Human ressource management strategies and the impact on employee wellbeing in Danish firms
Paper presentation on NWLC 12. june,
Stream 22: Nordic management and organization
now and in the future.
Kjeld Nielsen and co-author Peter Nielsen
Aalborg University, Department of Sociology and Soclal work,
LEO-group
Core areas (Questions and discussion)
1. How does management strategies impact on well-being of employees?
2. This paper differentiates between control and commitment strategies and
uses data from Meadow project (1) to check their impact on employee
well-being.
3. In its discussion sections, the paper suggests a less clearcut distinction
between control and commitment.
Why?
• HRM litterature general distinction between ”hard” and ”soft” HRM to
meet the goals.
• Control by quantative and qualitative goals (1/3 and nearly ½ of
employees; Meadow employee survey)
• But, what does “control” mean for well-being, when employees (92%)
cannot reach to do their jobs (cf. Meadow employee survey)?
• HRM between control and ”consent” or commitment form from labour
(Legge 1995,Hyman 1987, Guest 1987)
• Control- and commitment strategies:
• Case study from a danish industrial organisation: Machine industry
1987/88 -> ideal types
HRM strategies and well-being?
From industrial to knowledge society
Control strategy
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Rigid jobs
Low skilled labour force
Technical-economic management
style
Adapted learning
Individuel work orientation
Numerical flexibility
Cost on peripheral labour force
Labour force performed wage
labour role and submit the
authority on work place
”Industrial worker”
Low well-being?
Commitment strategy
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Flexible jobs
High skilled labour force
Motivated management style
Developed oriented learning
Group work orientation
Functionel flexibility
Investment in core labour force
Labour force involved and engaged
in their job and organisation by
using potential skills and
knowledge
”Knowledge worker”
High well-being?
HRM - strategies impact on well-being
So, HR-strategies maybe have different impact on industrial and knowledge workers` wellbeing.
What does the litterature say about HRM strategies and well-being?
1. Employees should have discretion and responsibility to do the work, for instance
influence, participation and involvement in planning the daily work processes or in
changing radically the work (Kern & Schuman 1984, Banke & Clematide 1989, Karasek
1990, Ellström 1994, Legge 1995, Bergman 1995, Nielsen & Pedersen 2014)
2. Control of knowledge worker from industrial society to the knowledge society (Nielsen
m. fl. 2008). Paradoxically, the control and measurements of performance is still
increasing, in spite of the labour force, in the knowledge society represents a huge
degree of “tacit knowledge”. But labour force involves and finds meaning in doing work
by using their knowledge and skills in extreme, strained labour processes (Olsén
2008:47f). Maybe, employees find still well-being in doing work that demand
(potential) knowledge and skills of the individual labour force (Karasek 1999).
3. Generally, Warr (2013) conceptualizes that well-being means an emotional condition of
the individual i.e. affects or experiences that are “primitive, universal and simple,
irreducible on the mental plane” (affective well-being).
Commitment strategy: Conceptions, measurements and result
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Commitment (investment, functionel flexibility, involvement, discretion and trust)
Commitment included both individual identify to execute a job and emotionally identify
the values and goals of the company (Guest, 1987)
Commitment strategy is measured by discretion in working processes (job
commitment)
That means that management allocate responsibility and competence to the employees
through
-Planning, execution and evaluate and correct the tasks within the working process
-Involvement directly or indirectly in decisions within some areas as change of work
organization or skills and competence.
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To measure commitment strategy by discretion, four items has been used:
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In which degree of your working time can you choice or change:
a. Working tasks?
b. Working intensity?
c. Order of the tasks you execute?
d. How you execute your job?
Commitment strategy and well-being (result)
• Positive significant connections between discretion
in work and high well-being i.e. (working tasks
(gamma.190), working intensity (gamma .287), order
of the tasks (gamma .176), job execution (gamma
.150).
Control strategy: Conceptions, measurements and result
Control strategy (Cost, numerical flexibility, individual jobcontrol, non- social relations, but
accept authority on work place)
Measurements
• The control strategy is measured on both quantitative and qualitative dimensions:
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To measure control strategy, three items has been used
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Do you in your work find goal that are related to
a.
Quantity of the produced or delivered items?
b.
Quality for instance rejection or satisfaction of the customer?
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3.
How often do you work actually with rigid deadlines and how do you compare
deadlines to 2009?
Are you unable to meet these goals?
Summery results: Control strategy and Well-being
• Quantative control increases the possibility for low
well-being.
• Qualitative control increases the possibility for
median well-being.
• Well strong connection between unable to meet the
goals and low well-being
• Strong connection between rigid deadlines and low
well-being.
The future: More control through commitment
strategy?
More control:
1. Furthermore, managers find that surveillance of firms´ production and service delivering has
been increased since 2009 – 2012 from 89% to 93% (Meadow, Employer Survey 2012).
2. From 2009 – 2012, 92 % of the employees experience that they encounter more difficulties in
meeting job goals. (Meadow, Employee Survey 2012).
High degree of commitment:
Meadow Employer Survey confirm a high degree of employee involvement in decisions on work
organisation (planning and execution (61%) og quality of control (65%: Employees job/73%:
managers jobs))
So,
The analytic distintion between commitment- og controlstrategy being blurred.
Issues: do these forms for commitment strategy (individual control) reduce well-being among
employees? What means increased individual control through commitment strategies for the
impact on well-being of employees?
Why?
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From fordistic to post-fordistisk production (more skills, more motivation
and more flexible jobs,-> more control through employee skills and
motivation?)
• More high skilled labour force on labour marked expects increased
demand to do their job career and organisation
Danish firms: Voluntaristic decisions in HRM practice based on actors “free
will” in working life may promote well-being among the employees.
– Pragmatic and strategic oriented decisions in HRM practice.
• Do strategic management on HRM practice mean more detailed control
(MBO) and reduced well-being?
• or can HR actors ”free will” be maintained in HRM pratice and shape
increased well-being?