The adoption of human resource practices to support employees affected by intimate partner violence: Women representation in leadership matters

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health issue that negatively impacts organizations and their employees. Research suggests that organizations can play a supportive role to lessen this negative impact. However, it has been relatively silent on the conditions under which organizations choose to play such a role. Integrating social role and critical mass perspectives, we examine the extent to which organizations adopt human resource (HR) practices to support employees affected by IPV. Specifically, we argue that organizations are more likely to adopt IPV-related HR practices when they are led by female Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Top Management Teams (TMTs) with more female members. Furthermore, we argue that when women's representation reaches a critical mass plateau, appointing more women in TMTs has no incremental impact, and this non-linear relationship moderates the CEO gender effect. Overall, we found support for our hypotheses based on a survey study of HR professionals from 414 Australian organizations (Study 1) and an archival study using 2 years of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency data from 4186 Australian organizations (Study 2). Theoretical and practical implications on the influence of gender configurations in leadership positions on the adoption of diversity, equity, and inclusion-related HR practices are discussed

A neo-institutional perspective on ethical decision-making

Drawing on neo-institutional theory, this study aims to discern the poorly understood ethical challenges confronted by senior executives in Indian multinational corporations and identify the strategies that they utilize to overcome them. We conducted in-depth interviews with 40 senior executives in Indian multinational corporations to illustrate these challenges and strategies. By embedding our research in contextually relevant characteristics that embody the Indian environment, we identify several institutional- and managerial-level challenges faced by executives. The institutional-level challenges are interpreted as regulative, normative and cognitive shortcomings. We recommend a concerted effort at the institutional and managerial levels by identifying relevant strategies for ethical decision-making. Moreover, we proffer a multi-level model of ethical decision-making and discuss our theoretical contributions and practical implications

The Role of Positive Emotion Expression on Perceived Warmth and Competence of Women and Men at Work

Despite the fact that women represent half of global labor force, they occupy less than a quarter of senior roles in organizations. Extending research on gender bias related to women’s emotion expression, this paper proposes that smiling has the potential to reduce women’s career progression by lowering their perceived competence. We theorize that this is because observers tend to interpret men’s smile as “smile of pleasure”, whereas women’s smile as “smile to please”. Results from two experiments supported our key hypothesis. Experiment 1 found that while men who smile are perceived to be more competent than men who do not smile, women who smile are perceived to be less competent than women who do not smile. Experiment 2 found that the negative impact of smiling on women’s perceived competence is only present in masculine professions. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed

How Does Religion Matter and Why? Religion and the Organizational Sciences

Religion is becoming increasingly salient in and around, but not confined to, the American workplace. The rise of openly faith-based organizations and discourse surrounding the role and importance of spirituality are just a couple of the indicators that religion, in its various guises, is playing a role in organizational life. With few exceptions, however, scholarly research has sidestepped the issue of religion, and, perhaps unwittingly, discourse surrounding spirituality seems to imply that religion is a benign and positive force. Rather than implicitly or explicitly assuming that religion is a benign, positive force in organizations, in this paper, we suggest that organizational scholars need to rigorously address the potential consequences of religion at work in a dispassionate manner that acknowledges both the benefits/adaptive outcomes and the challenges/maladaptive outcomes. Specifically, adopting primarily a psychological approach, we theorize about two fundamental tensions produced by contemplations about religion and the concept of God at work and the conditions under which benefits versus challenges may prevail. These exemplary tensions, virtuousness versus “more-virtuous-than-thou” and prosociality and ethicality versus egocentrism, highlight the fact that religion has the potential to result in both adaptive and maladaptive outcomes for organizations and their members. Importantly, for each tension, we theorize about the initial conditions under which beneficial/adaptive or challenging/maladaptive outcomes will prevail. We also explore the critical role that the wider context plays in understanding these tensions and how religion affects organizational life

The perils of dating your boss: The role of hierarchical workplace romance and sex on evaluators’ career advancement decisions for lower status romance participants

Engaging in romantic relationships at work, especially with one’s superiors (i.e., hierarchical workplace romance; [HWR]), has generally been shown to negatively impact the participants involved. However, less attention has focused on its impact on the career advancement of lower status romance participants and when such an impact is exacerbated. Two experiments show that third-party evaluators were less likely to promote (Study 1) and select lower status HWR participants for training opportunities (Study 2) than their counterparts not in an HWR. Moreover, the negative career ramification of an HWR was stronger for men romantically involved with their female superiors than women with their male superiors (Study 2). This research highlights the need for organizational members to be aware of biases associated with HWR and gender role–based status expectations because past achievements may be discounted for lower status HWR participants, especially men

The Role of National Culture and Organizational Climate in Safety Training Effectiveness

Using data from 68 organizations embedded within 14 nations, we examined hypotheses concerning the moderating roles of national culture and organizational climate on the transfer of training to the work context. A dimension of national culture, uncertainty avoidance, moderated the transfer of safety training with regard to reducing accidents and injuries; and organizational safety climate moderated the transfer of safety training with respect to both engaging in safe work behaviour and reducing accidents and injuries. Along with discussing the implications of a positive safety climate, we discuss how the tendency within a culture to avoid uncertainty may paradoxically lead to greater uncertainty and negative consequences in relation to the transfer of safety training

Relative Effectiveness of Worker Safety and Health Training Methods

Objectives. We sought to determine the relative effectiveness of different methods of worker safety and health training aimed at improving safety knowledge and performance and reducing negative outcomes (accidents, illnesses, and injuries). Methods. Ninety-five quasi-experimental studies (n=20991) were included in the analysis. Three types of intervention methods were distinguished on the basis of learners’ participation in the training process: least engaging (lecture, pamphlets, videos), moderately engaging (programmed instruction, feedback interventions), and most engaging (training in behavioral modeling, hands-on training). Results. As training methods became more engaging (i.e., requiring trainees’ active participation), workers demonstrated greater knowledge acquisition, and reductions were seen in accidents, illnesses, and injuries. All methods of training produced meaningful behavioral performance improvements. Conclusions. Training involving behavioral modeling, a substantial amount of practice, and dialogue is generally more effective than other methods of safety and health training. The present findings challenge the current emphasis on more passive computer-based and distance training methods within the public health workforce

The Dread Factor: How Hazards and Safety Training Influence Learning and Performance

This study uses meta-analytic techniques to examine the effect of safety training and workplace hazards on the development of safety knowledge and safety performance. Analyses indicate that for safety knowledge and safety performance, highly-engaging training was more effective than less-engaging training when hazardous event/exposure severity was high. This effect was reduced when hazardous event/exposure severity was low. These findings indicate that it is especially important to consider using highly-engaging safety training when employees are likely to be exposed to hazardous events