The limits of high performance work systems in unionised craft‐based work settings

Abstract

This paper focuses on constraints on the effectiveness of high performance work techniques deriving from the traditions of craft-based trade unionism and long-established structures and cultures within sector-based employment relationships.The findings question the fundamentally managerialist nature of HPW accounts that assume labour's position in the high-performance equation to be simply one of recipient of managerial initiatives.

How employees’ pro-activity translates high-commitment HRM systems into work engagement: the mediating role of job crafting

“…This was motivated by the idea that employees should be seen as active players to understand how HRM relates to employees' work-related attitudes. Although previous studies already showed that employees are active players in shaping the nature of HRM through negotiating, co-determining and enacting HRM practices (Danford et al, 2005;McBride, 2008), our study extends this body of work by shedding light on how employees as pro-active crafters of their jobs translate high-commitment HRM into work engagement. Below, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our results.…”

“…Although concepts such as perceived HRM systems and work engagement help us to understand how employees experience and respond to HRM, several authors still raise concerns that HRM research remains too management-centred as it exclusively addresses managers' initiatives to explain employees' perceptions of and responses to HRM (Janssens & Steyaert, 2009;Lepak & Boswell, 2012). In particular, existing studies are criticized for treating employees as passive recipients of HRM whose attitudes can be fully pre-determined by managerial actions, while ignoring the possibility that employees, as (pro-)active players, can affect their attitudinal states themselves (Danford, Richardson, Stewart, Tailby, & Upchurch, 2005;McBride, 2008). Given that employees are the recipients and thus users of HRM, it is our contention that they need to be conceptualized as active players in HRM-outcome relationships.…”

“…This shows that future studies can best study employees' (pro-) active involvement in resource acquisition and maintenance if they wish to explain how high-commitment HRM relates to work engagement. Interestingly, although existing work showed that employees actively shape the nature of HRM (Danford et al, 2005;McBride, 2008), the majority of employee-level HRM studies considers employees to be passive respondents to HRM, while they examined HRM outcomes that describe employees' satiation, such as job satisfaction (Guest, 2011;Peccei et al, 2013). Instead, our results imply that HRM research ought to view employees not only as (pro-)active agents who shape the nature of HRM, but also as being pro-active in their responses to HRM, and who translate perceived HRM systems into attitudinal outcomes through displaying pro-active behaviour.…”

Adoption of Employee Involvement Practices: Organizational Change Issues and Insights

“…The reasoning used to explain these differences revolves around the difficulty in overcoming both managerial and worker resistance to change, particularly when the workforce has deeply ingrained ideas about job roles and how work gets done (Ichniowski & Shaw, 2003;Chi, Freeman & Kleiner, 2007). An example of this can be found in a study of three shipbuilding firms by McBride (2008), who concluded that strongly established cultures and work practices limit the effectiveness of EI and HPWS practices.…”

Exploring High Performance Work Practices as Necessary Condition of HR Outcomes

“…These revolutionary practices are increasingly institutionalized for their productivity and profitability enhancing capabilities for all kinds of organizations. A model of HPWPs comprises aligned human resource (HR) practices that create a synergy effect and thereby provides a source of competitive advantage to the firm (McBride, 2008). The underlying principle behind the success of high performance work system is 'the way people are managed and treated at work place has an impact on their performance level, i.e., on their productivity and efficiency' (Punia & Garg, 2012).…”