HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FROM HRM CONTENT TO EMPLOYEE

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: FROM HRM CONTENT TO EMPLOYEE PERCEPTIONS Prof. Karin Sanders Organizational Psychology University Twente; the Netherlands Prof Karin Sanders

Human Resource Management: From content to perceptions 1. Management & HRM so far: emphasis on content 2. From content to perceptions – Technical organizations in the Netherlands & Germany Technology & Investment (2010) 3. Introduction Strength of HRM system (Bowen & Ostroff, 2004) – Hospitals in the Netherlands Personnel Review, 2008 – Hotels in China, IJ of HRM, 2010 Prof Karin Sanders

Human Resource Management: From content to perceptions 1. HRM so far: emphasis on content 2. From content to perceptions – Technical organizational in the Netherlands & Germany 3. Introduction Strength of HRM system (Bowen & Ostroff, 2004) – Hospitals in the Netherlands – Hotels in China Prof Karin Sanders

Management approaches (background) Wish that employees put as much energy and time in the job as possible (core problem within organizations) § Control model versus commitment model § Khatri, N. , Baveja, A. , Boren, S. A. , Mammo, A. (2004) Medical errors and Quality of care: From Control to Commitment. California Management Review. § Employee-organization relationship (EOR) § Tsui & Wang (2002); Tsui, Pearce, Porter & Tripoli (1997); Zhang, Tsui, Song, Li & Jia (2008) Prof Karin Sanders

Management approaches (background) § Control model versus commitment model § Control: human beings are not capable of self discipline; are lazy; so; money is important incentives (Taylor) § Commitment: human beings capable of self discipline; can be committed, trust (Human relations model) § Employee-organization relationship (EOR) § The formal and informal, the economic, social and psychological connection between an employee and his or her employer : mutual investment, quasi spot contract Prof Karin Sanders

In sum, important of employers! § Yet … who is the employer; supervisor; leader: § Matrix structure: more supervisors § More levels § Dean, Director of the research institute; Director of psychology program, Head HRM, Board of the University, Ministry …. . § Conflicts between different supervisors § Who is the other party in the EOR? § What’s the idea/perception of the employees? Prof Karin Sanders

Human Resource Management § What is Human Resource Management? “Total of all activities within an organization related to the management of work and people” (Boxall & Purcell, 2008) § (Recruitment & selection, Pay for Performance, Performance Appraisal, Training) § § Personnel & Organizations; HRM; HRD More than the HRM department only Supervisors (devolution; ‘transfer-to-line’) Assumption: HRM is instrumental in Management / EOR approaches (HR Practices) Prof Karin Sanders

Management - HRM - Employees Senior Management / EOR HRM ; Supervisors (HR Practices) Employees Prof Karin Sanders

Human Resource Management: content § Three HRM approaches (Delery & Doty, 1996): § Universalistic: “best practices” § Contingency: aligned with strategy of the organization § Configurational: aligned with internal and external circumstances of the organization Prof Karin Sanders

HRM “Best practices” High Commitment / High involvement HRM § High commitment HRM: § Focus on commitment of employees § High involvement HRM: § Focus on participation / involvement of employees Research so far: positive effects; but …. . conflicts of interests (employer; employee); difficulties in keeping the balance (expensive) Prof Karin Sanders

Contingency and configurational approach: content § Baron & Kreps, (1999) § Five factor model: § 1. environment, § 2. employees, § 3. strategy, § 4. culture, § 5. organization of processes § Alignment of HRM Prof Karin Sanders

Human Resource Management: content Strategy Prof. dr. Karin; April 2009 Performance Prof Karin Sanders

Human Resource Management Strategy Performance attitude & behavior employees Prof. dr. Karin; April 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Human Resource Management Strategy Performance HRM attitude & behavior employees Prof. dr. Karin; April 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Human Resource Management Strategy Performance HRM attitude & behavior employees Prof. dr. Karin; April 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Alignment § HRM practices should be aligned with the environment, and characteristics of the organization (employees, culture, strategy, and organization of processes) § How? § Research so far: § Not clear, difficulties: causality; cross sectional research, a lot of mediating effects, a great number of organizations needed …. . Management perspective!! Prof Karin Sanders

Employees? § Completely neglected? § From content to perception and satisfaction of employees § Psychology: § people perceive the same environment differently § perception drives behavior § more attention should be paid to perception Prof Karin Sanders

How to support Innovative Behavior? Sanders, K. , Moorkamp, M. , Torka, N. , Groeneveld, S, & Groeneveld, C. (2010) How to support Innovative Behaviour. The Role of LMX and Satisfaction with HR Practices. Technology and Investment, 1, 41 -50. Importance of innovative behavior (idea generation, idea promotion, & idea realization) § Leader-Member- Exchange (LMX) § Satisfaction with HR Practices Hypotheses: LMX (H 1) and Satisfaction with HR Practices (H 2) positively related with innovative behavior Combined effect? Prof Karin Sanders

LMX, Satisfaction & Innovative behavior Model 1: LMX Model 2: LMX Satisfaction HR Innovative behavior Prof Karin Sanders

Data § 272 employees from four Dutch & German technical organizations (42 to 66% response rate) § 220 are men (74%) § 52% between 25 and 35 years of age § higher educated employees (professionals) § Surveys and interviews Prof Karin Sanders

Method Valid measurements: LMX (Liden & Maslyn) “My supervisor would come to my defense if I were ‘attacked’ by others” Satisfaction with HR practices: influence, flow (selection, career), primary rewards, secondary rewards, work content (overall satisfaction) Innovative behavior (Janssen et al) Controls: organization, sex, tenure, age, education Prof Karin Sanders

Satisfaction HRM Practices HR Practices 1 -5 Influence 3. 20 Work flow 3. 38 Primary Rewards 2. 79 Secondary Rewards 2. 78 Content 3. 71 Prof Karin Sanders

LMX, Satisfaction & innovative behavior: results LMX Satisfaction HR Innovative behavior Influence Work content Prof Karin Sanders

Innovative behavior: LMX and HR Practices § Conclusions & Implications Both LMX and Satisfaction with HR positively related with innovative behavior Satisfaction with HR mediates the relationship between LMX and innovative behavior HR Practices part of LMX Cross sectional research: causality Importance of perceptions of employees Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

From satisfaction to interpretation: the attribution theory § Bowen, D. E. , & Ostroff, C. (2004). Understanding HRM-Firm Performance Linkages: the Role of the 'Strength' of the HRM System. Academy of Management Review, 29(2), 203 -221. § Sanders, K. , Dorenbosch, L. , & Reuver, R. (2008). The impact of individual and shared employee perceptions of HRM on affective commitment: Considering climate strength. Personal Review, 37(4), 412 -415. § Li, X. , Frenkel, S. , & Sanders, K. How do Perceptions of HR Systems and Processes affect worker well-being? A multi-level study of Chinese Hotel workers International Journal of HRM (R&R) Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff (2004) § § HRM – business performance link Instead of the content of HRM; Focus on the process of HRM; Viewing HRM as communication from employer to employees (signals) § Introducing “strength of an HRM system”; § Attribution theory (Kelley, 1967; 1973) § Sense making; cause and effect § Distinctiveness; Consistency; Consensus Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff (Ao. MR, 2004) § § § Distinctiveness: § relevance of HRM; acceptance; visibility; legitimacy of authority of HRM Consistency: § internal alignment of HR practices, and over time Consensus: § agreement among policy makers Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: theory § “Strength of HRM” (Distinctiveness, Consistency, and Consensus) influences Organizational Climate § Organizational Climate: ‘shared perceptions of what is expected, and rewarded’ § Employee Performance § Business Performance Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: theory Distinctiveness Consensus Consistency Organizational climate Organizational performance Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: theory Distinctiveness Consensus Consistency Organizational climate Affective commitment Research question: “Can the HRM - Affective Commitment linkage be explained by the strength of HRM system and the organizational climate? ” Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

From theory to an empirical model § Attribution theory (Kelley, 1967; 1973): § Covariation framework § Distinctiveness: extent to which employee interprets that the goals of HR practices differ from the goals of other organizational practices § Consensus: among policy makers; or among employees § Organizational Climate Level: mean § Organizational Climate Strength: shared perceptions § Mediating effect or a moderator Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: method (1) § Four hospitals in the Netherlands: § within each hospital 18 units § clinical; out patients; support staff; paramedical § Questionnaires / interviews § 32 HRM consultants (100% response) § 67 line-managers (98% response) § 671 employees (66% response) Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: method (2) § Affective Commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1990) § HR practices (Delery & Doty, 1996) / Organizational Focus (mutual investment model: Tsui & Wang, 2002): § career opportunities: “In this organization employees have clear career paths”, § training and education” “In this organization employees have multiple possibilities for training and education”, § appraisal performance: ” (…) employee appraisals are based on objective, quantifiable results” § clarity of job description: “(…) job description contain all tasks that need to be performed by employees” Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: method (3) § Distinctiveness § Relevance: seven items; Legitimacy of Authority: Strategic Partner / Change Agent § Consistency: within respondents (ipsative scores) § Inversed standard deviation § Consensus: between line- and HR managers § Inversed deviance scores § Organizational Climate § Inversed standard deviation within a subunit § High Commitment HRM as a control § Multi level analyses Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: results Distinctiveness Consensus Consistency Organizational climate Affective Commitment Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: results Affective Commitment Strong Climate Strength Weak Climate Strength Consistency Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: and beyond? § Confirmation: § Distinctiveness; Consistency § Organizational Climate: moderator § No confirmation / limitations: § Consensus (multi actor data) § Affective Commitment instead of BP Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

The Bowen & Ostroff model: Chinese hotels Xiaobei Li, Steve Frenkel, & Karin Sanders Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: replication study (1) § § Three urban 5 star hotels in China § Within each hotel, several service departments, such as catering, guestrooms; § Within each department, several units. For example, catering has bars, several restaurants, banquet and room service as units. The dataset: § 810 employees; § 64 units in 20 departments (90% response) High-performance HR practices as a control Work satisfaction, Intention to quite, Vigor as DVs Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: replication study (2) § Distinctiveness § A five-item scale (Frenkel & Gollan, 2008) § Consistency: within respondents (ipsative scores) § Sign-reversed average deviation § Consensus: § an employee perceptual measure rather than a multiactor one § A four-item scale (Delmotte et al. , 2007) § Organizational Climate § Sign-reversed standard deviation within a unit § Multi-level analyses Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: theory Distinctiveness Consensus Consistency Organizational climate Work satisfaction, vigor, intention to quit Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: results Distinctiveness Consensus Consistency Organizational climate Work satisfaction Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: results Work Satisfaction Strong Climate Strength Weak Climate Strength Consensus between line and HRM Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: results Distinctiveness Consensus Consistency Organizational climate Vigor Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: results Distinctiveness Consensus Consistency Organizational climate Intention to quit Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: results Intention to quit Weak Climate Strength Strong Climate Strength Consensus between line and HRM Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: results More or less same conclusions: § No mediating effects § Moderating effect: mixed results § Main effects: • Distinctiveness • Consistency; consensus: not always effective Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: cultural relevance? § § Main effects: - Distinctiveness: effective for both cultures - Consistency: related to Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance? score for Netherlands (53); score for China (29) Moderating effects of climate on consensus-wellbeing: Consensus: related to Hofstede’s collectivism? score for Netherlands (20); score for China (75) Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Bowen & Ostroff: and beyond? Limitations: § Level of analysis – organizational climate vs. unit-level climate strength § No objective performance measures: § both employee-, unit -level § Cross-sectional design § Longitudinal study § Generalizability § more industries § more cultures Karin Sanders & Xiaobei Li, May 7 2009 Prof Karin Sanders

Human Resource Management: From content to perceptions 1. Management & HRM so far: emphasis on content 2. From content to perceptions – Technical organizations in the Netherlands & Germany Technology & Investment (2010) 3. Introduction Strength of HRM system (Bowen & Ostroff, 2004) – Hospitals in the Netherlands Personnel Review, 2008 – Hotels in China, IJ of HRM, 2010 Prof Karin Sanders

In sum: Human Resource Management: Content versus Process 1. Management approaches & HRM research 2. Effects of HR Practices (content) – Roles of Ulrich 3. From content to process: Bowen & Ostroff (2004) – Hospitals in the Netherlands – Hotels in China Prof Karin Sanders