Employee Relations: An International Journal

Mamman, Aminu; Rees, Christopher J.; Bakuwa, Rhoda; Branine, Mohamed; Kamoche, Ken

2019 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-12-2017-0296

In recognising the weakness of trade unions and the lack of an institutional framework designed to enforce employee rights in an African context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which human resource (HR) practitioners are perceived to play the role of employee advocate.Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative data set is derived from a sample of 305 respondents (95 HR practitioners, 121 line managers and 89 employees) from Malawi.FindingsDespite the challenges of the context, HR practitioners are perceived by key stakeholders (including line managers and employees) to be playing the role of employee advocate. Standard multiple regression results indicate that the main factor contributing to the perception that HR practitioners are playing this role is their contribution to “motivating employees”.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was conducted in Malawi. Further research is necessary to explore the generalisability of the findings to other contexts.Originality/valueThe findings provide an empirical base for future studies which explore perceptions of the employee advocacy role undertaken by HR practitioners in Africa.

Grant, Christine Anne; Wallace, Louise M.; Spurgeon, Peter C.; Tramontano, Carlo; Charalampous, Maria

2019 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-09-2017-0229

The purpose of this paper is to develop and provide initial validation for the new E-Work Life (EWL) Scale. This measure assesses a range of theoretically relevant aspects of the e-working experience related to four main areas: job effectiveness, relationship with the organisation, well-being and work-life balance.Design/methodology/approachThis study presents structured item development. Internal validity and reliability were tested on a sample of 260 e-workers (65 per cent female, age range 25–74). Correlations of the EWL scale with a measure of general health were tested on a subsample of 119 workers to provide initial evidence of construct validity.FindingsExploratory factor analysis supported a 17-item scale assessing four factors: work-life interference, productivity, organisational trust and flexibility. Individual well-being was measured and a pattern of significant correlations against four factors as indicators of general health were found, including mental health and vitality.Research limitations/implicationsA new sample would confirm the strength of the EWL scale alongside further tests of validity. Coping strategies related to the scale would aid mapping of individual competencies for remote e-working to promote e-workers’ self-management, management style and organisational policy.Practical implicationsThe EWL scale helps organisations to evaluate and support the well-being of remote e-workers. It provides measurement on three levels: individual, supervisory and organisational, whereby practical strategies for improvement can be linked to the scale.Originality/valueThe EWL scale completes a gap in the research by providing a measure aiding organisations to evaluate and support remote e-worker well-being.

Maqueira, Juan M.; Bruque, Sebastián; Uhrin, Ákos

2019 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/ER-11-2017-0271

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between financial and operational performance and the application of two different talent management (TM) models: internal talent development model and external talent capture model. Comparative case studies of the Football Club Barcelona and the Real Madrid Football Club allow drawing a definitive conclusion for TM in companies related to the competitive strategy.Design/methodology/approachThe two TM models are examined via a longitudinal comparative case study analysis: FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF. Present paper builds on secondary sources: first, the TM properties of the clubs were extracted from academic sources and newspapers; second, data used to analyze the financial performance were derived from SABI database and operational performance was measured as the effectiveness in winning trophies in football championships (data gathered from Union of European Football Associations and International Federation of Football Associations databases).FindingsThe case analysis reveals that the two TM models offer equally effective financial and operational performance outcomes. The internal talent development model would be more useful for companies whose competitive advantage is achieved through differentiation through teamwork. However, companies that do not achieve a clear differentiation through teamwork should opt for the external talent capture model.Originality/valueTalent is one of a company’s most important intangible assets. Although there exists a growing interest among companies as to the best way to TM, practical models on how to manage talent are virtually nonexistent. Comparative case studies from the sports arena allow for the extraction of lessons for companies related to TM and competitive strategy.

Collazo Jr, José Luis; Kmec, Julie A.

2019 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-02-2018-0032

Reliance on third-party judgments are common in efforts to identify and reduce workplace sexual harassment (SH). The purpose of this paper is to identify whether a workplace emphasis on inclusion as a cultural value is related to third-party labeling of and response to an exchange between a male manager and his female subordinate.Design/methodology/approachParticipants (n=308) in an online survey experiment were randomly assigned to a workplace that emphasized inclusion or one that emphasized individual achievement as a cultural value. They read a vignette describing a workplace interaction between a male manager and his female subordinate and responded to a series of questions.FindingsOrganizational emphasis on inclusion is unrelated to third-party labeling of the interaction as SH, but positively associated with labeling the female’s intention to pursue harassment charges as an overreaction, and support for the female subordinate in a claim of SH against her manager. Culture is unassociated with willingness to defend the male manager in a SH claim.Practical implicationsIdentifying how workplace culture shapes third-party reaction to harassment can help employers use third-party witnesses and cultural value statements as tools to reduce SH.Social implicationsA workplace’s cultural emphasis on inclusion is positively related to third-party support for SH victims implying the importance of workplace context in the fight against workplace SH.Originality/valueThe paper presents the first experimental analysis of how a workplace cultural emphasis on inclusion affects the third-party observers’ reactions to SH.

Karadas, Georgiana; Karatepe, Osman M.

2019 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-04-2017-0084

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential mediators that operate in the black box between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and employee outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe relationships the authors developed were assessed via data obtained from a time-lagged sample of customer-contact employees and their direct supervisors in the Romanian hotel industry. The study employed bias-corrected bootstrapping analysis to gauge the mediating effects.FindingsThe findings reveal that psychological capital mediates the impact of HPWS on work engagement. As hypothesized, both psychological capital and work engagement mediate the impact of HPWS on quitting intentions, creative performance and extra-role performance. In short, the findings underscore both psychological capital and work engagement as the two mediators that operate in the black box between HPWS and the aforesaid employee outcomes. In addition, the empirical data support the impact of work engagement in the intermediate linkage between psychological capital and these outcomes.Originality/valueThe study enhances current knowledge on HPWS by examining the potential mediators between HPWS and motivational outcomes and job outcomes.

Hernaus, Tomislav; Pavlovic, Dejana; Klindzic, Maja

2019 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-02-2018-0035

Organizations profoundly create development paths of individual’s careers. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to gain understanding about how organizational context (shaped by the complex relationship between trade union strength and HRM strength) influences the application of organizational career management (OCM) practices seen through the lens of the theory of cooperation and competition (Deutsch, 1949; Tjosvold, 1984).Design/methodology/approachInferential statistical analyses (Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests) were applied to test the CRANET survey data collected from 92 large-sized private-sector organizations within an EU country characterized by a medium to high-trade union density.FindingsResults offered consistent empirical evidence that a comprehensive set of OCM practices are applied differently across four distinctive modalities of the union-HRM relationship. Specifically, the “union-HRM synergy” relationship (high-HRM/high-unionization) has been recognized as the most promising for adopting such developmental practices, providing an evidence of complementarities between trade unions and HRM professionalism.Practical implicationsThe research suggests that synergistic collaboration between trade unions and HRM might provide employees with even more career development opportunities than when organizations pursue the asynchronous single-sided “Total HRM strategy.”Originality/valueThis study rejuvenate a traditional career management research agenda by introducing a new theoretical lens for studying the interplay between trade unions and HRM and have put an emphasis on how their strength is related to the incidence of OCM practices.

Yizhong, Xie; Baranchenko, Yevhen; Lin, Zhibin; Lau, Chi Keung; Ma, Jie

2019 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-02-2018-0052

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of job characteristics and social exchange in transformational leadership (TFL) and employability relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe sample is composed of 760 participants employed in Yangtze Delta and Pearl River Delta in China. The participants have worked under their line manager for more than one year. In order to better prevent data from possible common method bias, two waves of surveys (in 2014) on a stratified sample, included a mix of industries, such as construction, manufacturing, finance, insurance and communications, were used to investigate the proposed relationship between TFL, job characteristics, social exchange and employability.FindingsThe research has empirically tested the relationship between TFL and employability. While previous research has analyzed the relationship between them, the authors have enriched existing literature by exploring the mediating factors and illustrating the importance of indirect effects. Besides the direct effect, the results of this study showed that TFL could also improve employees’ employability through job demands, skill discretion, decision authority, perceived organizational support and team–member exchange, but not leader–member exchange.Originality/valueThe study opens up a debate around the employability of employees as it stands apart from the performance measurement. The authors believe that this new mediating model can provide an insight into complex mechanisms of employability enhancement from the perspective of leader development.

Campos-García, Irene; Zúñiga-Vicente, José Ángel

2019 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-10-2017-0253

Building on Upper Echelons Theory and prior research on strategic leadership, the purpose of this paper is to examine the possible effect on employee motivation of two sets of characteristics related to leaders: demographic (gender and age); and professional development (tenure, prior career experience in the organization and training).Design/methodology/approachThe empirical analysis is based on data from a survey of Spanish educational organizations (secondary schools). The hypotheses are tested using hierarchical multiple regression analysis estimations.FindingsThe results reveal that the characteristics linked to a leader’s professional development have a significant impact on employee (teacher) motivation. Specifically, a long tenure in office has a negative effect, while prior career experience in an organization and continuous training have a positive impact. However, none of the leader’s demographic characteristics considered in the study has a significant impact on teacher motivation.Practical implicationsSeveral lines of managerial and educational policy action are suggested for improving employee (teacher) motivation, especially in the specific case of the schools considered here.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first attempts to explore what impact certain leaders’ characteristics have on employee motivation.

Maloney, Maureen; McCarthy, Alma

2019 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-06-2017-0138

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how firm size impacts pension workforce coverage with a particular focus on automatic enrolment (AE) to pension plans in small organisations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the alignment of government AE interests with those of small employers, their employees and pension providers to better understand how firm size impacts pension workforce coverage.FindingsThe alignment of interests between stakeholders (government, pension providers, employers and employees) differs between large and small organisations, and empirical findings from large organisations cannot be assumed to apply in small organisations.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper calls attention to the need for future empirical research and identifies a number of research questions for further analysis to examine how AE impacts pension participation in small organisations and advance the field.Originality/valueThe policy of automatically enroling employees into occupational pension plans, recently legislated for all eligible workers in the UK and under consideration in the USA and Ireland, was developed from research conducted in a small number of large organisations. Pension coverage is particularly inadequate for the large number of employees working in small organisations (1–49 employees). However, little research attention has been focussed on pensions in small organisations with pension policy makers assuming that legislated AE will work as effectively in small organisations as it did in large organisations. This paper addresses this gap in the field.

Jaiswal, Akanksha; Dyaram, Lata

2019 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-11-2017-0279

Literature highlights diversity to facilitate cognitive outcomes; nevertheless, there is limited scholarly attention on affective diversity effects. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of perceived diversity on employee well-being (EWB) and contend different types of diversity to yield differential impact. Further, the authors explore how nature of employee work can moderate these relationships.Design/methodology/approachWith 311 full-time employees representing large manufacturing organizations in India, the authors test the hypothesized relationships using PROCESS macro.FindingsResults indicate perception of surface and knowledge diversity having a significant positive impact on EWB. Further, the authors found nature of employee work to moderate the link between knowledge diversity and well-being such that perception of knowledge diversity under complex tasks enhanced well-being; no impact of work complexity was observed on the link between surface diversity and well-being.Research limitations/implicationsPerceived diversity is malleable lending itself to longitudinal work in this field. Besides nature of work, future research may explore other key contextual factors in diversity dynamics.Practical implicationsContrary to the longstanding theories such as social categorization/similarity attraction, the authors found surface diversity to positively influence EWB. This indicates firms’ effective diversity management strategies in creating inclusive workplace. Further, the authors draw implications around team design and workforce composition.Originality/valueWhile the scholarly attention to perceived diversity is gradually growing, in a first, the authors empirically examine the impact of diversity perceptions on employee affect in the context of Indian manufacturing firms.