Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage

AbstractPurpose - The purpose of this paper is to argue in support of a model that shows how four key HRM practices focused on engagement influence organizational climate, job demands and job resources, the psychological experiences of safety, meaningfulness and availability at work, employee engagement, and individual, group and organizational performance and competitive advantage.Design/methodology/approach - This conceptual review focuses on the research evidence showing interrelationships between organizational context factors, job factors, individual employee psychological and motivational factors, employee outcomes, organizational outcomes and competitive advantage. The proposed model integrates frameworks that have previously run independently in the HR and engagement literatures.Findings - The authors conclude that HRM practitioners need to move beyond the routine administration of annual engagement surveys and need to embed engagement in HRM policies and practices such personnel selection, socialization, performance management, and training and development.Practical implications - The authors offer organizations clear guidelines for how HR practices (i.e. selection, socialization, performance management, training) can be used to facilitate and improve employee engagement and result in positive outcomes that will help organizations achieve a competitive advantage.Originality/value - The authors provide useful new insights for researchers and management professionals wishing to embed engagement within the fabric of HRM policies and practices and employee behaviour, and organizational outcomes.<br /

When Success Breeds Failure: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Escalating Commitment to a Losing Course of Action

Summary The search for individual differences relevant to behavior in escalation situations has met with little success. Continuing the search, this study investigated self-efficacy judgments as a potentially important individual difference in escalating commitment to a losing course of action. Predictions derived from self-efficacy theory suggest that selfpercepts of high efficacy would exacerbate the economically irrational escalation bias whereas self-percepts of low efficacy would diminish it. These predictions were consistently supported in this laboratory study where business students responded to decision dilemmas in which funds had been committed to a failing course of action. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are drawn for the escalation and self-efficacy literatures

Development and test of an integrative model of job search behaviour

Research on job search and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) has identified job search attitude, subjective norm, and job search self-efficacy as the most proximal determinants of job seekers’ search intentions and subsequently job search behaviors. However, we do not yet know how more distal individual differences (e.g., personality) and situational factors (e.g., social context) might help to predict these key TPB determinants of job search behavior. In an integrative model of job search behavior, we propose specific relationships between these distal variables and the TPB determinants, which in turn are expected to mediate the effects of individual differences and situational factors on job search behavior. The hypothesized model is tested in a large representative sample of 1,177 unemployed Flemish job seekers using a two-wave design and provides a satisfactory fit to the data. Extraversion, conscientiousness, core self-evaluations, employment commitment, financial need, and social support are found to differentially relate to instrumental and affective job search attitude, subjective norm, and job search self-efficacy. In addition, all distal variables are indirectly related to job search behavior through their effects on the TPB variables. These results support our expanded and integrative model of job search behavior

Research, measurement, and evolution of human resources/ Saks

xvi, 411 hal.: ill.; 23 cm

Research, measurement, and evolution of human resources/ Saks

xvi, 411 hal.: ill.; 23 cm

Research, measurement, and evolution of human resources/ Saks

xvi, 411 hal.: ill.; 23 cm