High Involvement Management, Work

Enrichment, Well-being and Productivity: An Analysis

using WERS2004

Stephen Wood Institute of Work Psychology

September 25th 2008

SeminarCentre for Well-being in Public Policy

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Outline

• Theoretical Context

• Research Aims

• Hypotheses

• The Data

• Model

• Results

• Conclusion

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Theoretical Context

• High Involvement ManagementHigh Involvement Management

• Karasek’s (1979) demand-control Karasek’s (1979) demand-control model + supportmodel + support

• Industrial Relations Industrial Relations –– Voice Voice

• Economists interest in happiness – Economists interest in happiness – importance of team-based importance of team-based cooperative systemcooperative system

• Shared Capitalism – the Shared Capitalism – the importance of share ownership and importance of share ownership and profit-sharingprofit-sharing

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Research Aims

• Investigate the link between the High Involvement Management, Work Enrichment, Voice and two types of Job-related Well-being (Job Satisfaction, Contentment)

• Test hypotheses based on the Human Resource Management Industrial Relations, the Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Economics literatures

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EmployeeEmployeeVoiceVoice

High InvolvementHigh Involvement ManagementManagement

Work Work EnrichmentEnrichment

Employee Employee InvolvementInvolvement

ContentmentContentment

MotivationalMotivationalVariable Pay, Job Security,Variable Pay, Job Security,

Internal RecruitmentInternal Recruitment

Well-beingWell-being

Job SatisfactionJob Satisfaction

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Main Hypotheses

• High Involvement Management is positively associated with Job Satisfaction and Contentment.

• Work Enrichment is positively associated with Job Satisfaction and Contentment.

• Employee Voice is positively associated with Job Satisfaction and Contentment.

• Motivational Supports are positively associated with Job Satisfaction and Contentment.

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Hypotheses: High Involvement Management and Well-being

• High Involvement Management is positively associated with Job Satisfaction and Contentment.

High Involvement Management moderates the

association between Work Enrichment and

(a) Job Satisfaction and (b) Contentment.

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Hypotheses: Work Enrichment and Well-being

• Work Enrichment is positively associated with Job Satisfaction and Contentment.

The association between Work Enrichment andJob Satisfaction is stronger than that with Contentment.

The association of Work Enrichment with (a) jobsatisfaction and (b) Contentment is moderatedby job demands.

The moderating effect of job demands on therelationship of Work Enrichment with (a) jobsatisfaction and (b) Contentment is stronger forContentment than it is for Job Satisfaction.

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Hypotheses: Employee Voice and Well-being

• Trade Union Representation and Consultative methods are associated positively with Job Satisfaction and Contentment.

The interaction between Trade unionrepresentation and Consultative Methods isassociated positively with Well-being.

Trade Union Representation will moderate theassociation between job demands and jobsatisfaction and Contentment and this moderationwill be larger for Contentment than for job satisfaction.

Trade Union Membership will moderate theassociation between trade union representationand Well-being.

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Hypotheses: Supports and Well-being

• Job security Guarantees and Internal Labour Markets are positively associated with Well-being.

• Individual-level Payments Systems are negatively associated with Well-being.The interaction of Individual-level Payments Systems and Work Enrichment is negatively associated with Well-being.

• Group- or Organizational-wide Payment Systems are positively associated with Well-being.The interaction of group- or organizational-wide

payments systems and (a) Work Enrichment and (b) High Involvement Management are associated with Well-being.

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Hypotheses: Supportive Management and Well-being

• Supportive Management is positively associated with Well-being.Supportive Management has a moderating

effect on the associations between both work enrichment, High Involvement Management or Voice with Well-being

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Hypothesis: Work Enrichment and High Involvement

Management and Organizational Performance

• Work Enrichment and High Involvement Management are independently and positively associated with Organizational Performance.

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Hypothesis: Work Enrichment and High Involvement

Management and Organizational Performance

• Well-being mediates the relationship between Work Enrichment and High Involvement Management and Organizational Performance.

• (Critical) Work Enrichment and High Involvement Management are independently and negatively associated with Well-being, which does not mediate the positive relationship between these two management practices and Organizational Performance.

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Testing Hypotheses

• Two-level data: employees are nested within workplaces

• Observations at the employee level are not independent observations

• Use weighted multi-level regressions to reflect sample design

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Data

• Workplace Employee Relations Survey of 2004

• 2,295 workplaces with five or more employees from an in-scope sample of 3,587 addresses (response rate = 64%)

• 22,451 employees (response rate = 61%)

• Up to 25 employees in each workplace were randomly selected (median/workplace= 13)

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Measures of Job Satisfaction

• Amount of influence the person has over their job

• Amount of pay they receives

• Sense of achievement they get from their work

• Scope for using initiative

• Training the person receives

• Job security

• Involvement in decision-making

• The work itself

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Warr’s Anxiety-Contentment Measure

Calm

Contented

Relaxed

Tense

Uneasy

Worried

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High Involvement Management

• Teamwork• Functional Flexibility• Quality Circles• Suggestion Schemes• Team briefing• Induction• Training for Human Relations Skills• Information Disclosure• Appraisal

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Work Enrichment

How much influence they have over five areas of work:

• “the tasks they do in their job”

• “the pace at which they work”

• “how they do their work”

• “the order in which they carry out their tasks”

• “the time they start or finish their work”

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Consultative Management

Perceptions of how good managers are at:

• “seeking the views of employees or employee representatives”

• “responding to suggestions from employees or employee representatives”

• “allowing employees or employeerepresentatives to influence finaldecisions”

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Supportive Management

How good employees felt mangersare at keeping employees informedabout the following:

• “changes to the way the organizationis run”

• “changes in staffing”

• “changes in the way you do your job”

• “financial matters including budgets or profits”

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Motivational Supports

• Job security guarantees

• Internal recruitment

• Individual-level performance-related

• Pay

• Profit sharing

• Employee share ownership

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Supportive Management

The extent to which the managers at theworkplaces are perceived to have thefollowing characteristics:

• “can be relied upon to keep to their promises”

• “are sincere in attempting to understand employees’ views”

• “deal with employees honestly”

• “understand about employees having to meet responsibilities outside work”

• “encourage people to develop their skills”

• “treat employees fairly”.

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Organizational Performance

• Multiple indicators:- Financial performance- Productivity- Quality- Absenteeism

• Control variables: - Percentage of unionization- Size of workplace- Part of larger organization- Private/public ownership

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The Two-level Model

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Well-being• Work Enrichment and Supportive

Management are positively associated with Job Satisfaction and Contentment

• High Involvement Management is unrelated to Job Satisfaction and negatively associated with Contentment

• Consultative Management is associated only with Job Satisfaction

• No evidence for hypotheses entailing Motivational Supports or their moderated relationships

• Supportive Management is positively associated with Job Satisfaction and Contentment

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Practices and Performance: WERS

• No strong individual practice or synergistic effects

• High Involvement Management linked with productivity level

• Work Enrichment more significant for productivity and other performance criteria

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Testing Multi-level Mediation

on WERS 2004 Data

High Involvement Management

Work Enrichment

Employee Well-being

- Job Satisfaction- Anxiety-

Contentment

OrganizationalPerformance:

-Financial-Productivity

-Quality-Absenteeism

WORKPLACE ->

INDIVIDUAL

->

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High Involvement Management, Well-

being and Performance • High Involvement Management

positively associated with financial performance and productivity

• High Involvement Management is negatively associated with Contentment

• No mediation

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Work Enrichment

Job satisfaction

Performance

High Involvement Management

Financial performance

and productivity

Contentment

+

+

-

+

+

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Work Enrichment , Well-being and Performance

• Work Enrichment good for all outcomes

• Work Enrichment positively related to Job Satisfaction

• Job Satisfaction mediates the relationship between Work Enrichment and Outcomes

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Conclusion: differentiated pattern

• Evidence of direct effects of both High Involvement Management and Work Enrichment but on different Performance Outcomes

• Evidence of mediation by Job Satisfaction in the relationship between Work Enrichment and Performance

• Anxiety-Contentment a separate outcome not a mediator: possible downside of High Involvement Management

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Voice

• Lack of support for any of the theories involving payment systems or shared capitalism

• The insignificance of trade unions, especially given the significance of Consultative Management is also important

• The positive role that Supportive Management and Supportive Management have reinforces the importance of transformational leadership

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High Involvement Management & Well-

being

• High Involvement Management entails pressures to improve employees’ performance, raises concerns amongst them about their competencies and job security

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Contact Details

Professor Stephen WoodInstitute of Work PsychologyUniversity of SheffieldMushroom LaneSheffieldS10 2TNUK

Tel: +44(0)114 222 3230Fax: +44(0)114 272 7206E-mail: s.j.wood@sheffield.ac.uk