Effects of Informal HPWPs on Employee Job Satisfaction and Organizational Profitability

Abstract

Research evidence reveals a considerable divergence between management responses and employee responses regarding organizational high performance work practices (HPWPs). This divergence implies not only that employees may not engage in some of the HPWPs that formally exist in their organizations, but also that employees may engage in other HPWPs on an informal basis. In this study, we examine the implication of the latter case (i.e., employee engagement in “informal” HPWPs) for employee- level and organization-level outcomes. Our analyses, using data from the Statistics Canada Workplace and Employee Survey, demonstrate that employee participation in informal HPWPs is associated with enhanced job satisfaction and organizational profitability in a similar way as employee participation in formal HPWPs is associated with these outcomes.