Alan Geare

HRM practice and employee attitudes: different measures – different results

Purpose – To test the relationship between HRM practice and employee work‐related attitudes and examine whether different approaches to measurement of HRM gives different results.Design/methodology/approach – HRM practice was measured in three ways: additive measures of numbers of HRM practice, employer reports and employee reports of strength of practices. Employee attitudes were measured using organisational commitment, job satisfaction and organisational fairness scales. Matched data sets tested the relationships.Findings – Statistically significant results were obtained between HRM practice and employee attitudes, but only when employee reports of the strength of HRM practice were used to measure HRM.Research limitations/implications – This study emphasises that care must be taken in HRM research to use suitable data sources, with employees being a valuable, but under‐used, source.Practical implications – Effective HRM policies and practices should be measured by their perceived quality, not simply by...

Factors influencing university research performance

This research extends our understanding of research productivity by examining features of managerial practice and culture within university departments. Adopting a robust comparative research design, capturing both interview and survey data sourced from multiple stakeholders from New Zealand universities, we seek to identify factors associated with superior research performance. The findings show that autonomy and egalitarianism, along with a strong cultural ethos supporting achievement and individualism are characteristics of high functioning departments. These comprise core features of commitment-oriented work settings, but we find them to be largely absent from the work environments of low performers. This disparity leads us to consider whether certain managerial practices, when coupled with a supporting set of cultural characteristics, are crucial to influencing research performance outcomes. Management and academics in higher education settings should consider these findings of interest and benefit, as universities in a number of countries approach further rounds of research performance assessment.

Inside the “black box” and “HRM”

Purpose - This paper has two objectives. The first is to see whether “shared values” is an important intermediary, or part of the “black box” (along with organisational commitment and job satisfaction), between HRM practices and firm performance. The second is to assess whether the use of multiple levels of respondents produces different results compared with the usual practice of using senior HRM managers or, in lieu, another senior manager. Design/methodology/approach - A survey methodology is used to obtain perceptual data on HRM practices and a variety of work-related attitudes. The sample comprises managers, supervisors and workers from 27 New Zealand firms. Statistical analysis, using SPSS, was performed at the firm and individual level. Findings - At group-level there are wide differences in attitudes towards HRM activities. The desirability of using as many respondents as possible, and also respondents from different levels within organisations, was confirmed. “Shared values” is also deemed worthy of inclusion in the “black box” as it relates significantly to perceptions of HRM practices. However, organisational commitment and job satisfaction appear to have a stronger role. Research limitations/implications - Current writings suggest that certain HRM practices can foster a system of shared values amongst the workforce. The study finds this indeed to be the case at the individual level. However, the supposition that a shared value system significantly contributes to the promotion of other desirable attitudinal outcomes has not been supported by the studys findings. A limitation of the study is that it did not explore the HRM-firm performance relationship in its entirety. Further research exploring all linkages in this relationship is now required. Practical implications - The paper concludes that practitioners should be wary of pursuing an agenda that sees the development of a shared value system as the key to superior firm performance. Instead, it is suggested that the values of the organisation should be considered as the foundation from which a set of mutually reinforcing and supportive HRM practices is developed. Originality/value - The paper provides much needed empirical data on shared values and their role in the HRM-performance relationship.

Employee voice on human resource management

Empirical research on human resource management (HRM) practice has mainly assessed and evaluated the activity from an employer’s perspective. Concern has been expressed about the lack of empirical analysis conducted from the employees’ perspective. This exploratory study begins to fill this gap in the literature by examining the current views that 626 New Zealand employees have about HRM in their organisations. It identified those aspects of HRM that are important to an employee in the employment relationship today, and highlighted a number of shared concerns about practices in their organisations. This study found that, from an employee’s perspective, training and development is becoming an increasingly important issue. Employer investment in this area may have the greatest potential to contribute beneficially to organisational performance.These findings suggest that not all HRM practices are equally beneficial in terms of the outcomes they produce, and practitioners may need to identify and implement th...

Human Resource Management in New Zealand: Profession and Practice

A great many decision about human resource management will need to be made during the 1990s in New Zealand, as new options and choices are considered. For that decision-making to be effective, it is important to be aware of the context in which those decisions will be made. This article first reviews the history and current status of the specialist HR profession in New Zealand. Then it describes New Zealand HR practices. The description is based on the results of a survey, at the establishment level, of all medium-sized and large New Zealand organizations. The article concludes by posing several key questions regarding the future of HRM

Well-being and performance: measurement issues for HRM research

The more recent focus on the link between HRM practice and organisational systems has been on the potential benefits of mutuality in employment relationships. The key to this notion of mutuality is the connection between worker well-being and performance. Although a common area of study for psychology, this relationship has received limited attention from HRM scholars. However, these initial endeavours have raised some concerns about measurement. First, there appears little consensus about which particular facet of well-being is most crucial to determining performance and, second, concern has been expressed over the validity of the different approaches taken to assessing performance. Our study addresses these issues by exploring the relationships between three different measures of well-being and two different measures of performance amongst a student cohort. Results show that life satisfaction shares a significant, positive relationship with objective performance ratings, while attentiveness, a facet of positive affect, shares a significant positive relationship with subjective performance. We explore the reasons why these different facets of well-being might be related to our different performance assessments and then, in giving consideration to these findings, discuss their implications for the measurement of well-being and of performance in workplace studies.

The influence of business strategy on the decision to outsource human resource activities

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine whether the decision to outsource human resource (HR) activities and the performance of the HR department are influenced by the particular business strategy espoused by the organisation. Four distinct strategies are considered: quality‐based, proactive, breadth, and reactive.Design/methodology/approach – The data for the study were obtained from survey responses from 232 organisations, of which 113 were engaged in HR outsourcing.Findings – The findings suggest that there is a significant relationship between organisations with proactive strategies and the decision to outsource both traditional and transactional HR functions. Breadth strategies demonstrate a negative significant relationship with outsourcing of traditional functions. Outsourcing of both functions has a significant relationship with HR performance – traditional with a positive impact and transactional with a negative impact.Research limitations/implications – The paper focuses on the perceptions, knowle...

Exploring the ideological undercurrents of HRM: workplace values and beliefs in Ireland and New Zealand

Despite hints of more pluralist undercurrents, workplace values and beliefs have rarely been surfaced to inform our understanding of HRM. This paper examines management and employee workplace values and beliefs in the national contexts of Ireland and New Zealand. The findings indicate (a) a divergence of managerial beliefs at the level of society and at the level of their own workplace, (b) an overall pluralist orientation among employees. These findings highlight the importance of greater sensitivity to ideological orientation and more pluralist understandings of HRM.

An employee-centred analysis: professionals' experiences and reactions to HRM

A key premise underlying research efforts about human resource management (HRM) is that it leads to improved performance through bolstering employee attitudes. The value of assessing employee reactions to HRM practices is now widely recognised. Using process models of strategic HRM, we adopt an employee-centred focus to explore the perceptions of a sample of New Zealand professionals with regard to HRM practice, attitudes, reactions and performance. Our findings provide support for some elements in this model, but not all. Although the relationship between practices and attitudes is strong, the relationship between reactions and performance is not. We conclude that the employee experience of practice is still a murky concept and suggest greater clarity about what this means, and how this could, and indeed should, be assessed is urgently required.

The changing dynamic of leading knowledge workers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate, from the perspective of knowledge workers (KWs), the factors which underpin worker performance. Although a broad array of factors is examined, the role played by the front-line manager (FLM) appears pre-eminent. Design/methodology/approach – Using data collected in 2012 from a sample of 73 New Zealand KWs, the authors adopt a phenomenological approach to understanding how the FLM influences their performance motivations. A two-pronged research design was employed; stage 1 involved a paired statement exercise, which was immediately followed by stage 2, an in-depth interview. Findings – The behaviour and support afforded to KWs by their FLM emerged as an important influence on their individual performance. Specifically, behaviours which convey value, trust and respect, and afford support, recognition and an appreciation for work completed seemingly empower and motivate KWs to superior performance. Research limitations/implications – The distinctive qual...