The dark side of high performance human resource practices in the visitor economy

Abstract

Enhancing employee performance and improving staff retention are key objectives within the visitor economy, especially among the subset of tourism and hospitality businesses where there is a strong emphasis on 'people first' practices. A significant threat to achieving these sector goals is the presence of psychosocial risk factors associated with abuse and ill-treatment at work. This study examines the role of workplace bullying in the relationship between two organisational approaches to support workforce performance, high performance work systems and perceived organisational support, and employee engagement and retention. Our findings indicate that bullying weakens or even reverses the impact of these organisational initiatives, with HPWS found to increase perceived exposure to bullying. The paper discusses the implications for the visitor economy, particularly, the need to enhance the perception of concern for employee wellbeing and create healthy work environments in the sector if organisational efforts to enhance engagement and retention are to be effective. 2 Literature Review 2.1 Theoretical perspectives on HRM: HPWS and POS to enhance worker satisfaction and reduce leave intentions Numerous studies have highlighted the effectiveness of human resource management (HRM) practices in achieving satisfaction and retention that are salient for the visitor economy (e.g. Delery 1998; Huselid 1995; Way 2002), although there are a wide range of issues which impact upon human resource (HR) practices and performance and productivity that remain germane areas for research (Guest 2011). One approach to people management, based on strategic HRM and the resource-based view, relates to the macro system of practices organisations use to manage human capital (Murphy, DiPietro and Murrmann 2007). These macro systems of practices are known as high performance work systems (HPWS). HPWS include a range of HRM practices that have been associated with positive organisational performance (Huselid 1995; Ramsay, Scholarios, and Harley 2000). Despite the growing literature on HPWS, there has not been any uniform definition of the specific composition of these high performance HR practices. A meta-analysis of the literature by Jiang et al (2012) identified a variety of HR practices that could be considered components of HPWS. These practices were categorised into three dimensions of HR systems: skills-enhancing, motivation-enhancing, and opportunity-enhancing. Jiang et al. observed that these practices include comprehensive recruitment, rigorous selection, and extensive training for skills-enhancing HR bundles. Developmental performance management, competitive compensation, incentives and rewards, extensive benefits, promotion and career development, and job security were examples of motivation-enhancing

Known and Unknown Aspects of Workplace Bullying: A Systematic Review of Recent Literature and Future Research Agenda

“…Descending bullying declines employee efficiency as the evolving adverse effect and corporeal signs hamper employees from performing proficiently (Casimir et al, 2012). It is worth noticing here that in the absence of moderating variables such as job security, employees’ perception of WB cannot be directly linked with low-level work engagement leading to low productivity (Page et al, 2018; Park & Ono, 2016). Key effects of WB on all strains excluding job attachment are insignificant when it is relapsed together with social support and the interaction term (Fox & Stallworth, 2010).…”

“…The extant literature confirms that WB is a persistent organizational problem having dire consequences for both, organizations and employees. From psychological issues to physical health problems, WB takes a toll on victim employees’ psychological and physical well-being while organizations suffer the effects of low employee performance, absenteeism, job dissatisfaction, low work commitment, and high turnover (Glambek et al, 2014; MacIntosh, 2005; Page et al, 2018). Therefore, developing a conducive and safe work environment becomes non-negotiable for HRD professionals in the organization.…”

Deviance, deviant behaviour and hospitality management: Sources, forms and drivers

“…Ketola (2006: 99) identified a number of organisational actions that correspond to individual psychopathic traits: The actions identified by Ketola (2006) may represent behavioural extremes, but it is conceivable that many hospitality and tourism organisations and their subsidiaries engage in one or more of these, even if only in relatively mild forms. For example, studies have repeatedly shown that employment in the sector is characterised precarious work conditions and problematic labour relations (Baum, 2012(Baum, , 2013(Baum, , 2015McDowell, Batnitzky, & Dyer, 2009;Page, Bentley, Teo, & Ladkin, 2018;Zampoukos & Ioannides, 2011).…”

The Strategy of Constructing Enterprise Human Resource Performance Management System

“…Secondly, it helps to stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of employees. After implementing the human resources performance management system, the enterprise shall formulate a corresponding work assessment reward and punishment mechanism by fully combining the work contents of different departments and the department performance management indicators, that is, the enterprise will give certain salary rewards according to the mechanism when the employees exceed the prescribed work tasks [3] .…”