Timothy M. Gardner

Implicit human resource management theory: a potential threat to the internal validity of human resource practice measures

Since the publication of Huselids (1995) paper examining the relationship between HR practices and firm performance, there has been an explosion of published papers examining the empirical relationship between HR practices and various measures of firm performance. This study examines the possibility that informants typically providing data about organizational HR practices may be biased by an implicit theory of human resource management. Our findings suggest the responses from subjects typically providing data about HR practices may be biased in their reporting by the performance of the organization. The generalizability of these results is considered and implications for future studies of the HR-firm performance relationship reviewed.

HR practices or HR capabilities: which matters? Insights from the Asia Pacific region:

In the human resource management literature there is an ongoing debate about which is the key organizational resource: human resource (HR) practices or HR capabilities. Our study attempts to address this debate by examining which resource HR executives in the Asia-Pacific region find to be important for the future organizational and people needs of their firms. Results indicate that HR capabilities are central to organizations. Development of core competencies, agile organizations, and effective management of human resources will be pivotal to responding effectively to future business needs. Results also indicate that the lingering effects of the Asian financial crisis and competition from local and global competitors will affect organizational and people management in the years to come. These findings inform HR practitioners and shed light on the application of the resource-based view of the firm to the study of human resource management.

The Influence of Human Resource Practices and Collective Affective Organizational Commitment on Aggregate Voluntary Turnover

We investigate the role of collective affective commitment in mediating the relationship between skill, motivation, and empowerment enhancing human resource practices and aggregate voluntary turnover in a multi-source, longitudinal study. Findings from 1748 employees and 20 top HR managers in 93 different workgroups suggest collective affective commitment partially mediates the negative relationship between motivation and empowerment enhancing practices and aggregate turnover. Human resource practices functioning to enhance the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the workforce are positively associated with voluntary turnover. Theoretical and methodological contributions to the study of the antecedents of aggregate turnover are discussed.

Rebranding Employment Branding: Establishing a New Research Agenda to Explore the Attributes, Antecedents, and Consequences of Workers' Employment Brand Knowledge

Two primary approaches have been used to study employment brands and branding. First, there is a long history of the study of organizational attraction. Second, in the past 10–15 years, there has been growth in a hybrid stream of research combining branding concepts from the consumer psychology literature with I/O psychology frameworks of organizational attraction and applicant job search behavior. In this chapter, we take an entirely different approach and suggest that the theoretical models built around product/service brand knowledge can readily accommodate employment brands and branding without hybridizing the framework with I/O psychology. This merging of employment brand with product and service brands is accomplished simply by recognizing employment as an economic exchange between workers and employers and recognizing workers as cognitive and emotional beings that vary in their talents and have their own vectors of preferences for the employment offering. After developing a testable model of the components, antecedents, and consequences of employment brand knowledge, we review the existing employment brand and organizational attraction literature and identify multiple opportunities for additional research.

If You’ve Got Leavin’ on Your Mind: The Identification and Validation of Pre-Quitting Behaviors

This study introduces the concept of pre-quitting behaviors (PQBs), which employees in the process of leaving an organization may unknowingly “leak” and others can observe and use to identify those at risk of turnover. We develop a theoretical framework that explains how and why turnover proclivity can be encoded into observable PQBs. Then, on the basis of input from employees who voluntarily left and their managers, we identify a range of PQBs that served as the basis for an initial measure of the behaviors. Analysis of data to assess the validity of inferences based on the measure revealed that PQBs predicted future voluntary turnover over and above established antecedents of this outcome. Overall, this study suggests that the psychological and behavioral processes that activate and facilitate voluntary turnover are manifest in observable behaviors and thus opens a new line of inquiry into the process of employee turnover.

When Territoriality Meets Agency: An Examination of Employee Guarding as a Territorial Strategy

Do managers behave territorially toward their employees? Despite accumulating evidence demonstrating the prevalence of territoriality over nonagentic organizational resources, key questions remain regarding the extent to which psychological ownership and territorial behavior occur within supervisor-subordinate relationships. To explore this question, we drew on territoriality and mate-guarding theory to ascertain how and why managers might utilize one form of territoriality, anticipatory defenses, toward their employees. In a four-study investigation, we find that managers consistently engage in two forms of anticipatory defense tactics, persuasion and nurturing, that are intended to defend ownership claims over their employees and limit employee defection. Our results demonstrate a positive relationship between psychological ownership of subordinates and employee guarding directed toward those subordinates. We also find that managers engage in employee guarding more when they anticipate an employee is likely to defect, and they adapt guarding tactics in response to the subordinate’s general mental ability. Collectively, our results identify the motivations and conditions under which supervisors act territorially toward agentic subordinates, contributing to theory in territoriality and downward social influence.

To sit at the table, you have to know the language: important financial metrics for HR directors

Purpose The main thrust behind strategic human resources (HR) includes strengthening the impact of HR on the organization. In other words, strategic HR attempts to place the HR department on equal footing with other functional areas of business. HR professionals who understand both operational indicators and their decisions on various financial metrics have greater focus and clarity when making decisions. HR professionals with such knowledge are also more likely to be viewed favorably by their counterparts in other departments and have a greater voice in the executive suite and boardroom. Design/methodology/approach Interviews with board of director(s). Findings There has been a significant shift in the role of HR over the past several decades. The HR department has evolved from a role focused primarily on dealing with administrative issues, litigation and unions, to a department that drives strategy and adds value throughout the company. To continue this transition, HR professionals should have a solid knowledge of critical financial information, including financial and operational metrics and ratios. By combining this information with a strategic mindset, HR professionals are better prepared to add value to the firm, and they participate more fully with other members of management in determining the strategic direction of a firm. Originality/value A competent, strategically minded HR professional who understands not only people-related issues but also financial issues can “elevate strategic discussions” in the executive suite and boardroom. Just as financial statements serve to direct attention to operational issues and to spur responsive management decisions among line managers, so too can financial statements direct the attention of HR professionals to line items specifically impacted by HR policies and processes. When HR professionals consider the impact of their decisions on the financial statements and financial metrics, they become key players in helping the firm achieve organizational goals.