High-involvement Practices Research Articles

Impact of high involvement work systems in shaping power, knowledge sharing, rewards and knowledge perception of employees

PurposeAmid challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, fostering employee creativity has become paramount for organizations. However, there is a scarcity of research on digitalization of the workplace and its implications for implementing high involvement work systems (HIWSs) in organizations, particularly in relation to their impact on employee outcomes, such as creativity and job satisfaction. Additionally, limited attention has been given to the role of job level and organizational type in driving change during times of adversity. This study aims to examine the factors within the HIWSs model using the PIRK model – power (P), information sharing (I), rewards (R) and knowledge (K) to explore how HIWSs shape the extent of power individuals have over their employment, the sharing of information, the types of rewards that engage and motivate employees and the knowledge required to fulfil employees’ responsibilities effectively, both individually and collectively.Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative research methodology, this study uses thematic analysis for data collection, analysis and interpretation. Semi-structured interviews (n = 48) served as the primary data collection method. Using the theoretical lenses of high-involvement practices and employee perceptions of PIRK, the effect on employee creativity and job satisfaction is analysed.FindingsThe findings of this study reveal that employee creativity is significantly influenced by how employees perceive power, information, rewards and knowledge. Moreover, the study highlights the role of transformational and transactional leadership in shaping employee perceptions of power, information and knowledge within HIWSs. A high perception of PIRK is found to positively impact employee job satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsThis study offers valuable insights for human resource management (HRM) professionals seeking to make informed decisions regarding best practices and initiatives for enhancing employee outcomes in the post-COVID era. By recognizing the pivotal role of HIWSs and their influence on employee perceptions, organizations can strategically implement HIWSs to foster creativity and job satisfaction. Furthermore, this research contributes to the existing literature by examining the interplay between HIWSs and the PIRK model in the context of workplace digitalization, emphasizing the importance of adapting HRM practices to address the evolving needs of the modern workforce.Originality/valueThis study will help HRM professionals in making informed decisions on the best practices and initiatives to enhance employee outcomes in the post-COVID era. This paper adds to the existing literature on HIWS and PIRK in the context of workplace digitalization.

HRM Practices, Organizational Culture and Nurse Staffing Turnover among High-Medicaid Nursing Homes

Nurse staffing turnover has been associated with nursing home quality, such as worse resident outcomes, higher rates of infection, and hospitalizations. Nurse staffing turnover can be worse in under-resourced nursing homes, such as those with a high proportion of Medicaid residents. These organizations may lack the resources to attract and retain nurse staff, and this could contribute to higher nurse turnover. However, even within this group of under-resourced nursing homes, we observe variations in nurse turnover rates. Using the resource-based view of the firm (RBV), we explored the role that both human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational culture may have in explaining the variations in nursing staff turnover among high Medicaid nursing homes. Data consisted of survey and secondary data sources for 2017-2018. Survey data comprised 348 responses (33% response rate) from a national mailer of US nursing home administrators in high-Medicaid (85% or higher) facilities. Survey data were merged with secondary datasets including Long-Term Care Focus (LTCFocus) and the Area Health Resource File (AHRF). The dependent variables (nurse staffing turnover rates) consisted of the percentages of registered nurses (RNs)/licensed practical nurses (LPNs)/certified nurse aides (CNAs) that had voluntarily quit the organization during the past year. The first independent variable, HRM practices, consisted of three sub-scales: traditional, employee-centered, and high involvement practices. The second independent variable consisted of nursing homes’ classification into one of four organizational cultures: clan, market, hierarchical, and non-dominant. Organizational and market variables were controlled for. Data were modeled using Poisson log-linear regression, and propensity score weights were used to adjust for potential survey non-response bias. Results show that high involvement HRM practices and having a clan culture (compared to a market, hierarchical, and non-dominant culture) are associated with lower RN, LPN, and CNA staffing turnover. The findings of this study highlight the importance of organizational culture as well as HRM practices for practitioners and policy makers to more effectively target their efforts to reduce nurse turnover in high Medicaid nursing homes. By reducing turnover, these under-resourced facilities may be able to lower costs and improve their financial performance, which may ultimately reduce the likelihood of closure with implications for access to long-term care. Similarly, lower nurse staffing turnover rates may improve quality of care for a particularly vulnerable nursing home population, i.e. those with lower SES and racial/ethnic minorities.

High-involvement HRM and innovative behaviour: The mediating roles of nursing staff's autonomy and affective commitment.

AimsThe purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship between high‐involvement human resource management, autonomy, affective organisational commitment and innovative behaviours of nursing staff who care for elderly clients.BackgroundNursing teams are increasingly required to demonstrate innovative behaviours that enhance care quality. Nursing leaders need to create environments where nursing staff have sufficient autonomy and feel a sense of commitment to support these behaviours. The appropriate implementation of these processes and practices may lead to greater involvement.MethodsA cross‐sectional survey‐based research design was employed to explore the experiences of involvement practices, autonomy, affective organisational commitment and innovative behaviours of 567 nursing staff workers from four elderly care organisations in the Netherlands.ResultsThe results demonstrate that a bundle of high‐involvement practices positively influences innovative behaviour and that affective commitment and autonomy fully mediate this relationship.ConclusionsThe study highlights the role of autonomy and commitment as routes towards translating involvement practices into nurses’ innovativeness.Implications for Nursing ManagementTo create an innovative environment, leaders need to create a positive climate by providing nurses with opportunities to enhance their competence, relatedness and autonomy through active involvement. Leaders should, therefore, encourage involvement as a mechanism to promote innovation.

Getting involved in innovation: how High-Involvement HRM practices support employee’s to be innovative

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Based on research from the manufacturing industry in Pakistan, the authors find that high-involvement HR practices have a direct positive impact on individual employee functional flexibility and innovative workplace behavior Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Impact Of High Involvement Work Practices On Employee Performances In Health Sector, Pakistan

Purpose of the Study: This study was aimed to evaluate the association of different dimensions of high involvement work practices with employee performance in the health department. These high involvement practices are shared decision making, compensation and rewards, shared information and organizational training.
 Methodology: This research adopted the quantitative techniques for collecting and analyzing the data. Data was collected through a survey, and the questionnaire has been adopted as the tool of data collection. This survey has targeted the employees of health department that includes doctors, nutritionists, dispensers and other staff at rural health centers. This survey has selected 202 employees through distributing the questionnaires, after collecting all the questionnaires, data has recorded in SPSS for analyzing statistically.
 Findings: Results showed that all four dimensions of employee involvement keep a significant association with employee performances. All the variables in this study keep a significant relationship with each other. 
 Discussion & Conclusion: Furthermore, it has revealed that shared information and organizational training keep the increasing importance of effecting employee performances. This research has highlighted the essential recommendations and directions for further studies.
 Novelity of the Study: The stronger correlation has been assessed among rewards and employee performances. Separate impact of such factors like competitive salaries, fair rewards and recognition system have been found as significantly associated with the higher performance level of the employee performance in the organizations.

Which Way to High Performance? Comparing Performance Effects of High-Performance Work System Components in Small- to Medium-Sized Establishments

The authors examine variation in firm choices to invest in HR practices. They identify three approaches: investments in high-involvement programs (such as employee participation and teams); in high-commitment practices (such as internal promotions and job security); and in ability-enhancing selection and training programs. The authors test the performance effect of these choices in a sample of 165 small- and medium-sized hotel establishments (SMEs). They also consider how job-level differences in skill requirements and customer contact affect the relative effectiveness of these three groups of high-performance work practices. Consistent with the authors’ predictions, findings show that, on average, the group of high-commitment practices has the strongest relationship with SME performance. However, the performance effect of high-involvement practices is significantly stronger for front desk jobs compared to housekeeping jobs.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE, AND NURSE STAFFING TURNOVER

This study examines whether nursing homes’ (NHs) human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational culture are associated with nursing staff turnover. HRM practices are classified into traditional (employment selection tests, formal performance appraisal systems, and realistic job previews); employee-centered (flexible work hours and job sharing); and high involvement (incentive based/merit pay and self-managing teams). Organizational culture consists of four types: clan culture (friendly working environment); adhocracy culture (dynamic/creative working environment); market culture (results-based organization); and hierarchy culture (formalized/structured work environment). This study used facility survey data from approximately 324 NH administrators (30% response rate) from 2017- 2018, merged with secondary data from LTCFocus, Area Health Resource File, and Medicare Cost Reports. The dependent variables consisted of RN, LPN, and CNA turnover rates (% voluntarily quit), while the independent variables comprised HRM practices and type of organizational culture. Control variables consisted of organizational (ownership, chain affiliation, size, occupancy rate, and payer mix) and county-level factors (Medicare Advantage penetration, income, education, unemployment rate, poverty, and competition). Generalized linear model results show that every unit increase in high-involvement HRM practices is associated with a reduction of 6%, 4%, and 2% in RN, LPN, and CNA turnover rates, respectively. Also compared to hierarchical cultures, nursing homes with a clan culture are associated with a reduction of 62%, 49%, and 33% in RN, LPN, and CNA turnover rates, respectively. HRM practices and organizational cultures that promote employee participation, engagement, and empowerment have the potential to reduce nurse staffing turnover rates among underresourced nursing homes.

Strategic Dilemmas: How Managers Use HR Practices to Meet Multiple Goals

AbstractContrary to the classic assumptions in the business and human resource (HR) strategy literatures, real‐world organizations often pursue multiple and potentially contradictory performance goals. They may adopt ‘hybrid’ strategies to maximize both differentiation and low cost — leading middle managers to face dilemmas in how to achieve different goals using the same HR practices. We link employee‐level surveys of HR practices to establishment‐level data on service quality, labour efficiency and profitability to examine the effects of HR practices on these outcomes. We find that establishments with greater use of high involvement practices have significantly higher service quality, which mediates the relationship between HR practices and profitability. Findings for labour efficiency are positive, but generally not significant. These findings also have implications for the quality of jobs.

Do high-involvement work practices affect employee earnings in union and non-union settings in the Irish private sector?

PurposeThe link between human resource practices and earnings for workers is a notable research lacuna and the purpose of this paper is to address this relationship using a matched data set covering all employees and employers in the Irish private sector.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on the National Employment Survey (NES) (2008). The survey provides measures of individual characteristics such as union membership, collective bargaining coverage, sector, occupation, age, sex and educational attainment. It also provides data on individual employee earnings including overtime and shift allowances, together with weekly hours worked. The particular benefit of the NES is that it is a large-scale matched employer-employee survey.FindingsThe results indicate that extensive use of high-involvement practices measured in this study is positively associated with higher earnings for both lower and higher earning employees. The authors also find that for employees covered by a collective agreement, the positive effects of high-involvement work practices are complementary with a union earnings premium.Research limitations/implicationsSome caution is required in the interpretation of the results given the cross-sectional nature of the data. With cross-sectional data it is difficult to establish definitive causal and directional linkages between high-involvement measures and levels of earnings and earnings inequality.Practical implicationsFor trade unions and their members, the results imply that the involvement practices as measured in this study are unlikely to substitute for the earnings premium associated with collective bargaining coverage. For human resource, increasing the earnings of low-paid employees may carry relatively marginal costs but the benefits maybe considerable in the form of employee engagement, increased effort levels and productivity gains.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature on the outcomes of high-involvement practices for employees and firms by addressing their association with employee earnings particularly at the lower end of the wage hierarchy.

Exploring the relationship between high-involvement human resource practices and affective commitment within non-Western service context

This paper aims to examine the effect of high-involvement human resource (HR) practices on employees' affective commitment. Survey data were collected from 300 front-line employees working in a Turkish holding company providing financial services. Data were analysed by structural equation modelling. In contrast to the findings of previous research, this study found that the sub-components of high-involvement HR practices do not collectively influence employees' affective commitment, but employees' perceptions regarding the fairness of rewards mediate the joint effect of recognition, empowerment, and competence development practices on employees' affective commitment. This study contributes to the literature by examining the causal relationship between high-involvement HR practices and employee affective commitment within non-Western service context. Although the significant effect of high-involvement HR practices on employee commitment has already been demonstrated by previous research, testing this relationship in a different cultural context is important for understanding the universality of this association.

Leveraging high-involvement practices to develop mass customization capability: A contingent configurational perspective

This study focuses on the four human-resource-management (HRM) practices that characterize high involvement (HI), the most advanced approach to employee involvement. These practices push power, information, rewards, and knowledge down to the lowest level of an organization. The impact of these practices on a manufacturing firm's mass-customization capability (MCC) is examined, along with the way this impact is influenced by the degree of product customization (DPC) that the firm provides to its customers. Based on survey data from 195 manufacturing plants in three industries and eight countries, the study finds empirical evidence that these practices improve MCC when they are adopted jointly and, at the same time, DPC surpasses a certain threshold value. The same practices, when implemented independent of one another, do not have statistically significant effects on MCC. Furthermore, as DPC drops below the threshold, the effect of this configuration of practices becomes non-significant at conventional p levels and gradually decreases until it turns into a negative effect, which comes closer to statistical significance when the DPC reaches its minimum. This study is the first to examine the effects of HRM practices on MCC by taking full advantage of the contingent configurational perspective that is strongly advocated in the strategic HRM literature. The results of this study extend the debate on the organizational enablers of MCC and, at the same time, add to the well-established discussion on the performance outcomes of HRM practices in general and HI practices in particular.

Identifying a guiding list of high involvement practices in human resource management

In today global competitiveness, it is becoming increasingly frequent, the introduction of new management practices to organizations, seeking to enhance performance as a form of Management Innovation (MI). This is so because such practices are usually difficult to replicate exactly from one company to another, provided they are well rooted in the daily work in the organization. The main purpose of this paper is, by reviewing the previous work done in this area, to present a general list of Human Resource Practices (HRM practices) geared towards improving organizational effectiveness and hence better performance outcomes. Many work has been done to date within this topic, but it is difficult to find a consensus about the best way to address to this practices, and this fact makes difficult to compare different studies and their results. We present a detailed but synthesized list of those HR practices to be used as a starting point in any sector whether industrial or services

HIM and Employee Psychological Strain

Both positive and negative employee consequences have been found to result from high performance work system (HPWS) use, and we expect that these differing employee-level effects depend on which practices are included in the HPWS bundled. The current study explores increased job demands and subsequent psychological strain as potential outcomes of high involvement practices. The relationship was supported in a sample of 21,312 employees across 1,913 workplaces, and the use of additional practices (personality-based selection, competency-based selection, and communication practices) were shown to moderate the effect. Limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed.

Questionnaire validation to measure the degree of use of high involvement work practices

Purpose: This article examines the construct definition and validation of appropriate scales to measure the degree of display of the high involvement work practices. The ultimate goal is to propose a measurement model of high involvement practices to ensure the configurational invariance of the three samples and pass the tests of convergent and discriminant validity. Design/methodology/approach: Using a confirmatory factor model with data from Spain (N1 = 105) and United States (N2 = 212, N3 = 145), checking whether the grouping of items in the categories proposed in the theoretical models fit the data set. Findings and Originality/value: It is found that a single construct that groups all high involvement practices is not an appropriate model and the model scales reflective communication and training and have passed the tests for validation, while the participation and rewards scales have not been able be validated from a reflective point of view and perhaps should be treated as a formative model. Originality/value: We extend previous research by checking the reflective second order factor model used in many previous studies without being informed the validation.

Verification of the reflective model of first order factorsfor reward and empowerment constructs based on questionnaires derived from Lawler et al. (1991)

Purpose: High involvement practices have traditionally been classified in four main categories: training, communication, rewards and empowerment. In order to measure the degree of implementation of these programs, different questionnaires have been developed. In this paper, we have identified 3 types of questionnaires and we have deeply analyzed the psychometrical properties of one of these types: questionnaires derived from Lawler et al. (1991). The most recent investigation seems to show that psychometrical properties of both training and communication constructs are appropriate. However, it is necessary to work on rewards and empowerment scales. This research analyzes, by means of confirmatory factorial, two reflective measurement models, already present in the previous literature of rewards and empowerment scales. Design/methodology/approach: Spanish samples from 1997 (n=105), as well as United States ones (n=212 dating 1996 and n=143 dating 1999) have been used. Convergent and discriminant validity were tested. Findings and Originality/value: None of the models presents and acceptable adjustment in the used samples. Therefore, a possible future line of investigation in order to check whether the measurement model of rewards and empowerment constructs is formative instead of reflective, has been opened. Practical implications: Practitioners can profit from the results of this research because questionnaires validity will allow companies to have measurement and good practices diagnosis tools that can be used either for internal benchmarking or for the comparison with reference groups of companies. Originality/value: Our paper identifies three questionnaire typologies used in the field of investigations of rewards and empowerment practices. We show that the point of view with which the scales of theses questionnaires have been treated has always been reflective. Moreover, this is one of the few papers that have checked the validity of the measurement model of questionnaires derived from Lawler et al. (1991). It questions the validity of a single questionnaire with similar samples, of different years, and simultaneously, with samples from same years but from different countries.

Facilitadores de los procesos de compartir conocimiento y su influencia sobre la innovación

This paper pursues two aims. Firstly, to indentify knowledge sharing enablers, and secondly, to analyze the effect of knowledge sharing processes on innovation performance. Regarding the first aim, two groups of factors have been considered: motivational factors, such as affective commitment and high involvement human resource management practices; and factors that create the opportunity to share knowledge, including informal communication, structured teamwork and information and communication technologies. Hypotheses have been tested on a sample of 87 Spanish innovative firms. Results show that both motivational factors positively influence the extent to which knowledge is shared, playing affective commitment a partial mediator role between high involvement practices and knowledge sharing. Regarding opportunity factors, only those that allow face to face interactions, such as informal communication and teamwork, represents effective mechanisms to encourage knowledge sharing processes. Finally, knowledge sharing within the organization positively affects innovation performance.

Pay and Working Conditions in Finance and Utility Call Centres in Denmark and Germany

This study analyses how national institutions, sectoral bargaining structures and union strategies affect working conditions and pay by comparing call centres in two liberalized service sectors: financial services and utilities. We find more segmentation and expansion of low wage work in Germany and more cooperation on high-involvement practices at workplace level in Denmark. However, outcomes are not uniform; we find differences between sectors in the use of subcontracting and union power at the workplace-level. Poor economic performance, segmentation-oriented employer strategies, declining bargaining coverage and weakened unions in Germany have undermined formal constraints on employers, whereas better outcomes in Denmark are due to a pronounced stability of the regulative and normative institutional framework. However, the Danish model is also being weakened from the margins.

High-Involvement Work Design and Job Satisfaction

Using data from the 1999–2002 Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey, the authors investigate the relationship between job satisfaction and high-involvement work practices such as quality circles, feedback, suggestion programs, and task teams. They consider the direction of causality, identifying both reasons that work practices might affect job satisfaction, and reasons that satisfaction might affect participation in high-involvement practices. They find that satisfaction was positively associated with high-involvement practices, a result that held across different specifications of the empirical model and different subsets of data. Conversely, worker outcomes that might signal dissatisfaction, like work-related stress or grievance filing, appear to have been unrelated to high-involvement jobs. However, the data suggest the presence of self-selection: satisfied workers were more likely to increase participation in high-involvement practices, but participation did not predict future increases in satisfaction.

Collective Bargaining and High-Involvement Management in Comparative Perspective: Evidence from U.S. And German Call Centers

This article assesses the relationship between national and collective bargaining institutions, management practices, and employee turnover, based on case study and survey evidence from U.S. and German call center workplaces. German call centers were more likely to adopt high-involvement management practices than those in the United States, even across workplaces with no collective bargaining institutions. Within Germany, union and works council presence was positively associated with high-involvement practices, while works council presence alone had no effect. In contrast, union presence in U.S. call centers showed either a negative association or no association with these practices. National and collective bargaining institutions and high-involvement management practices were associated with lower quit rates in both countries, with only partial mediation.

Influence of the sector and the environment on human resource practices' effectiveness

The aim of this work is to examine the effect that human resource practice has on performance. From a database made up of 250 companies in Spain and by means of a regression analysis, we test empirically whether human resource practices generate positive results under any circumstance or if their effectiveness depends on certain contexts. In this respect, focusing the study on the activity sector and the environment, we analyse whether high levels of competition in the environment and service companies constitute more attractive contexts for the adoption of high involvement practices.