Specific Human Resource Practices Research Articles

The dilemma of employee productivity measures and managerialism practices: an empirical exploration in financial institutions

PurposeThis empirical study aims to explore how actors in specific human resource practices (HRPs) such as line managers (LMs) impact employee productivity measures in the context of financial institutions (FI) banks.Design/methodology/approachThis cross-country study adopted a qualitative methodology. It employed semi-structured interviews to collect data from purposefully selected 12 business facing directors (BFDs) working in the top 10 banks in Nigeria and the UK. The data collected were analysed with the help of the trans-positional cognition approach (TPCA) phenomenological method.FindingsThe findings of a TPCA analytical process imply that in the UK and Nigeria’s FIs, the BFDs line managers’ human resources practices (LMHRPs) resulted in a highly regulated workplace, knowledge gap, service operations challenges and subjective quantitatively driven key performance indicators, considered service productivity paradoxical elements. Although the practices in the UK and Nigerian FIs had similar labels, their aggregates were underpinned by different contextual issues.Practical implicationsTo support LMs in better understanding and managing FIs BFDs productivity measures and outcomes, we propose the Managerial Employee Productivity Operational Definition framework as part of their toolkit. This study will be helpful for banking sectors, their regulators, policymakers, other FIs’ industry stakeholders and future researchers in the field.Originality/valueWithin the context of the UK and Nigeria’s FIs, this study is the first attempt to understand how LMHRPs impact BFDs productivity in this manner. It confirms that LMHRPs result in service productivity paradoxical elements with perceived or lost productivity implications.

Machine Learning-Based Causality Analysis of Human Resource Practices on Firm Performance

An organization’s human resource management practices are essential for its competitive advantage. This study specifically examined human resource (HR) practices that predict corporate performance (employee turnover and firm sales) based on a backpropagation neural network (BPN)-based causality analysis. This study aims to test how to optimize human resource practices to improve organizational performance. This study elucidated the effect of HR practices and organizational-level factors on predicting employee turnover and firm sales. The BPN-based causality analysis revealed the relative importance of explanatory variables on firm performance. To test the model, it employed the Human Capital Corporate Panel open data on Korean companies’ HR practices and other characteristics. The analysis identifies causal relationships between specific HR practices and firm performance. The results show that compensation-related HR practices are most influential in predicting firm sales and employee turnover. Moreover, training-related HR practices were modest, and talent acquisition and performance management practices had relatively weak effects on the two outcomes. The study provides insights into how human resource practices can be optimized to improve firm performance and enhance organizational effectiveness. The findings of this study contribute to the growing body of research on the use of machine learning in HR management and suggest practical implications for managers’ insights to optimize HR practices.

Green threads of change: Unravelling the gendered and experienced moderators in the sustainable symphony of green HR practices and environmental responsibility

This study employs a quantitative methodology to investigate the intricate relationships between Green Human Resource (HR) Practices, Green Culture, and Environmental Sustainability. The independent variable, Green HR Practices, is delineated into four components: green recruitment, green training, green reward, and green empowerment. The mediating role of Green Culture is explored in the context of two dependent variables: Proactive Organization-Centered Environmental Sustainability and Reactive Organization Eco-Centric Environmental Sustainability. Additionally, gender and experience are introduced as moderators, influencing the relationship between Green Culture and the two dimensions of Environmental Sustainability. Utilizing a purposive sampling technique, data were collected from 357 participants from industries in Pakistan. The analysis was conducted using Warp-PLS 8.0 software. The results reveal significant direct and indirect effects of Green HR Practices on both and, with Green Culture acting as a mediator. The study further unveils the moderating influence of gender and experience on the relationship between Green Culture and Environmental Sustainability. Key findings include the identification of specific Green HR Practices that significantly impact environmental outcomes. The mediating role of Green Culture elucidates the pathway through which these practices influence sustainability. The moderation effects of gender and experience underscore the nuanced nature of these relationships, emphasizing the need for tailored strategies. The study contributes to the growing literature on sustainable HR practices by offering insights into the mechanisms driving environmental sustainability within organizations. The findings have practical implications for HR practitioners, highlighting the importance of cultivating green organizational culture and considering individual differences in the implementation of sustainability initiatives.

Human resource management practices and employee retention in the Indian textile industry

PurposeThis study is the maiden attempt to understand the effect of specific human resource practices (HRPs) on employee retention (ER) with the mediation of job satisfaction (JS) and moderation of work experience (WE) and job hopping (JH) in the context of the textile industry.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a quantitative methodology and applied quota sampling to gather data from employees (n = 365) of leading textile companies in India. The conceptual model and hypotheses were tested with the help of Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe findings of a path analysis revealed that compensation and performance appraisal (CPA) have the highest impact on JS followed by employee work participation (EWP). On the other hand, EWP had the highest impact on ER followed by grievance handling (GRH). The study revealed that JS significantly mediates between HRPs like CPA and ER. During Multi-group analysis (MGA) it was found that the importance of EWP and health and safety (HAS) was more in employee groups with higher WE, but it was the opposite in the case of CPA. In the case of JH behavior, the study observed that EWP leads to JS in loyal employees. Similarly, JS led to ER, and the effect was more pronounced for loyal employees.Originality/valueIn the context of the Indian textile industry, this work is the first attempt to comprehend how HRPs affect ER. Secondly, it confirmed that JS is not a guaranteed mediator between HRPs and ER, it could act as an insignificant, partial or full mediator. Additionally, this study establishes the moderating effects of WE and JH in the model through multigroup analysis.

How Managers Make Sense of Human Resource Management’s Role in Building Trust: Enacting Espoused Human Resource Management in Indian Gas and Petrol Public Sector Organisations

The desire to mobilise effective strategic human resource management in India’s new public management domain has seen the role of organisational trust receive greater scholarly and practical scrutiny. This study explores managers’ perception of HRM’s role in building organisational trust in five public sector organisations in India using exploratory multiple case studies. In implementing HRM, the findings suggest that managers are cognisant of specific human resource practices that can be socially adapted to enhance their effectiveness. Implications from the study’s emergent process model of human resource management and trust highlight the cross-level influences that affect India’s public sector organisations’ outcomes.

Human Resource Management Practices and Business Performance: The Mediating Effect of Corporate Entrepreneurship

Globalisation is creating profound and substantial changes for businesses and industries worldwide. These changes have forced businesses to re-evaluate their organisational philosophy and strategic approaches to become more competitive. Corporate-level entrepreneurship is indispensable in improving productivity and promoting economic growth. The paper’s purpose was to determine the mediating role of corporate entrepreneurship between human resource management practices (HRMPs) and business performance. Following this purpose, the interrelationship between specific human resource practices, corporate entrepreneurship and business performance was investigated. After that, the mediating role of corporate entrepreneurship in the relationship between human resource practices and business performance was examined. A quantitative, formal, and cross-sectional approach was used. Data were collected using a survey, and self-administered questionnaires were emailed to 744 human resource managers in medium and large businesses in Gauteng. A response rate of 47.6 per cent was achieved as 351 usable questionnaires were received. The results provide empirical evidence that corporate entrepreneurship (CE) is stimulated by better employee relations, selection practices, compensation, high level of employee development and skills training. The evidence further shows that HRMPs influence business performance and that a positive relationship exists between innovation intensity and risk propensity and business performance.

Non-Work Antecedents of the HR Process: Towards a Multi-Level Model

Human resource (HR) process research relies on attributions theories to examine the way HRM within organisations is received and understood by employees (i.e., HR system strength), and how employees interpret the motivations behind the implementation of specific HR practices (i.e., HR attributions). Previous research has mainly focused on the importance of the HR process in the relationship between HR practices and outcomes. However, non-work factors have only just begun to be recognised as important in understanding the differences that occurs across employees’ perceptions of HR strength and HR attributions within the same organisation. To explore this emerging body of research, 19 studies are reviewed that investigate non-work antecedents of the HR process. In doing so, we apply Kelley and Michela’s (1980) tripartite model (information, beliefs, and motivation) as an organising framework to non-work factors, and further categorise and explore the influence of these factors on the HR process among three levels: individual, family/upbringing, and country, as well as cross- and multi-level effects. We conclude the article with several research directions that act as a platform of future scholarship. This review has implications for the effective management of employees from different backgrounds and the way HR is communicated within organisations.

COMBATING TOXIC WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH SPECIFIC HR PRACTICES: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF WORKPLACE RELATIONS IN THE HOSPITALS OF PAKISTAN

Employees, their workplace gossips and workplace friendships are considered important in any organization structure. Infact, there is a universal understanding that almost in all the organizations particularly hospitals have such arrangements in which working class manifest the workplace gossips and the workplace friendships as the root cause of toxic work environment that leads to influence the employee productivity. Moreover, this research paper is an attempt to determine the moderation of specific HR Practices on the toxic work relation and employee productivity. In this paper, the data have been collected from 323 employees of different public and private hospitals of Pakistan. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) is used to ensure the validity (convergent and divergent) of factors. While, AMOS 22 is used to determine the assumed the relationships of selected variables as well as moderation effect. The findings of the study indicate that the employee’s workplace relations and gossips are critical constituents of working environment. Toxic work environment mediates workplace gossips, workplace friendships and employee productivity. Specific human resource practices are proved as remedial path for toxic workplace environment to uplift the level of employee’s productivity

Specific Human Resource Practices Towards Middle Managers and Their Effects on Their Strategic Roles

This research focuses on the contribution of human resource managers to activate and develop the potential of middle managers in a strategy development process. Precisely, the attention is directed on specific practices used by human resource managers and their effects on strategic roles of middle managers in emerging market companies. A survey questionnaire was distributed to 350 CEOs of large Tunisian companies participating in the Industrial Upgrading Program. The results of the application of structural equation methods show the existence and significant and positive effects of specific human resource practices on strategic roles of middle managers. Participation in the decisions and team/group incentives are used by middle managers and influence all strategic roles of middle managers. However, pre-employment training is used towards middle managers, but it has no effect on all strategic roles of middle managers.

Total quality management and high-performance work systems for social capital development

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse social capital (SC) development oriented to innovation. The relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWSs) and total quality management (TQM) philosophy is considered in this paper as an enabling factor that allows firms to accumulate SC oriented to develop radical and incremental innovation capabilities (IIC).Design/methodology/approachThis paper establishes hypotheses and a model based on partial and total mediating effects of SC to develop innovation capabilities, which are focused on previous unexplored connections between HPWS and TQM and their effects on SC. The model and hypotheses are statistically tested through a partial least squares approach to structural equations models in a multi-industry sample of Spanish companies.FindingsThe study results show a system of specific human resource practices connected to SC development. Moreover, SC is found to be a mediating factor in the relationship between TQM and IIC, although the effect is not significant when radical innovation capabilities (RIC) are considered in the model. Finally, it is shown that HPWS partially mediates the relationship between TQM and SC.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper mainly contributes to the study of organizational context enablers for intellectual capital (IC) development from a knowledge-based view, especially when firms are seeking to build or improve innovation capabilities. As a managerial approach, HPWSs and TQM are shown as powerful tools to establish prolific contexts for SC development, especially when TQM is rightly supported by a HPWS.Originality/valueThis is a quantitative study that analyses, for the first time, predictive relationships between popular tools such as TQM and HPWSs to create an organizational context for SC development, considering a multi-industry sample of firms. Important implications are also drawn to help managers to create IC assets related to social interaction and network relationships.

The Influence of Human Resource Practices on Job Satisfaction in Decentralized Health Service Delivery: A Case of Shinyanga Region in Tanzania

The study examined the influence of Human Resource (HR) practices on job satisfaction in the decentralized health service delivery in Shinyanga region, Tanzania. The influence of HR practices on job satisfaction is vastly examined by different scholars. Their findings revealed mixed results ranging from significant positive to adverse influence on job satisfaction. Thus, to bridge the knowledge gap, this study examined the specific HR practices in the specific area context. The specific HR practices tested in this study included human resource planning (HRP), supervision, performance appraisal, training and compensation. The region was selected because over different periods of time, it experienced unsatisfactory performance in health service delivery. This was reflected by inability of the region to attain 50% of the Mellenium Development Goals related to health and lowest achievements in health service delivery as reflected in the preparatory stage in launching the Results Based Financing in which the region ranked the last in the then 21 regions of the country. An explanatory Survey research design with mixed research approach was employed for the study. The survey data were collected from 287 respondents and supplemented by the qualitative data. The study found that all the five HR practices had some chances on job satisfaction. However, HRP and supervision revealed significant chances of having job satisfaction implying that they were effectively undertaken. Nevertheless, these practices were constrained by the ineffective employees’ participation in HRP and the inability of the Council Health Management Teams (CHMTs) to provide supportive supervision in health facilities. It was thus recommended to enhance employees’ participation in HRP and supervision for improving job satisfaction. Likewise, it is also important for the facilities to continuously appraise human resource performance and use the results in making human resource decisions.

Fostering knowledge sharing through HR practices: a Pakistani perspective

The relationship between human resource practices (HRPs) and knowledge sharing has been achieving a significant attention in recent era. However, there has been a lack of a meta-theoretical framework which could relate the HRP with individual ability and motivation in organisational setting to engage in knowledge sharing. The current study is an attempt to explain the human resource practices that are significant in evoking the knowledge sharing behaviour of individuals in organisations. The motivation, opportunity and ability model of human behaviour has been used as a theoretical framework linking the HRP with individual abilities and motivation to engage in the knowledge sharing behaviour. The diffusion of specific human resource practices in the MOA model and its relationship with the elements of the MOA model has been discussed comprehensively. In addition, the theoretical and practical implications have also been highlighted.

The influence of HR practices upon knowledge brokering in professional organizations for service improvement: Addressing professional legitimacy and identity in health care

AbstractDrawing upon sociology of professions, our study extends insight into the specific HR practices that shape the microdynamics of knowledge‐sharing behaviors among professionals. Empirically, we examine the influence of Human Resource (HR) practices on enactment of a knowledge‐brokering role by doctors to drive service improvement in health care. Our study shows, first, HR practices influence professional identity, which is predicated on jurisdictional autonomy and client interest. Second, HR practices influence the legitimacy of any role and associated activities, with professionals valuing collegial leadership and evidence‐based practice. Our study highlights it is employee perceptions of the effect of HR practices upon their legitimacy and identity that shape their attitudes and behavior toward knowledge sharing. Thus, different HR practices have different effects on knowledge sharing. Further, the same HR practice may be perceived differently even within the same cadre of professionals, depending upon their relative status and career interests.

Job crafting, proactive personality and meaningful work: Implications for employee engagement and turnover intention

Orientation: Jobs in the financial services industry are in constant flux because of the ever-changing nature of the products and services provided to customers. This could result in employee disengagement and turnover intention.Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the role of job crafting, proactive personality and meaningful work in predicting employee engagement and turnover intention among employees in the financial services industry based on the central tenets of the Job Demands-Resources theory.Motivation for the study: Organisations or incumbents may redesign jobs. The self-initiated proactive behaviour that incumbents exhibit to shape the meaning of their work is known as job crafting. The relationships that exist among job crafting, proactive personality, meaningful work, employee engagement and turnover intention were, therefore, investigated.Research design, approach and method: A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used to gather primary data in service-providing firms across South Africa (n = 391).Main findings: Results demonstrated that job crafting, proactive personality and meaningful work significantly predict variance in employee engagement and turnover intention.Practical and managerial implications: Specific human resource practices and interventions are proffered to foster job crafting, proactivity and meaningful work and, in doing so, address employee disengagement and turnover intention.Contribution or value-add: The study highlights the importance of encouraging employees to craft their jobs as it has specific implications for prominent work-related outcomes, such as employee engagement and turnover intention, among employees in the financial services industry.

Technological capabilities, resilience capabilities and organizational effectiveness

Previous research has defined resilience as a desirable characteristic for an organization and its members to possess when circumstances adversely change. Resilience is analysed through different perspectives as organizational responses to external threats, organizational reliability or employee strengths. However, the role of resilience in enhancing organizational effectiveness is not fully understood. Grounded in organizational ambidexterity, the current research tests the value of resilience capabilities developed through specific Human Resource Practices (HRPs) in the context of ever-changing market conditions. This paper argues that as well as technological capabilities, HRPs that build resilience within an organization are needed to successfully implement technological change. Resilience capabilities are a mediating factor between technological capabilities and organizational effectiveness, whilst environment dynamism and competitive intensity are moderators of this relationship. Using a primary sample of 205 manufacturing firms, a model is presented and tested using Structural Equation Modelling. The results reinforce the importance of HRPs in building resilience which helps firms to continuously adjust to change and subsequently enhance their organizational effectiveness.

Identifying critical HR practices impacting employee perception and commitment during organizational change

Purpose– Prior research in the area of organizational change highlights the critical role played by HR practices during organizational change as it may require altering employee behavior to support the change direction. human resource (HR) function is considered to be well positioned to influence employee behavior by institutionalizing HR practices that support change. Further there is a significant body of literature that suggests that employee behavior is significantly influenced by the perceptions of HR practices during change. HR practices which create positive employee perceptions increase employee commitment to change. The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework that identifies critical HR practices that support organizational change and examines their impact on employee perception and commitment to change.Design/methodology/approach– First, an extensive literature review on organizational change at macro level has been done to identify critical practices desired from key organizational members during organizational change. Second, a case for importance of HR function as a key organizational member during change is presented. Further literature on effectiveness of HR practices adopted by HR professionals during organizational change is examined to find out the gap areas. Third, literature on employee perception and commitment to change is examined to find out possible linkages to HR practices during organizational change. Finally, eight propositions are presented to build an integrated conceptual framework identifying critical HR practices during organizational change and their impact on employee perception and commitment to change.Findings– The study suggests that HR practices undertaken in the area of culture, leadership, cross functional integration, training, communication and technology if introduced and implemented will positively influence employee perception reducing resistance and increasing commitment to change. Therefore assessing employee perception about critical HR practices at different stages of change initiation, implementation and consolidation can enable understanding about employee commitment to change. This would also help HR professionals understand how effective the HR practices implemented during change have been.Originality/value– This framework can be used by the researchers and practitioners to study, guide, frame and model empirical research into the area of studying critical HR practices during organizational change. So far literature provides a generic view of desired organizational practices during change. Moreover there are few studies available on employee perception about HR practices implemented during organizational change and its impact on employee commitment to change. The framework presented in this paper would help explore the effectiveness of specific HR practices implemented during change by evaluating its impact on employee perception and commitment to change.

Human resource management approaches in Spanish hotels: An introductory analysis

Although Spain is one of the most important tourism destinations in the world, Spanish tourism firms need to be more competitive in order to continue attracting citizens from other countries and human resource strategies can help. The present study aims to identify the specific human resource practices applied by hotels. The variables of interest are those related to human resource profile (number of employees, nationality and sex) and to human resource strategies (recruitment, hiring and training strategies). A survey of the hotel establishments in the Valencian Autonomous Region shows that a hard human resource approach prevails and that hotels apply the same human resource strategies regardless of their category or competitive strategy (universalistic approach).

Human resource practices, supply chain performance, and wellbeing

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to identify management and human resource (HR) practices that lead to satisfaction with the performance of an organization's supply chain as well as employee wellbeing, and to develop recommendations for practicing managers.Design/methodology/approachAdopting an empirical approach, a Delphi expert panel study was first carried out to identify the possible impact of supply chain integration, particularly with regard to human resource management (HRM) policies and practices. Then, using a survey of 228 supply chain professionals, hypotheses linking satisfaction with supply chain performance to non‐traditional HR practices, training, and team organization were tested.FindingsThe Delphi study identified specific HR practices, such as flexible job descriptions and teamwork training that would need to accompany successful supply chain integration. Regression results indicate that flexible job descriptions, team organization, teamwork training, and the use of performance metrics to determine rewards, are significantly related to satisfaction with supply chain performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe Delphi results are subjective by nature and the cross‐sectional survey design limits inferences of causality.Practical implicationsThis paper identifies management and HR practices that lead to satisfaction with supply chain performance, which is particularly relevant to modern industrial organizations where the trend is toward inter‐organizational networks in the form of integrated supply chains. Implications for employee wellbeing are also discussed.Originality/valueThis paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach and links HRM practice with supply chain management; two separate fields with their own research traditions.

Satisfaction with job aspects: Do patterns change over time?

This study examines the evolution of job satisfaction in a service organization over a six-year period. The following aspects affecting job satisfaction were examined: management practices, rewards, work climate and the work itself. Data were collected from employees of the same service organization on three separate occasions (N2001=297; N2003=222; N2007=243). The predicted model was tested using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and a series of ANOVA was carried out to test differences regarding the job satisfaction aspects across the three waves. Results reveal the configurational invariance of satisfaction with job aspects in the three waves; satisfaction with each aspect contributes differently to the job satisfaction construct and individual evaluation of most of the aspects change across time. The main theoretical implication of this study resides in its contribution towards filling the literature gap on satisfaction with job aspects from a time perspective. The results suggest that managers should develop specific human resource practices in order to enhance different aspects of job satisfaction across time.

The effect of human resource practices on psychological contracts at an iron ore mining company in South Africa

Orientation: Human resource practices influence the psychological contract between employee and employer and, ultimately, organisational performance. Research purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of human resource practices on the types of psychological contracts in an iron ore mining company in South Africa empirically. Motivation for the study: Although there have been a number of conceptual studies on the effect of human resource practices on psychological contracts, there has been no effort to synthesise the links between these contracts and various human resource practices systematically. This study endeavoured to provide quantitative evidence to verify or refute conceptual studies on this relationship. Its findings could inform human resource strategies and, ultimately, the prioritisation of human resource practices to improve the cost-effective allocation of resources.Research design, approach and method: The researchers administered two questionnaires. These were Rousseau’s Psychological Contract Inventory (2000) and the Human Resource Practices Scale of Geringer, Colette and Milliman (2002). The researchers conducted the study with 936 knowledge workers at an iron ore mining company in South Africa. They achieved a 32% response rate.Main findings: The findings showed that most participants have relational contracts with the organisation. Another 22% have balanced contracts, 8% have transitional contracts whilst only 1% have transactional contracts. The study suggests that there are relationships between these psychological contracts and specific human resource practices. The study found that training and development was the most important human resource practice for developing relational and balanced contracts. Employees thought that they contributed more than their employer did to the relationship. The researchers developed a model to illustrate the influence of the various human resource practices on psychological contracts.Practical/managerial implications: The influence of human resource practices on relational contracts could assist organisations to invest in human resource practices. During recessions, organisations tend to reduce expenditure on human resource practices, especially training and development. The findings of this study, about the relationship between training and development and relational contracts, highlight the negative effect that this trend could have on psychological contracts, individual and organisational behaviour and, ultimately, organisational performance.Contribution/value-add: Based on this empirical study, the researchers proposed a conceptual model to illustrate the relationship between different psychological contracts and specific human resource practices, like training and development, which had the strongest relationships with relational contracts.