Tom Turner

Can employee share‐ownership improve employee attitudes and behaviour?

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to examine the outcomes of a substantial broad‐based employee share‐ownership scheme for employee attitudes and behaviour in a privatised firm.Design/methodology/approach – Results are based on a survey of 711 employees in Eircom, an Irish telecommunications firm, which is 35 percent employee‐owned.Findings – The ESOP has created sizable financial returns and has had extensive influence in firm governance at the strategic level. However, findings show only a limited impact on employee attitudes and behaviour. This is attributed to a failure in creating a sense of employee participation and line of sight between employee performance and reward.Practical implications – The aim of employee share‐ownership often includes aligning employee objectives with those of other shareholders, and thus improving labour performance. The findings in this study highlight a need to provide employees with a sense of ownership and control. Findings also question the assumption that whe...

Careers and talents not to be wasted

Purpose – In many cases, immigrants work in jobs that are incommensurate with their qualifications and work experience. The aim of this study is to examine the experience of this “talent waste” in Polish immigrants working in the Irish labour market.Design/methodology/approach – The study used a mixed method approach. First, 309 Polish immigrants were surveyed about their employment experiences since moving to Ireland. Second, 12 skilled Polish immigrants – those with third level qualifications – were interviewed. Interviews were semi‐structured and focused on the factors leading to their underemployment and how they responded to it psychologically.Findings – The interviews revealed that immigrants to Ireland reported fewer barriers to skilled employment than immigrants in other research. Also, most had not sought employment that would utilise their qualifications when they first moved to Ireland. A typology of four psychological responses to employment status was put forth based on immigrant sense of pro...

WHY ARE IRISH ATTITUDES TO IMMIGRANTS AMONG THE MOST LIBERAL IN EUROPE

ABSTRACT There has been a dramatic inflow of immigrants into Ireland in recent years. Yet recent European Social Surveys indicate that Irish attitudes towards immigrants are among the most liberal in Europe. We test the association between a number of economic and cultural measures and attitudes to immigrants at the aggregate national level. Although Ireland fits the expected association and in the predicted direction the most notable feature of our results is the lack of a clear pattern between these measures and attitudes to immigrants across the European countries in the sample.

The impact of privatization and employee share ownership on employee commitment and citizen behaviour

Based on a survey of employees in a large telecommunications company, this article examines the means through which privatization, accompanied by an Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP), impact on employee commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour. The findings show that although the ESOP has in some way moderated outcomes, privatization has had negative consequences for commitment. Despite this, 50 percent of respondents report an increased level of citizenship behaviour. In determining changes in employee commitment and behaviour, it was found that an important role is played by how employees perceive changes in conditions of employment, involvement in workplace decision-making and management—union collaboration.

Did partnership in Ireland deliver for all workers? Unions and earnings

Purpose After 20 years of social partnership in Ireland the purpose of this paper is to use a national survey of firms and employees to examine the extent of the wage gap between union and non-union workers in the private sector and compare the degree of wage inequality in union and non-union firms and among union and non-union employees. Design/methodology/approach The analysis in the paper is based on the National Employment Survey carried out by the Central Statistics Office in October 2008. Approximately 9,000 enterprises were sampled and almost 5,000 enterprises responded – a response rate of over 50 per cent while almost 100,000 employees were sampled and 65,535 completed the questionnaire – a response rate of over 60 per cent. In total 22 per cent (14,619) of respondents worked in the public sector and 78 per cent (50,916) in the private sector. Findings It appears that over time the earnings premium enjoyed by unionised workers has declined. This may reflect a long term decline in union bargaining power in the private sector as union density levels have declined. Even so unionised employees enjoy a wage premium over non-union employees and collective coverage appears to reduce levels of income inequality. However, the overall union wage gap is relatively modest – being generally below 10 per cent possibly due to the harmonising effects associated with the period of social partnership supported by government trade unions and employers. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional nature of the data means that the factors associated with variations in employee earnings over time cannot be identified. Practical implications There is substantial evidence of a considerable spill-over effect as nationally agreed rates of pay percolated from the union to the non-union sector. It may also be the case that social partnership has acted to reduce wage inequality in non-union as well as union establishments. It appears that partnership type arrangements have the capacity to deliver for all workers in the private sector. Originality/value A unique aspect of the national survey data used here is the availability of employer/employee matched data from a robust national level survey with measures of union membership, earnings, individual and employment characteristics.

Changing the Rules of the Game

Abstract This article examines the impact of privatization on the relative bargaining strength of management and trade unions. Findings are based on a study of Irelands largest telecoms provider, Eircom, which has been privatized since 1999. The privatization of Eircom adopted a stakeholder approach, under which employee share-ownership and management–union partnership played an important role in firm restructuring. Findings show that despite this approach privatization has resulted in a significant decrease in the perceived bargaining strength of unions and an increase in the perceived bargaining strength of management.

Occupations, age and gender: Men and women’s earnings in the Irish labour market:

While many studies investigate gender wage disparities, few have examined the impact of gender, education, part-time working and sector on earnings for men and women across different occupational groups and for different age groups. The purpose of this article is to undertake a more nuanced approach to further our understanding of the gender pay difference between men and women in different occupations in order to tackle and close this gap. The study’s findings suggest that the labour market is segmented into primary and secondary jobs. Additionally, the earnings returns for education are generally lower for women compared to men and women appear to fare better in the public sector in terms of a lower earnings gap for full-time and part-time employees and higher returns for education compared to women working in the private sector. The article concludes with a discussion of the policy implications.