Human resource practices of contractors that lead to job satisfaction of professional staff

Emerald - Tập 19 Số 1 - Trang 101-118 - 2012
Lewis J.W.Lim1, Florence Y.Y.Ling1
1Department of Building, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Tóm tắt

PurposeThe aim of this research is to investigate the effect of contractors' human resource (HR) practices on job satisfaction of their professional staff. The specific objectives are to: determine the effectiveness of contractors' HR practices; find out the level of job satisfaction that professional staff who work for contractors have; and study the relationship between HR practices and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThe research method was based on survey and a structured questionnaire, which was specially designed for the study, was the data collection instrument. Data were collected via e‐mail surveys and face to face interviews. The sampling frame comprised randomly chosen professionals who work for building contractors in Singapore.FindingsResults showed that contractors' professionals are significantly satisfied with many of their firms' HR practices. The study found that these professionals have significant job satisfaction in terms of career opportunities, nature of their jobs and overall working environment. The results also show that many of the HR practices are significantly correlated with job satisfaction.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of the research is the relatively small sample size and low response rate. In addition, respondents' indication of their satisfaction level is contextualized to professional staff working in Singapore in a specific market condition, thereby limiting generalization of the results. The implication is that the findings would be more relevant to construction firms in Singapore at the time when the industry is just emerging from a recession.Practical implicationsIt is recommended that contractors make an effort to understand what their professional staff want in HRM so as to efficiently channel their resources to create job satisfaction through appropriate HR practices. The study uncovered HR practices that employees are unsatisfied with. These include dissatisfaction with quantum of rewards, and firms' methods of dealing with employees' feedback and resolving conflicts. The practical implication of the findings is that contractors should improve on these practices so that their employees would not be more dissatisfied.Originality/valueThe originality of the study is that some HR practices that lead to job satisfaction of construction companies' professionals have been uncovered. The results could inform construction firms on what HR practices they may adopt to engender higher job satisfaction among their professional employees.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Agapiou, A. (2002), “Perceptions of gender roles and attitudes toward work among male and female operatives in the Scottish construction industry”, Construction Management and Economics, Vol. 20 No. 8, pp. 697‐705.

Arthur, J.B. (1994), “Effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turnover”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 670‐87.

Bartel, A.P. (1992), “Training, wage growth and job performance: evidence from a company database”, NBER Working Paper Series 4027, NBER, Cambridge, MA.

Beauregard, T.A. and Henry, L.C. (2009), “Making the link between work‐life balance practices and organizational performance”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 9‐22.

Bedeian, A.G., Ferris, G.R. and Kacmar, K.M. (1992), “Age, tenure, and job satisfaction: a tale of two perspectives”, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 40 No. 1, pp. 33‐48.

Bloom, N., Dorgan, S., Dowdy, J., Van Reenen, J. and Rippin, T. (2005), “Management practices across firms and nations”, available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/4669/1/Management_Practices_Across_Firms_and_Nations.pdf (accessed January 4, 2011).

Bunning, R.L. (2004), “Pay in the organic organisation”, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 23 No. 7, pp. 648‐63.

Chen, G. and Klimoski, R.J. (2007), “Training and development of human resources at work: is the state of our science strong?”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 180‐90.

Clausen, T.S., Jones, K.T. and Rich, J.S. (2008), “Appraising employee performance evaluation systems”, The CPA Journal, Vol. 78 No. 2, pp. 64‐7.

Cleveland, J.N., Murphy, K.R. and Williams, R.E. (1989), “Multiple uses of performance appraisal: prevalence and correlates”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 74 No. 1, pp. 130‐5.

DeVries, D.L., Morrison, A.M., Shullman, S.L. and Gerlach, M.L. (1981), Performance Appraisal on the Line, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC.

Druker, J. and White, G. (1997), “Constructing a new reward strategy: reward management in the British construction industry”, Employee Relations, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 128‐46.

DuBrin, A.J. and Ireland, R.D. (1993), Management and Organization, College Division, South Western.

Dulebohn, J.H. and Werling, S.E. (2007), “Compensation research past, present and future”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 191‐207.

Dulebohn, J.H., Ferris, G.R. and Stodd, J.T. (1995), “The history and evolution of human resource management”, in Ferris, G.R., Barnum, D.T. and Rosen, S.D. (Eds), Handbook of Human Resource Management, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 18‐41.

Erdogan, B. (2002), “Antecedents and consequences of justice perceptions in performance appraisal”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 555‐78.

Estes, S.B. and Michael, J. (2009), “Work‐family policies and gender inequality at work: a Sloan Work and Family Encyclopedia entry”, available at: http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/encyclopedia_entry.php?id=1230&area=All (accessed December 10, 2009).

Goldstein, I.L. (1991), “Training in work organizations”, in Dunnette, M.D. and Hough, L.M. (Eds), Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 2, Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA, pp. 507‐620.

Greller, M.M. (2003), “Managing feedback systems to facilitate change in acquisitions: the introduction of a model and explanation of its application”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 647‐73.

Guest, D., Conway, N. and Dewe, P. (2004), “Using sequential tree analysis to search for ‘bundles’ of HR practices”, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 79‐96.

Hansen, C.D. and Kahnweiler, W.M. (1995), “Organizational tension and occupational scripts: stories from HR professionals and top executives”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 25‐51.

Hurwich, M.R. (1986), “Strategic compensation designs that link pay to performance”, The Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 79‐83.

Ichniowski, C. and Shaw, K. (1999), “The effects of human resource management systems on economic performance: an international comparison of US and Japanese plants”, Management Science, Vol. 45 No. 5, pp. 704‐21.

Ilgen, D.R. and Pulakos, E.D. (1999), “Introduction: employee performance in today's organization”, in Ilgen, D.R. and Pulakos, E.D. (Eds), The Changing Nature of Performance: Implications for Staffing, Motivation, and Development, Jossey‐Bass, San Francisco, CA, pp. 1‐18.

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (2009), Infocomm Usage‐Households & Individuals, S'pore: IDA, Singapore, available at: www.ida.gov.sg/Publications/20070822125451.aspx#usageHse2 (accessed January 20, 2009).

Lawler, E.E. (1990), Strategic Pay, Jossey‐Bass, San Francisco, CA.

Locke, E.A. (1969), “What is job satisfaction?”, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, Vol. 4, pp. 309‐36.

Lockyer, C. and Scholarios, D. (2007), “The ‘rain dance’ of selection in construction: rationality as ritual and the logic of informality”, Personnel Review, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 528‐48.

London, M. and Smither, J.W. (2002), “Feedback orientation, feedback culture, and the longitudinal performance management process”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 81‐100.

Loosemore, M., Dainty, A. and Lingard, H. (2003), Human Resource Management in Construction Projects: Strategic and Operational Approaches, Spon Press, London.

McDaniel, M.A., Schmidt, F.L. and Hunter, J.E. (1988), “Job experience correlates of job performance”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 73, pp. 327‐30.

Macduffie, J.P. (1995), “Human resource bundles and manufacturing performance: organizational logic and flexible production systems in the world auto industry”, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 48 No. 2, pp. 197‐221.

Malhotra, N., Budhwar, P. and Prowse, P. (2007), “Linking rewards to commitment: an empirical investigation of four UK call centres”, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 18 No. 12, pp. 2095‐128.

Martell, K. and Carroll, S.J. (1995), “How strategic is HRM?”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 253‐67.

Napier, B.J. and Ferris, G.R. (1993), “Distance in organizations”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 3 No. 4, pp. 321‐57.

Ordanini, A. and Silvestri, G. (2008), “Recruitment and selection services: efficiency and competitive reasons in the outsourcing of HR practices”, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 372‐91.

Ott, R.L. and Longnecker, M. (2001), An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Data Analysis, Duxbury, Pacific Grove, CA.

Patel, P.C. and Cardon, M.S. (2010), “Adopting HRM practices and their effectiveness in small firms facing product‐market competition”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 265‐75.

Patrick, J. (2000), “Training”, in Chmiel, N. (Ed.), Introduction to Work and Organizational Psychology, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 100‐25.

Scott‐Ladd, B., Travaglione, A. and Marshall, V. (2006), “Casual inferences between participation in decision making, task attributes, work effort, rewards, job satisfaction and commitment”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 27 No. 5, pp. 399‐414.

Smith, A. and Smith, E. (2007), “The role of training in the development of human resource management in Australian organisations”, Human Resource Development International, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 263‐79.

Tan, C.H. and Torrington, D. (2004), Human Resource Management in Asia, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall, Singapore.

Wang, Y. (2004), “Observations on the organizational commitment of Chinese employees: comparative studies of state‐owned enterprises and foreign‐invested enterprises”, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 15 Nos 4/5, pp. 649‐64.

Weiss, H.M. (2002), “Deconstructing job satisfaction: separating evaluations, beliefs and affective experiences”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 173‐94.

Werner, S. and Ward, S.G. (2004), “Recent compensation research: an electric review”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 201‐27.

Wiese, D.S. and Buckley, M.R. (1998), “The evolution of the performance appraisal process”, Journal of Management History, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 233‐49.

Wood, S. and Manwaring, T. (1984), “Recruitment and recession”, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 11 No. 7, pp. 49‐63.

Wright, B.E. and Davis, B.S. (2003), “Job satisfaction in the public sector”, The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 70‐90.

Yamnill, S. and McLean, G.N. (2001), “Theories supporting transfer of training”, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 195‐208.

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Emerald

Tập 19 Số 1

101-118

Thông tin tác giả