Configurational Effects of Pre-Recession High Performance Work Practices on Post-Recession Performance in the UK Service Sector

This developmental paper examines the role of skills-based contingencies in the UK service sector (i.e., the service sector segment within which the organisation operates and workforce differentiation within organisations) that may influence pre-recession adoption of High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) and the extent to which different bundles of HPWPs improve post-recession organisational performance over time. The study is informed by the Workplace Employment Relations Surveys (WERS), which provides panel data from 812 UK service sector organisations. Preliminary findings show that ability- and motivation-enhancing practices are of particular importance for improving service quality for organisations that rely on low-skilled work. The study highlights the role of skills-based contingencies that are relevant for skills demand and utilisation in the service sector as significant precursors of HPWP adoption

Organisational commitment among software developers

If software developers are to be taken as prototypes of the new knowledge worker, we need look no further for working hypotheses about their attachment to their work and their employing organization than those contained in the human resource management agenda. For the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as the supposed base of the knowledge economy has been synchronous with the launch and promotion of human resource management (HRM) as the new orthodoxy in employment practice and many of the assumptions and values within each model are shared. Indeed, HRM is often portrayed as if it were in some way a reflection of the shift to non-adversarial work relationships in the new information-based service society (Baldry 2003)

Emotional Barriers to Job Search Success: Job Search Anxiety during University-to-Work Transitions

No abstract available

Needing a new programme : why is union membership so low among software workers?

In terms of employee characteristics, software workers represent a particularly fascinating and important group of workers to explore in terms of their behaviour towards unions. They represent an expanding cohort of so-called knowledge workers in the UK and other countries, many possessing considerable latent power through their proximity to and involvement with electronic means of production and accumulation. An early study of technical workers' unionism by Smith (1987) provides evidence that computer personnel possess at least some of Batstone et al's (1978) four potential sources of industrial power, namely: skill scarcity, strategic position, immediate impact on production, and potential to create uncertainty (Smith 1987: 104). Other writers, however, have hinted that software workers are no less immune to management pressures to routinise and Taylorise their work than are any other group of skilled workers (Kraft and Dubnoff 1986; Beirne et al 1998). Software workers also enjoy familiarity with information technology, an increasingly effective tool in organising union membership both in the USA (Fiorito et al 2002) and the UK (Diamond and Freeman 2002)

Employee voice and collective formation in the Indian ITES-BPO industry

The growth of the information technology enabled services-business process outsourcing industry calls for attention to employees' working conditions and rights. Can an independent organisation such as unites Pro (the union of information technology enabled services professionals) represent employees' interests and effectively work towards protecting their rights and improving their working conditions? A survey of unites members indicates that they identify with the need for such an organisation to deal with poor supervisory and managerial treatment, concerns for employee safety, grievances related to pay and workload, and even the indignities of favouritism

‘If He Just Knew Who We Were’:Microworkers’ Emerging Bonds of Attachment in a Fragmented Employment Relationship

Using the lens of attachment, we explore microworkers’ views of their employment relationship. Microwork comprises short-term, task-focused exchanges with large numbers of end-users (requesters), implying transitory and transactional relationships. Other key parties, however, include the platform which digitally meditates worker-requester relationships and the online microworker community. We explore the nature of attachment with these parties and the implications for microworkers’ employment experiences. Using data from a workers’ campaign directed at Amazon Mechanical Turk and CEO Jeff Bezos, we demonstrate multiple, dynamic bonds, primarily, acquiescence and instrumental bonds towards requesters and the platform, and identification with the online community. Microworkers also expressed dedication towards the platform. We consider how attachment buffers the exploitative employment relationship and how community bonds mobilise collective worker voice

Quality of working time in the police : the experience of shift extensification for officers and staff

This chapter examines the quality of working time within the police service, focusing on one particular dimension of working time, shift extensification. For the police service, demands for operational efficiency make shiftwork and unsocial working hours an expectation. However, extended shifts which are unpredictable are seldom formally recognised. The chapter proposes that, over time, such regular shift extensification leads to degradation in the quality of working time as a result of its consequences for employee work-life balance, wellbeing and health. It reports a study drawing from a survey of 3257 UK police officers and staff to examine the extent to which extended hours are an issue. The chapter presents analysis of 2198 open text comments across the range of occupations in order to enrich the understanding of how working time quality is affected by this form of unplanned shift extensification. The data allows us to reflect on the implications for working time quality in situations where employer-driven demands for short notice flexible scheduling are shifting the adjustment back on employees. It is argued that this pattern is increasingly evident in many front-line occupations in a range of contemporary contexts, including the public sector

Indian call centres and business process outsourcing : a study in union formation

In this exploratory study of union formation in the Indian call centre/business process outsourcing sector, the authors draw upon evidence from the first detailed survey of members of the recently formed UNITES, and from extensive interviews. This paper engages with mobilisation theory and analyses of trade union formation

Employers beware: Generation Y loves social media, but to a point

Many young workers don't want employers using their online data for HR or hiring purposes, write Scott A. Hurrell, Dora Scholarios and James Richard

Human Resource Management Journal : a look to the past, present, and future of the journal and HRM scholarship

This editorial lays out 30 years of history of Human Resource Management Journal (HRMJ), charting the journal's roots, reflecting on HRM scholarship today and guiding authors on potential contributions to the journal in the future. HRMJ has achieved high recognition and ranking internationally since its conception originally as a UK-based journal. The journal's broad-based approach to the study of the management of people at work, means it appeals to scholars from a multitude of disciplines, not least of all management, industrial relations, psychology and organisational behaviour. HRMJ is also highly rigorous in its review process, ensuring reliable, interesting and impactful articles that further our knowledge of theory and practice