perceptions of women workers and the major challenges they face in Oman in the context of government efforts to develop the female workforce in this Middle East region.Design/methodology/approachData collected by interviewing the top executives (employers) from 28 organizations in two major cities in Oman were analyzed qualitatively, grouped into emerging themes, triangulated, and discussed.FindingsThe results indicated that employers, in general, are impressed by women workers in Oman. However, they identify a number of challenges women face. This study synthesized and grouped employers’ perceptions of these challenges in the following categories: women’s natural and physiological composition, their attitude at work, post-marital challenges, socio-cultural barriers, nature and place of work, organizational preparedness and governance, biases or prejudices of employers, and work-life balance (WLB) issues facing them.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that since female participation in the government sector in Oman is substantial, women can also be attracted to work in the private sector if policies are formulated to safeguard their interests.Originality/valueThere is an absolute dearth of studies about female participation in the Omani workforce; this study is one of the pioneering efforts. Whereas the extant literature on WLB issues represents mostly the western perspective, this study highlights the major WLB issues in Oman and fills some important gaps between the West and the Middle East by focusing on women, WLB, and policies triangle.

Ayentimi, Desmond Tutu; Burgess, John; Dayaram, Kantha

2017 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-10-2016-0203

PurposeUsing an institutionalist perspective, and through a case study analysis, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether subsidiaries of MNEs demonstrate a convergence across their HRM practices in a less developed host-country context.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reports on an exploratory qualitative study involving five MNEs subsidiaries that operate in Ghana and originate from the UK, France, Germany, and India. The authors applied thematic and cross-case analysis techniques to explore similarities and differences in their HRM practices by drawing data from in-depth face-to-face interviews and document analyses.FindingsFindings suggest that MNE subsidiaries demonstrate more convergence across their HRM practices as well as other HRM characteristics. Despite the similarities in their HRM practices, the evidence suggests that MNE subsidiaries’ HRM practices were similar to corporate headquarters HRM practices. It appears that the host-country has less influence in driving their convergence but rather the country-of-origin effect; competitive isomorphic pressure and global integration benefits were driving their convergence across their HRM practices.Originality/valueThis study makes a contribution to the convergence-divergence literature in the international HRM (IHRM) domain with specific focus on addressing an under-researched context of less developed host-countries. One of the puzzles in comparative and IHRM literature yet to be resolved is the convergence-divergence thesis of firms’ HRM practices.