Employee Relations: An International Journal

Peterson, Jonathan; Tahssain-Gay, Loubna; Laila, Benraiss-Noailles

2022 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-03-2021-0123

This paper examines antecedents to perceived injustice in exclusive talent identification practices.Design/methodology/approach31 in-depth interviews with individuals working in for-profit organizations in France were conducted and analyzed. Interviewees represented a variety of sectors such as transportation, aerospace, energy and telecommunications.FindingsThe use of exclusivity in talent identification influences perceived organizational justice through ambiguous advancement policies, support from hidden networks, lack of diversity in the talent identification process, frequent gender discrimination, and premature labeling of talent. These practices suggest breaches in procedural, distributive and interactional justice by allocating advantages to some employees over others. Exclusivity yielded frustration, jealousy and potential retaliatory behavior against those individuals deemed to be unfairly identified as talent.Practical implicationsThe challenge of ensuring fair and equitable talent identification is a growing issue for organizations. For managers, it requires paying close attention to how some forms of exclusivity in talent identification may create unfair treatment of employees.Originality/valueWhile organizational justice research focuses on the background and practices that promote justice, our research finds its originality in examining the sentiments of injustice that remain contextual, subjective and comparative.

Budhiraja, Sunil; Varkkey, Biju; McKenna, Stephen

2022 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-05-2021-0206

The purpose of the study is twofold: (1) it captures the work–life balance (WLB) experiences of front-office employees to inductively classify a set of WLB indicators for the locally owned Indian luxury hotels and (2) it further examines the existing WLB practices of the select hotels with the lens of talent management (TM) approach of key human resource management (HRM) practices (Thunnissen, 2016).Design/methodology/approachTo explore and classify WLB indicators, an exploratory, qualitative approach is utilized by administering seven focus group discussions involving 70 front-office employees working in Indian luxury hotels. Seven in-depth interviews with HR professionals were triangulated with secondary data to capture and analyse the existing WLB practices of sampled organizations.FindingsFour clusters of WLB indicators that are grounded in the lived experiences of front-office employees are identified and presented. Interview data from human resource representatives unveil that hotels consider existing WLB practices as key HRM practices with an inclusive TM approach. The findings also surface the differences in expectations of front-office employees and WLB practices followed by the hotels.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, the paper addresses the issue of WLB from employees’ perspective which is crucial for designing effective WLB practices. Second, the paper contributes to the existing TM literature from the perspective of WLB practices.Originality/valueThe originality of the study is grounded in the employees’ lived experiences to classify the WLB indicators for India and further examine the WLB practices through the lens of the TM approach.

Berde, Éva; Mágó, Mánuel László

2022 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-11-2020-0515

The main goal of this paper is to test whether older Hungarian women face age discrimination in the job market. The theoretical framework of this paper measures the level of discrimination and highlights that age discrimination leads to a waste of human resources.Design/methodology/approachTwo pairs of fictitious CVs were created; each pair included a younger (34 years old) and an older woman (60 years old) with an age difference of 26 years. One pair was designed for office assistant positions, the other for economic analyst positions. The contents of the CVs with photos were entirely fabricated except for active email addresses and phone numbers to allow responses to be tracked. LinkedIn accounts were also created for the analysts. Applications were sent over a four-month period from November 2019. The rate of invitation to interviews was analysed with mathematical statistical methods and a small probability model.FindingsThe younger job seekers were invited to interviews about 2.2 times more often than the older ones. Based on the authors’ probability model, employers evaluate the skills of older applicants at only 45–67% of their actual skills.Research limitations/implicationsThe experiment had to be stopped due to the Covid-19 lockdown as there were no new job postings.Originality/valueThe experiment demonstrates that age discrimination exists in Hungary. In addition to traditional audit job applications through HR portals, we used LinkedIn too. The small probability model applies an old framework in a new environment.

Ballantine, Joan Amanda; Wall, Tony; Ward, Anne Marie

2022 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-08-2020-0379

The public sector is often considered the vanguard in terms of the availability and promotion of flexible working arrangements (FWAs). Despite this, little is known about how senior managers in the public sector engage with FWAs. This paper aims to address this gap, reporting on a number of issues, including the reality of FWAs, the existence of a flexibility stigma and whether this is gendered, and the drivers influencing the uptake of FWAs.Design/methodology/approachTheoretical insights of flexibility stigma from the literature and data from semi-structured interviews with senior managers in the Northern Ireland Civil Service explore the realities of FWAs at this level.FindingsThe findings indicate a decoupling between the rhetoric and reality of FWAs, with few senior managers availing of such arrangements. The authors also identify a complex web of issues that constrain senior managers' agency in shaping a positive culture of FWAs at senior management level in the Civil Service, including an inherent resistance to flexibility, a lack of visible role models and negative perceptions around progression. The findings also indicate deeply held perceptions among senior males and females that availing of FWAs is associated with a flexibility stigma. These perceptions were confirmed by the small number of senior females with caring responsibilities who were availing of FWAs.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides senior managers and human resource practitioners with insights into the difficulties associated with wide-scale FWA availability and use at senior levels of the Civil Service.Originality/valueThe findings of the study offer valuable insights into the experience of senior managers in the public sector as they engage with FWAs. The study, therefore, contributes to the limited literature in this area.

Huang, Hao; Liu, Hong; Zhao, Xingguang; He, Hanrong; Ding, Yusen

2022 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-01-2021-0040

The purpose of this research study is to explore the influence of perceived organizational support (POS) on organizational embeddedness and organizational identification in the simulated home environment. Another objective of this study is to provide an effective cross-cultural adjustment model adopted by many Chinese enterprises operating overseas. Furthermore, it examines the mediating effects of organizational embeddedness and organizational identification on POS and expatriate adjustment.Design/methodology/approachThe data of this quantitative research study was acquired from a questionnaire survey completed by 326 expatriates from Chinese enterprises in a power station in Bangladesh, and regression analyses were conducted using SPSS software.FindingsThe study found that POS of expatriates is positively correlated with their organizational embeddedness and organizational identification, and it positively impacts expatriate adjustment. Moreover, the study also evaluated that organizational embeddedness and organizational identification positively influence expatriate adjustment. Finally, it was demonstrated that organizational embeddedness mediates the relationship among living POS, emotional POS and expatriate adjustment. Organizational identification mediates the relationships among work POS, emotional POS and work adjustment. Organizational identification mediates the relationships between work POS and interaction adjustment.Practical implicationsThe research results demonstrate that the living, work and emotional support to the expatriates from the projects department of Chinese enterprises is of particular importance for their better adjustment in overseas engineering projects. Furthermore, these results are particularly conducive to the successful management of employees accommodated in fully-closed and semi-closed simulated homes.Originality/valueIn the setting of a simulated home in the overseas engineering projects, this research study has demonstrated for the first time that the living, work and emotional support provided by an organization can effectively help its expatriate workers acclimatize during their overseas placement.

Kundu, Subhash C.; Tuteja, Prerna; Chahar, Purnima

2022 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-03-2021-0090

The paper focuses on examining the relationship between challenges caused by COVID-19 pandemic and employees' stress through the mediating role of family-life disturbance and work-life imbalance.Design/methodology/approachA total of 1,556 respondents from 45 countries across all continents were included in this survey. Statistical techniques such as exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlations, multiple regression and bootstrapping were used to analyse the data.FindingsThe results depicted that COVID-19 challenges induced stress among employees. In combination with this, family-life disturbance and work-life imbalance mediated the relationship between COVID-19 challenges and employees' stress individually as well as serially. The paper further suggests some recommendations to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 challenges on employees' stress.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation of the study was in the data collection process. As the data were collected during the time period of pandemic, so, limited respondents were approached. Also, the international and cross-sectional design of the study can limit the applicability of the results.Practical implicationsThe study suggests organizations and HR managers to help in balancing family and work-life of employees, so that their mind can be kept stress free.Originality/valueThe study has added knowledge to the existing literature of stress created due to the COVID-19 pandemic by explaining the serial mediation of family-life disturbance and work-life imbalance between the relationship of COVID-19 challenges and employees' stress.

Simón, Cristina; Shaw, Jason D.; de Sivatte, Isabel; Olmos Albacete, Ricardo

2022 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-02-2021-0074

The authors propose and test these boundary conditions to the relationship between voluntary collective turnover and unit performance: job and organizational tenure and the time clustering of turnover.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyze longitudinal data obtained from 231 units of an international clothing retailer in Spain assessed during 36 months.FindingsThe authors show that when the remaining workforce has moderate, but not low or high, levels of job and organizational tenure, the negative effect of quits on performance is buffered. Furthermore, their results show that time-clustered voluntary turnover patterns have stronger negative effects on unit performance than turnover patterns spread over time.Originality/valueThe authors extend the collective turnover literature addressing two qualitative properties of the content of voluntary turnover, the experience of the workers that remain in the unit after the turnover events happen and how these events are clustered/dispersed over time.

Hunsaker, William D.; Ding, Wenjing

2022 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-01-2021-0032

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of employee flourishing as a mechanism to explain the relationship between workplace spirituality and employees' innovative work behavior (IWB). Furthermore, this study investigates how the relationship between workplace spirituality and innovative behavior is moderated by employees' perceived workplace satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachBased on structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression analysis, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 236 millennial workers in China's service and manufacturing industries.FindingsThe research findings confirmed that workplace spirituality positively predicted the innovative behavior of employees; furthermore, employee flourishing and workplace satisfaction mediated and moderated the relationship between workplace spirituality and employee innovation, respectively.Practical implicationsThis study's findings suggest that workplace spirituality unlocks employees' innovative behavior through a heightened sense of flourishing and enhanced sense of workplace satisfaction. Organizations are advised to foster a climate conducive of workplace spirituality by developing mutually aligned values. Moreover, organizations are advised to train leaders on workplace spirituality dimensions and foster workplace practices that facilitate self-reflection, job crafting and team building, as a means of broadening employees' emotional states and workplace satisfaction.Originality/valueFew studies have examined the mechanisms that shape employees' innovative behavior through workplace spirituality. This study fills several research gaps by extending the theoretical implications of workplace spirituality and employee flourishing, as demonstrated by the multi-faceted role these variables play in motivating employees' innovative behavior among Chinese millennials. Additionally, this study demonstrates that higher levels of workplace satisfaction contribute to higher levels of innovative behavior.

Yu, Mingchuan; Jiao, Qianying; Wang, Greg G.; Liu, Yuan

2022 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-11-2020-0516

To reconcile the mixed findings on commitment-oriented human resource management (HRM) on employee job performance, this study tests whether commitment-oriented HRM has a threshold effect on employee job performance and when this threshold effect matters. The authors further tested the role of employees' age in the relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a survey and collected data from 601 employees in 32 firms in China, and used a multilevel approach to test the hypothesis.FindingsThe results showed that the association between commitment-oriented HRM and employee job performance was J-shaped, meaning that commitment-oriented HRM was positively related to job performance when the degree of commitment-oriented HRM exceeded a threshold. Moreover, the authors found that employee age moderated this J-shape relationship. Specifically, the curvilinear relationship between development commitment-oriented HRM and job performance was stronger in younger employees. Contrary to our prediction, the results showed that younger employees reacted more strongly to improve job performance than older employees when maintenance commitment-oriented HRM exceeded a moderate degree.Originality/valueThe findings on the J-shape effect and moderating role of employee age on the J-shape provided critical insights into understanding the mixed results of the effect of HRM. Additionally, this study provided new insight in the linkage between HRM practices and employee outcomes.

Wilkinson, Adrian; Muurlink, Olav; Townsend, Keith; Peetz, David

2022 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/er-12-2021-0525

The authors consider stage theories of human resource management (HRM) to explore how new companies experiencing high levels of growth face the dual pressures of youth and expansion.Design/methodology/approachThe firms in this study are a sub-group of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) called “gazelles”. While this is a qualitative study, participants were chosen through a modified random sampling approach that ensures that the sample is representative of a regional population of gazelle firms.FindingsNew companies experiencing high levels of growth face the challenge of expansion while structurally immature. While the selected companies were ill-equipped in formal knowledge of HR they reacted to rapidly changing conditions and were forced to organisational flexibility meaning that few absolute rules were adopted.Originality/valueGazelle literature tends to focus on impediments to growth, rather than HR staples such as recruiting and retaining staff. But the studied cases showed an acute appreciation by gazelle managers of the value of motivated, skilled staff able to turn their hand to the fluctuating requirements of the fast-growing firm and a desire to establish formal HR mechanisms as part of the response to the stress of growth.