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

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

No abstract available

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

‘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

Migrant worker well-being as a struggle for meaningful work : evidence from Bangladeshi migrants in a developing country

This article analyses the well-being of migrants in the global South for whom employment precarity has become normalized, and working and living conditions are associated with poor health, isolation, limited voice and a general lack of protection. Well-being in such contexts may be considered as a multifaceted phenomenon which manifests itself across work and other life domains to include collective sources of well-being. We also recognise the politics of working life in how precarious workers construct well-being, presenting them as engaged in a struggle for meaning in the absence of objectively meaningful work. First, we explore the objective constraints on well-being at multiple sites (personal, relational, organizational, communal) and, second, draw from a sociological perspective of meaningful work to explore worker agency in deriving subjective autonomy, recognition and dignity. Qualitative data from 41 Bangladeshi migrants in Mauritian construction, food and textile manufacturing firms showed that despite considerable challenges to personal well-being, workers engaged in informal and agentic strategies which shaped their efficacy, voice and relationships to create meaningful work. The findings reveal mechanisms underlying the construction of meaning in precarious work, showing the implications for gendered and culturally derived agency, and broadening theory on holistic and contextualized perspectives of well-being

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

A qualitative evaluation of non-educational barriers to the elite professions: June 2015

This report sets out the findings from a qualitative study, focusing on two main areas. The first (Study A) examines the barriers to entry for people from less privileged socioeconomic backgrounds to elite law and accountancy firms, with a particular focus on London. The second (Study B) examines the barriers to entry for people from similar backgrounds to elite financial service firms (inclu ding accountancy) located in Scotland