New CAHRS ResearchLink - Perception Is Reality: How Employees Perceive What Motivates HR Practices Affects their Engagement, Behavior and Performance

Do employees’ perceptions of the motivation behind HR practices influence customer satisfaction?

In this study Lisa Nishii, ILR associate professor examines the extent to which employees’ attitudes and behavior, both at the individual and unit level, are shaped by their beliefs of the motivations driving HR practices—why HR does what it does. Do employees attribute practices to a genuine concern for their satisfaction and well-being? Or do they feel the company places a higher priority on reducing costs and complying with external requirements, such as union contracts? These attributions can greatly influence organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs)—spontaneous, cooperative actions on the part of employees that go beyond their formal job requirements—and impact customer satisfaction and the bottom line.

Researchers hypothesize that if employees attribute HR practices to a company philosophy based on seeing employees as an asset, organizational performance will be high. Likewise, attitudes and performance will be poorer if there is widespread belief among employees that the company’s HR practices are aimed primarily at controlling costs.

Key Findings

• Espoused or intended HR practices have differential effects on employee engagement and citizenship behaviors depending on the underlying management motives employees attribute to those practices.
• To achieve desired organizational outcomes, it’s important to have not only the right HR practices but the right employee perceptions of those practices.
• Within the service organization studied, employees were more engaged when they believed HR practices were motivated by the organization’s concern for high-quality service and employee well-being.
• Employees were less engaged when they believed a company’s HR practices were motivated by a desire to reduce costs and exploit employees.
• Employee attitudes coalesce into unit-level citizenship behaviors, some of which are associated with greater customer satisfaction.

To read the entire CAHRS ResearchLink click here.