The Influence of Perceptions of Fairness on Performance Appraisal Reactions

The success of appraisal systems may well depend on ratees’ perceptions of fairness and reactions to important aspects of the appraisal process. My primary purpose is to integrate the literatures on fairness perceptions and appraisal reactions to test specific, heretofore untested, hypotheses. Consistent with predictions of Sweeney and McFarlin’s (Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 55:23–40, 1993) two-factor model, results of structural equation modeling indicated that distributive justice influenced satisfaction with performance ratings and procedural justice influenced satisfaction with the appraisal system. Results indicated mixed support for Bies and Moag’s (Lewicki, Blair, Bazerman (eds) Research on Negotiation in Organization, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 43–55, 1986) agent-system model as procedural justice (and distributive justice) had more influence on satisfaction with appraisal feedback than components of interactional justice perceptions. The implications of my results are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.     

How pension accrual affects job satisfaction

Using a sample of 429 employees in a large, unionized public utility company in Canada, we examine the incentive effects of a final-earnings pension plan on employees’ job satisfaction. Contrary to rational economic expectations, job satisfaction is found negatively related to expected accruals under the pension plan. Satisfaction was also lower among those who perceived a higher likelihood of being declared redundant, had better nonmarket alternatives, and who viewed conflictual approaches as most effective in resolving prior disputes at work. Conversely, employees who perceived greater support for employer-sponsored training, perceived such training to be effective, and believed cooperative approaches to dispute resolution worked best, were more satisfied. Implications for pension theory, research, and policy are discussed.     

Employee perceptions of the effects of a two-tier wage structure

This exploratory study examines three research questions related to employees’ perceptions concerning the effects and purposes of a permanent two-tier wage structure in their employment setting. Although much of the popular literature on employee dissatisfaction with tiers has focused on low-wage tier employees, the results of this study indicate overall dissatisfaction with the effects of tiers amongboth high- and low-wage tier employees. Financial support for this study was provided by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the Master of Arts in Industrial Relations Program at Wayne State University.     

Predicting the decisions to vote and support unions in certification elections: An integrated perspective

This article develops and empirically tests a model of the dual decision-making process employees undergo to guide their behavior during organizing campaigns and elections. The model combines principles of risk-aversion theory with more traditional views that election decisions stem from cost-benefit analyses of union representation. Previous research lacks this integrated approach to the study of election behavior. Regression analyses on a sample of approximately 16,000 certification elections strongly supported the use of risk-aversion theory to predict employees’ willingness to formally participate in elections. Furthermore, we found that time exhibited a statistically significant, negative relationship with voting participation rates, the percentage of union votes, and union victories. The results also indicated that a saturation effect may exist for delays in the election process. Financial support for this research was provided by the Syracuse University Research Fund. The authors wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions that significantly improved the paper.     

The Provider’s Voice: Patient Satisfaction and the Content-filtered Speech of Nurses and Physicians in Primary Medical Care

Two studies examined vocal affect in medical providers’ and patients’ content-filtered (CF) speech. A digital methodology for content-filtering and a set of reliable global affect rating scales for CF voice were developed. In Study 1, ratings of affect in physicians’ CF voice correlated with patients’ satisfaction, perceptions of choice/control, medication adherence, mental and physical health, and physicians’ satisfaction. In Study 2, ratings of affect in the CF voices of physicians and nurses correlated with their patients’ satisfaction, and the CF voices of nurses and patients reflected their satisfaction. Voice tone ratings of providers and patients were intercorrelated, suggesting reciprocity in their vocal affective communication.     

Performance appraisal for Chinese state-owned banking industry

Abstract

Performance appraisals, which are used to assist individual development and organisational planning, are considered an important part of effective human resource management. Studies of performance appraisal are invariably based on western theories, which can create issues when they are applied in different cultures, with China being identified as one such area. With China's WTO accession and the entry of foreign banks, the Chinese banking sector has become an extremely sensitive area of development for the nation's economy. It is important, therefore, to understand the factors surrounding performance appraisal and what does the process add to the efficiencies in the Chinese state-owned banking industry. This article is based on the data collected from the employees of Chinese state-owned banks from 2005 to 2007. The findings suggest that the employees' perception of justice has a positive relationship to their overall satisfaction with both the performance appraisal process and its outcomes. However, statistically significant differences were found in relation to whether employees had received training in performance appraisal or not.     

The contribution of exclusive representation to union strength

In this paper we show that exclusive representation and other union security agreements contribute substantially to union strength. A regression analysis of the growth of unionism among teachers during the 1970s measures just how potent exclusive representation and dues checkoff agreements are in stimulating union growth in the public sector. Further discussion prompts the conclusion that these powerful measures are especially inappropriate in the public sector, for they excessively coerce employees’ representation and benefit employers, not employees.     

A theory of the organization of state and local government employees

Expansion of public employee labor organizations has brought considerable change in a sector previously considered outside the domain of the trade union movement. A model to explain this phenomenon among state and local government employees is developed and tested using data from the1977 Census of Governments. The percentage of employees organized is determined by a number of factors which affect the costs and benefits of membership and may be influenced by the level of employees’ earnings. Empirical evidence indicates that a higher level of organization is a product of government size, legal provisions, unionization in the private sector, and, in some government functions, the unemployment rate, and level of income.     

Challenges to professionalism and union voting intentions: The case of pharmacists

Using data from a national survey of pharmacists who are members of the American Pharmaceutical Association, we examine the union voting intentions of employee pharmacists. We find that union instrumentality regarding professionalism is a primary predictor of union voting intent among these employees. In addition, this predictor mediates the relationship between the level of professionalism at a pharmacist’s current employment situation and his or her expected union vote. Also important to union voting intent are respondent beliefs about union instrumentality regarding pecuniary issues, prior union experience, as well as overall job satisfaction. Implications for employers, unions, and researchers are drawn. We thank Mary Graham, Jann Skelton, Paul Swiercz, Terry Thomason, and participants at the Seventh Bar-gaining Group Conference at Michigan State University for their comments on earlier versions of this paper. This research was made possible by a grant from the American Pharmaceutical Association.     

Gaming Industry Employees’ Responses to Responsible Gambling Training: A Public Health Imperative

Gaming industry employees work in settings that create personal health risks. They also have direct contact with customers who might engage in multiple risky activities (e.g., drinking, smoking, and gambling) and might need to facilitate help-seeking by patrons or co-workers who experience problems. Consequently, the empirical examination of the processes and procedures designed to prepare employees for such complex situations is a public health imperative. In the current study we describe an evaluation of the Casino, Inc. Play Responsibly responsible gaming program. We surveyed 217 employees prior to and 1 month after (n = 116) they completed a multimedia driven responsible gambling training program. We observed that employees improved their knowledge of responsible gambling concepts from baseline to follow-up. The Play Responsibly program was more successful in providing new knowledge than it was in correcting mistaken beliefs that existed prior to training. We conclude, generally, that Play Responsibly is associated with increases in employees’ responsible gambling knowledge.     

The Gendered Meanings of Assets for Divorce

Scholars identified a negative relationship between assets and divorce decades ago, but the mechanisms behind this relationship remain unknown. Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 4,721 couples), this study compared three mechanisms that might link assets and divorce. Non-proportional Cox hazard models indicated that two of the three mechanisms explained the relationship between assets and divorce. Wives’ marital satisfaction and their perceptions of their hypothetical post-divorce standard of living completely mediated the relationship between assets and divorce. The relationship between assets and divorce was not related to husbands’ characteristics. Portions of this study were presented at the 2005 annual conference of the National Council on Family Relations.     

Drug Use/Abuse and Supermarket Workers' Job Performance

In 34 stores of a supermarket chain 1,414 employees were interviewed on their histories of substance use, and were diagnosed for alcohol and drug abuse. The ratings of their job performance were obtained from their supervisors. Many statistically significant correlations were found between measures and indicators of substance use/abuse and the supervisors' ratings of job performance. Greater use of prescribed stimulant medication and greater coffee consumption were both associated with better rated job performance. In summary, while some of correlations found between the substance use measures/abuse and job performance were highly significant, due to the large sample size, this does not necessarily demonstrate that the relationship is strong enough to have practical implications for the hiring practices of management. Whether the degree of the relationship found was sufficient to warrant preemployment drug testing of supermarket employees, given the cost of testing and the privacy questions, is probably moot. There was evidence that, when they are interviewed at or near their workplace, employees tend to deny recent and current substance use more than they deny past substance use, in spite of the promise of confidentiality and anonymity.     

Interpersonal Affect: Does It Really Bias Performance Appraisals?

Interpersonal affect, a like-dislike relationship between a supervisor and his/her subordinate, has traditionally been conceptualized as a source of bias in performance appraisals. However, some researchers have argued that affect may not be a bias, especially where it develops as a result of past performance. In this field study, using data from 190 supervisors, we further delineate the relationship between affect and performance ratings. Both affect and performance level were found to have significant effects on performance ratings. Results also indicated that raters are able to separate their liking for a subordinate from actual performance when assigning performance ratings, suggesting that affect may not operate as a bias in the appraisal process.     

Organizational Values and Their Relation to Organizational Performance Outcomes

The communication of organizational values and their relation to employee outcomes is evaluated between two departments within a Health Care Organization. Organizational values that are congruent with employees' values have been shown to increase employee satisfaction, commitment, and performance outcomes. This article discusses how values are defined and different ways that values can be communicated to acquire improved organizational outcomes. Past research on values within organizations is reviewed.

Questions from the Organizational Culture Survey and the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire are combined to measure employee satisfaction, morale, and perceived involvement in decision making. The organization provided data on employee absenteeism, turnover, and performance ratings. An analysis of the results indicates employees in departments that have clearly defined and communicated organizational values perceive they are more involved in the organization and more participatory in decision making. Implications of the results for organizations are detailed.     

Manufacturing employees and technological change

Understanding why some workers resist technological change while others accept and facilitate it may be crucial for the survival of manufacturing firms. This study analyzes managers’ perceptions of employees’ reactions to technological changes at 206 Canadian manufacturing plants that made technological changes in their production operations between 1980 and 1988. The results indicate that the presence of a union and a technology clause in the contract significantly increase managers’ perceptions of employee resistance to technological changes. To avoid worker resistance to such changes, the results suggest that management should provide workers with an effective participation in the decision-making process and, if feasible, choose technology that will increase workers’ skill requirements.     

Psychological Contracts and Organizational Identification: The Mediating Effect of Perceived Organizational Support

Understanding the processes through which employees incorporate the organization’s identity into their own identity is critical to building positive employer-employee relationships. We draw primarily on organizational support theory to advance the argument that psychological contract breach is negatively related to organizational identification and positively related to organizational disidentification because it makes employees believe that their organizations do not value their contributions or care about their well-being (reduces perceived organizational support). Results from two studies generally provide support for our hypotheses: in Study 1, perceived organizational support fully mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational identification. In Study 2, Time 2 perceived organizational support fully mediated the relationship between Time 1 relational psychological contract breach (e.g., promises related to training, development, job security) and organizational identification, but not the relationship between transactional psychological contract breach (e.g., promises related to pay and work hours) and organizational identification. Time 2 perceived organizational support partially mediated the relationship between relational psychological contract breach and organizational disidentification, but not the relationship between transactional psychological contract breach and organizational disidentification. We conclude that organizations should be concerned with this erosion of the positive employer-employee relationship (organizational identification) and fostering of a negative employer-employee relationship (disidentification).     

How employee empowerment influences organization–employee relationship in China

The current study examines how employees’ perceptions of empowerment impact the quality of the organization–employee relationship. Based on the on-line survey of 223 employees from a variety of companies in China, both dimensions of employee empowerment—feelings of competence and feelings of control—serve as positive predictors for organization–employee relationship. However, employees’ feelings of control wield more weight in the prediction than do feelings of competence.     

Exclusive representation in public employment: A public choice perspective

Public sector unionization has grown rapidly in recent years, and research has suggested that among the reasons for such growth is legislation granting special privileges to public employee unions. This paper examines one form of legislative privilege, exclusive representation, from a public choice perspective. It is shown that exclusivity reduces employees’ freedom of choice, increases the welfare of union leaders at the expense of union members, limits employment opportunities to “outsiders,” entrenches the monopoly provision of public services, and generates conflict and instability in labor relations.     

Internal Communication,Information Satisfaction,and Sense of Community: The Effect of Personal Influence

This study examined how employees of a multi-campus university view information flow from top administrators in positions of personal influence, employees' communication preferences (amount, channels, types of information), their sense of community within the organization, and the relationship between those perceptions and their willingness to advocate for the university. Open-ended interviews with 147 employees found the personal influence of the chancellor and top administrators has an effect on information satisfaction. Employees who have a relationship with the chancellor are more satisfied with the information they receive and feel a greater responsibility to advocate for the organization. Even the perception of a relationship with top administrators leads to satisfaction. The direction dimension of internal communication, as well as the channel dimension is important. Although e-mail is efficient for information exchange, the preference for communication among all groups of employees is face-to-face, interpersonal, dialogic interactions. Meetings, despite being acknowledged as time-consuming, were valued as a channel for feedback and providing face time with top managers. Electronic channels, if used thoughtfully, can flatten the traditional, hierarchical structure of internal communication and give employees at all levels of the organization the sense of hearing things first-hand, from the top.