Original citation:Alfes, Kerstin, Shantz, Amanda, Truss, Catherine and Soane, Emma (2013) A Moderated Mediation Model AbstractThis study contributes to our understanding of the mediating and moderating processes through which human resource management practices are linked with behavioural outcomes. We developed and tested a moderated mediation model linking perceived human resource management practices to organisational citizenship behaviour and turnover intentions. Drawing on social exchange theory, our model posits that the effect of perceived human resource management practices on both outcome variables is mediated by levels of employee engagement, while the relationship between employee engagement and both outcome variables is moderated by perceived organisational support and leader-member exchange. Overall, data from 297 employees in a service sector organisation in the UK support this model. This suggests that the enactment of positive behavioural outcomes, as a consequence of engagement, largely depends on the wider organisational climate and employees' relationship with their line manager. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

This article examines the role played by line managers in the link between HRM practices and individual performance outcomes. Drawing on social exchange theory, the authors test a mediated model linking perceived line manager behavior and perceived human resource management practices with employee engagement and individual performance. The study focuses on two self‐report measures of individual performance; task performance and innovative work behavior. Two studies with a total of 1,796 participants were conducted in service‐sector organizations in the United Kingdom and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The data reveal that perceived line manager behavior and perceived HRM practices are linked with employee engagement. In turn, employee engagement is strongly linked to individual performance and fully mediates the link between both perceived HRM practices and perceived line manager behavior and self‐report task performance (study 1), as well as self‐report innovative work behavior (study 2). The findings show the significance of the line manager in the HRM‐performance link, and the mediating role played by employee engagement. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

2 Mission and scopeThe conceptual development of employee engagement has been gaining momentum in many parts of the applied psychology literature and has recently found its way into debates within HRD. This article contributes to this burgeoning field by developing a model of engagement that is operationalized in a new 9-item measure: the Intellectual, Social, Affective Engagement Scale (ISA Engagement Scale). It fits with the objectives and scope of Human Resource Development International by presenting original material, contributing a new measure that operates at factor and facet levels, and making the ISA Engagement Scale available for use within business and academic communities. There are potential implications for HRD practices that enhance the experience of work and contribute to improved organisational outcomes.3 AbstractWe present a new measure for assessing employee engagement. We build on Kahn's (1990) theory and develop a model of engagement that has three requirements: a work-role focus, activation and positive affect. This model was operationalized in a new measure: the Intellectual, Social, Affective Engagement Scale (ISA Engagement Scale) comprising three facets: intellectual, social and affective engagement. Data from two studies showed that the scale and its sub-scales have internal reliability. There were associations with task performance, OCB and turnover intentions.Implications are provided for academic enquiry into the engagement process, and for HRD practices that enhance the experience of work.

Our understanding of the way in which human resource management (HRM) is linked to organizational performance is still limited, despite recent advances that use a quantitative approach to argue for a strong positive relationship between 'High Performance Work Practices' and firm financial performance. These studies are limited by their reliance on a single informant in each organization, and their emphasis on financial performance at the expense of a broader range of outcome variables. This paper contributes to the debate by analysing in detail the human resource policies and practices of one case-study organization over a two-year time period, using a variety of methodologies and drawing on a broad range of informants across the organization. Instead of devising a list of 'best practice' HRM from the literature and testing its impact on performance, we instead invert the question and take a firm that is financially successful and ask what HR policies and practices it uses. We also examine the way in which these policies are enacted. This methodology enables us to show that even successful organizations do not always implement 'best practice' HRM, and that there is frequently a discrepancy between intention and practice. Outcomes at the individual and organizational levels are complex and often contradictory; we question the extent to which is it possible or meaningful to attempt to measure the interrelationship between HRM, at the level of the formal system, and organizational performance, without taking into consideration the role played by the informal organization in the process and implementation of HR policies.

The prospects for devolving HR activities to the line are examined in this article. Evidence drawn from a wider study of HRM in practice suggests that, while line manager involvement is possible, their practices tend to be inconsistent in implementation and uneven in quality. A number of constraints on line management practice were identified. First, there is limited reinforcement of practice through institutional forces. Secondly, the short‐term nature of managerial activity means that a greater priority is placed on the achievement of the numbers rather than the achievement of numbers through people. Finally, downsizing and delayering place tremendous pressures on the time which line managers could allow for people matters generally. These findings challenge much of the rhetoric associated with the idea of giving HRM back to the line by arguing that the quality of line management practice may distort the overall impact of HR policies.