Stan De Spiegelaere

On the Relation of Job Insecurity, Job Autonomy, Innovative Work Behaviour and the Mediating Effect of Work Engagement

European policy is focusing on innovation as a way out of the economic crisis. At the same time, job insecurity is rising as Europe is still in crisis. In this paper, we examine whether job insecurity affects the innovative work behaviour of employees by focusing on the relation between job insecurity, job autonomy, work engagement and innovative work behaviour (IWB). Using employee level survey data, we use structural equation modelling to disentangle the relations between these variables. The partially mediated model shows the best fit with the data. This model shows that job insecurity and autonomy are both directly and indirectly, through work engagement, related with IWB. For autonomy these relations are positive, while they are negative (and smaller) for job insecurity. Moreover, a negative covariance is observed between job insecurity and autonomy.

Job Design and Innovative Work Behavior: One Size Does Not Fit All Types of Employees

As innovative employees become imperative for an organizations’ success, research identified job design as a crucial variable in promoting innovative work behavior (IWB) (Hammond et al., 2011). Using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model of Bakker & Demerouti (2007), this article contributes to the literature as it uses recent insights on the distinction between job challenges and job hindrances (Van den Broeck et al., 2010) and distinguishes between blue- and white-collar employees. Using survey data of 893 employees of various organizations the findings generally confirm the JD-R model, although important differences were found between blue-collar and white-collar employees regarding the relation of organizing and routine tasks with IWB. Job content insecurity further was found to be very detrimental for blue-collar IWB. These findings have important HR and political implications as they show that there is no ‘one size fits all’ HR solution for innovation.

Innovative work behaviour and performance-related pay: rewarding the individual or the collective?

AbstractIn order to change employee behaviour, companies frequently turn to forms of performance-related pay (PRP). At the same time, there is a clear imperative to encourage employee innovation. In this study we focus on the relation between PRP, organizational and job-level task resources and innovative work behaviour (IWB). In doing so, we distinguish between individual and collective PRP and build on insights from high-performance work systems and employee creativity literature. Using survey data of 927 employees from five Belgian industries, we find that individual PRP weakens the important positive relation of task-level job resources like learning opportunities on IWB. The combination of both individual and collective PRP, on the contrary, strengthens the positive relationship between organizational resources like upward communication and IWB.Abstract In order to change employee behaviour, companies frequently turn to forms of performance-related pay (PRP). At the same time, there is a clear imperative to encourage employee innovation. In this study we focus on the relation between PRP, organizational and job-level task resources and innovative work behaviour (IWB). In doing so, we distinguish between individual and collective PRP and build on insights from high-performance work systems and employee creativity literature. Using survey data of 927 employees from five Belgian industries, we find that individual PRP weakens the important positive relation of task-level job resources like learning opportunities on IWB. The combination of both individual and collective PRP, on the contrary, strengthens the positive relationship between organizational resources like upward communication and IWB.

Company Restructuring Across Borders: With or Without European Works Councils?

This policy brief takes as its starting point the fact that as soon as a company engages in European-level transnational restructuring, transnational information and consultation is needed to enable the social partners to consider the cross-border dynamic of the planned measures. This policy brief addresses the following questions: How widespread is transnational restructuring in Europe? What is the role of EWCs in restructuring processes? How extensive is the transnational information and consultation coverage in companies involved in transnational restructuring? The authors present several policy recommendations including the need to make EWCs obligatory in companies of a certain size and provide them with better material, legal resources and access to expert advice.

Good employees through good jobs: A latent profile analysis of job types and employee outcomes in the Belgian electricity sector

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify different job types in the Belgian electricity sector and their relations with employee outcomes such as work engagement and innovative work behaviour (IWB). Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a combination of latent profile analysis and relative operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. Findings Depending on the job resources and demands, five different job types are identified corresponding largely to the Karasek and Theorell (1990) job types. Their relation with the outcomes is not parallel with low-strain jobs performing best for work engagement, and active jobs for IWB. Research limitations/implications The combination of methods used in this study increases significantly the ease of communication of the findings, yet an external benchmark for the ROC analysis would be preferable. Practical implications To foster engagement and IWB with employees one should focus on the job content and only increase demands if they are combined with sufficient resources. Originality/value This research is the first in its kind that relates latent job types with different employee outcomes using a combination of latent profile and ROC analysis.

Too little, too late? Evaluating the European Works Councils Recast Directive

In 2009, Europe launched a Recast Directive on European Works Councils (EWCs) aiming to improve: (1) the effectiveness of EWCs and (2) increase the amount of EWCs. In 2016, this Recast Directive will be evaluated by the European Commission. This report feeds into this, building on data of EWC agreements from the EWC Database managed by the ETUI. The results show that the Recast was generally too little and too late to deliver on its declared objectives. The Recast did not stimulate the creation of more EWCs as it provided insufficient instruments to do so. The Recast did affect the content of EWC agreements on some domains, but generally came too late to have a significant effect. In many ways, the Recast reflected the most common practices rather than stimulating best practices.

Employee-Driven Innovation and Industrial Relations

Both industrial relations and innovation are well-established subjects in the current scientific literature. Although research has frequently related the two concepts, it has rarely focused on or considered employee behaviour. This chapter reviews the literature linking Employee-Driven Innovation with two key concepts of the industrial relations field: employee participation through workplace representation and collective bargaining outcomes such as wage and employment regulation. This chapter concludes that direct participation is positive for EDI; indirect participation stimulates direct participation and can positively influence EDI when embedded in optimal company industrial relations. Further, the literature review uncovers a general lack of empirical research on the effects of labour regulation and wages on EDI and related employee behaviour.