Employee reactions to human resource management and performance in a developing country. Evidence from Eritrea
| Published date | 14 August 2007 |
| Pages | 722-738 |
| Date | 14 August 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480710774016 |
| Author | Fitsum Ghebregiorgis,Luchien Karsten |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Employee reactions to human
resource management and
performance in a developing
country
Evidence from Eritrea
Fitsum Ghebregiorgis
University of Asmara, Faculty of Business and Economics, Asmara,
Eritrea, and
Luchien Karsten
Foundations of Management, State University of Groningen,
Faculty of Organisation and Management, Groningen, The Netherlands
Abstract
Purpose – This paper seeks to examine employee reactions to human resource management (HRM)
and performance. It placed employees on a centre stage in analysing HRM to provide theoretical
insights.
Design/methodology/approach – To explore the theme, a survey of 252 employees drawn from
eight organisations was conducted. Furthermore, on-site interviews were carried out with managers,
thereby contributing to the generalisability of the findings.
Findings – The findings from the study indicate a positive attitude of employees to HRM practices,
such as promotion from within, staffing, equal employment opportunity, quality of training,
reasonable compensation and paid vacation and sick days. Moreover, the evidence also shows that
productivity has been increasing while employee turnover, absenteeism, and grievances are low.
However, the evidence also reveals that training was not integrated in a planned way to employee
career development.
Research limitations/implications – The present study adds to a growing literature that helps
the understanding of HRM policies and practices in a developing country context. Future research
would benefit from additional research in this area in other geographical settings to better understand
the generalisability of the findings reported.
Originality/value – In contrast with previous research, which has predominantly been conducted
from a managerial perspective, this article deals with employee perceptions. This emphasises the
importance of exploring employee reactions towards HRM practices, policies and other aspects of firm
life.
Keywords Employee attitudes,Human resource management,Developing countries, Eritrea,
Performancemanagement
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
So far, studies on HRM in general, and on the link between HRM and organisational
performance in particular neglect the reaction of workers to HRM (Guest, 20 02). Some
studies address the issue of employee attitudes to aspects of HRM. Nevertheless, little
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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PR
36,5
722
Received December 2004
Revised March 2006
Accepted October 2006
Personnel Review
Vol. 36 No. 5, 2007
pp. 722-738
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/00483480710774016
is known about the impact of HRM on employee attitudes, behaviours and well-being
and what employees actually think and how they react to the practices of HRM (Deery,
2002; Grant and Shields, 2002; Harley, 2002). Since employees are the essence of the
organisation and the most important assets, their attitude and behaviour in the study
of HRM assumes a central place. Guest argues:
[...] the view that people are an organisation’s most important assets and that their effective
development and deployment offers a distinctive and non-imitable competitive advantage,
has spurred interest in the effective management of human resources (Guest, 2002, p. 335).
How HRM policies and practices are carried out in a given organisation(s), can be more
highlighted by exploring how workers respond to it [HRM]. We argue so, because thus
far studies of HRM placed managers and human resource practices such as high
performance centre-stage, and we believe that it is possible that there may be a
common managerial bias towards how these practices are carried out. The option of
exploring the experience of HRM systems from the point of view of employees on the
receiving end seems to provide broader way of evaluating HRM (Gibb, 2001). The
rationale for this is a dual one; on the one hand it helps analysing the contribution of
HRM to overall firm performance (Woods, 1999); and on the other hand it sheds
another light on evaluation of HRM practices as experienced by employees (Gibb,
2001). Some scholars further suggest that:
[...] the employee attitude survey is an invaluable tool in the analysis of HRM problems, and
when used properly provides a wealth of useful information to improve HRM (Roberts, 1998,
p. 447).
Employee attitudes are important because they are associated with vital human
resource processes. For instance, employee job satisfaction influences employe e
absenteeism and turnover (Rainey, 1991), and the degree of employee motivation
affects employee work efforts and productivity (Lawler, 1994).
Budhwar and Debrah (2004), describe that in recent years there has been a
remarkable development in HRM throughout the world, however, the majority of the
research has focused on HRM in advanced industrial countries. The authors further
argue that although plenty of information is available regarding HRM in the developed
countries, little has been written about HRM in developing nations. That is, there is a
lack of information regarding the dynamics of HRM in developing countries. Relatively
little is written about the unique human and organisational problems of firms in
developing countries (Kanungo and Jaeger, 1990). Kiggundu (1989) noted that the
nature and size of firms also contributed to the general lack of attention to HRM
function in most firms in developing countries. This suggests the need for more
empirical research in developing countries. While we know that the literature about
HRM in developing countries in general, and Africa in particular, is growing, it is
primarily from the views of managers and human resource professionals. One main
aspect that has been missing in these developments is the view of the workforce. There
is not much research on the reaction of employees to HRM and performance in Africa
in general, and in Eritrea, in particular. The Eritrean environment is a much
under-researched region. Generally, there is a very considerable lack of literature
regarding HRM in Eritrea, which necessitates for original research to be developed.
Data on employees’ views of HRM and performance in this sense, is underdeveloped.
Therefore, we intend to present fresh evidence from a fresh international angle to fill
Employee
reactions
to HRM
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