An Overview of Recent Trends in Incentive Pay Programs

This article examines recent trends and developments in an increasingly popular HR practice--incentive pay programs. In addition to highlighting major developments in recent empirical studies, this article also synthesizes recent research pertaining to general guidelines or strategies for design, implementation, and the utilization of incentive pay programs. Counter arguments pointing out potential pitfalls and precautions will also be discussed. The article concludes by offering some recommendations for future research

Job Applicants’ Information Privacy Protection Responses: Using Social Media for Candidate Screening

For human resource (HR) departments, screening job applicants is an integral role in acquiring talent. Many HR departments have begun to turn to social networks to better understand job candidates’ character. Using social networks as a screening tool might provide insights not readily available from resumes or initial interviews. However, requiring access to an applicants’ social networks and the private activities occurring therein—a practice currently legal in 29 U.S. states (Deschenaux, 2015)—could induce strong moral reactions from the job candidates because of a perceived loss of information privacy. Subsequently, such disclosure requests could induce job candidates to respond in a multitude of ways to protect their privacy. Given that an estimated 2.55 billion individuals will use social media worldwide by 2017 (eMarketer, 2013), the repercussions from requests for access social media environments have potentially far-reaching effects. In this research, we examine how one such disclosure request impacted six information privacy protective responses (IPPRs) (Son & Kim, 2008) based on the job candidates’ perceived moral judgment and the perceived moral intensity of the HR disclosure request. These responses occurred when we asked respondents to provide personal login information during a hypothetical interview. By modeling data derived from a sample of 250 participants in PLS-SEM, we found that the five IPPRs (i.e., refusal, negative word of mouth, complaining to friends, complaining to the company, and complaining to third parties) were all significant responses when one judged the request to be immoral and perceived the moral intensity concept of immediate harm. The amount of variance explained by these five IPPRs ranged from 17.7 percent to 38.7 percent, which indicates a solid initial foundation from which future research can expand on this HR issue. Implications for academia and practice are discussed

Job Applicants\u27 Information Privacy Protection Responses: Using Socia Media for Candidate Screening

For human resource (HR) departments, screening job applicants is an integral role in acquiring talent. Many HR departments have begun to turn to social networks to better understand job candidates’ character. Using social networks as a screening tool might provide insights not readily available from resumes or initial interviews. However, requiring access to an applicants’ social networks and the private activities occurring therein—a practice currently legal in 29 U.S. states (Deschenaux, 2015)—could induce strong moral reactions from the job candidates because of a perceived loss of information privacy. Subsequently, such disclosure requests could induce job candidates to respond in a multitude of ways to protect their privacy. Given that an estimated 2.55 billion individuals will use social media worldwide by 2017 (eMarketer, 2013), the repercussions from requests for access social media environments have potentially far-reaching effects. In this research, we examine how one such disclosure request impacted six information privacy protective responses (IPPRs) (Son & Kim, 2008) based on the job candidates’ perceived moral judgment and the perceived moral intensity of the HR disclosure request. These responses occurred when we asked respondents to provide personal login information during a hypothetical interview. By modeling data derived from a sample of 250 participants in PLS-SEM, we found that the five IPPRs (i.e., refusal, negative word of mouth, complaining to friends, complaining to the company, and complaining to third parties) were all significant responses when one judged the request to be immoral and perceived the moral intensity concept of immediate harm. The amount of variance explained by these five IPPRs ranged from 17.7 percent to 38.7 percent, which indicates a solid initial foundation from which future research can expand on this HR issue. Implications for academia and practice are discussed

Using Biodata as a Predictor of Errors, Tardiness, Policy Violations, Overall Job Performance, and Turnover Among Nurses

The current study examined the use of biographical data to predict errors, tardiness, policy violations, overall job performance, and turnover among nurses. The results of the study indicate that biodata measures are valid selection devices for nurses and effective at predicting nurse errors, tardiness, policy violations, and overall job performance, but the instrument was not an effective predictor of turnover, voluntary or involuntary. Additionally, examination of group differences revealed that White subjects scored significantly higher on the biodata instrument compared to Black subjects but produced group differences considerably smaller than typically found with measures of cognitive ability. Future research directions and implications for practice are discussed

Cultural Differences in Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Comparison Between Chinese and American Employees

The present study examined the differences in the perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) between Chinese and American employees. Survey responses concerning the presence of OCB in their organizations were collected from a total of 393 employees. Analyses showed that Chinese and American employees reported similar levels of personal support and conscientious initiative in their organizations, but Chinese employees reported higher levels of organizational support in comparison with American employees. In addition, results indicated that perceptions of personal support, organizational support, and conscientious initiative were a function of job/hierarchical level such that management reported lower levels on all three dimensions of OCB. Finally, the results showed that country and job/hierarchical level do not interact to influence perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior. Implications and directions for future research on cultural differences in organizational citizenship behavior are discussed

CEO Compensation, Backdated Stock Options, and Compensation Committees

CEO compensation in U. S. based companies has undergone considerable scrutiny in recent years. Among the common observations are that U. S. executives are highly paid relative to those of other countries and that the disparities in compensations are increasing over time. In this study, we investigate the effects that backdated stock options, compensation committee structure and process, and ownership factors have on levels or executive compensation. Combining agency and organizational theory perspectives, we find CEO compensation positively associated with the presence of backdated stock options, few large-block stockholders, and small compensation committees

Preventing and Correcting Workplace Harassment: Guidelines for Employers

In recent years, the number of harassment claims filed with the EEOC has declined overall, but this fact masks a frightening reality: though claims involving some types of harassment have declined, claims for other types of harassment—especially nontraditional forms of harassment—have actually increased. Therefore it remains necessary for employers to maintain a current anti-harassment program, which should consist of the following elements: (1) a clear anti-harassment policy; (2) an explicit statement of prohibited behaviors that can be considered harassment; (3) a complaint procedure that encourages employees to come forward with harassment complaints; (4) protections for complainants and witnesses against retaliation; (5) an investigative strategy that protects privacy interests of both the alleged victim and the accused offender and ensures confidentiality to the extent possible; (6) periodic management training and employee awareness programs that continue to communicate the organization\u27s position on this issue; and (7) measures and processes to ensure prompt corrective action to stop ongoing harassment, and appropriate remedial and disciplinary actions for offenders. In this article, we provide best practice recommendations concerning each of these elements

The Nominating Committee As an Antecedent of Effective Corporate Governance

In this paper, we examine a possible antecedent to board effectiveness – the presence of a nominating committee. We argue that director cooptation by CEOs, and therefore ineffectual governance, may result from allowing CEOs to appoint sympathetic directors. Thus, because outside independent board members are more likely to be effective in their roles as monitors of the CEO, and because such members are more likely to have been selected by nominating committees, measures of board effectiveness should be positively associated with the presence of a nominating committee. Our results are largely consistent with our hypotheses, and are thus instructive in the design of optimal governance mechanisms. We find that firm profitability, frequency of compensation committee meetings, compensation committee size, and CEO experience of compensation committee members are all higher among firms with nominating committees

Is the Past Prologue For Some More Than Others? The Hobo Syndrome and Job Complexity

The current study examines the relationship between an individual\u27s history of changing jobs and future turnover (the so-called hobo syndrome ). Relying on self-consistency theory, it was hypothesized that the relationship between job mobility history and turnover is moderated by job complexity. Using a sample of 393 employees from two healthcare organizations, multiple methods were used to assess the variables of interest. Job mobility history was assessed with a biodata questionnaire collected before employees were hired. Job complexity was measured objectively by a job complexity index calculated from O*NET data. Turnover was assessed with actual turnover data collected over an 18-month post-hire period. Consistent with our hypothesis, results using event history analyses revealed that previous job changes were positively related to turnover likelihood. Additionally, job complexity moderated the relationship between previous job changes and turnover likelihood, such that previous job changes were more positively related to turnover in complex jobs. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved