High-performance work systems and employee outcomes in Indian call centres: a mediation approach

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/PR-09-2016-0239
Date04 June 2018
Published date04 June 2018
Pages931-950
AuthorSubramaniam Ananthram,Matthew J. Xerri,Stephen T.T. Teo,Julia Connell
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM
High-performance work systems
and employee outcomes in Indian
call centres: a mediation approach
Subramaniam Ananthram
Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Matthew J. Xerri
Department of Employment Relations and Human Resources, Griffith University,
Gold Coast, Australia
Stephen T.T. Teo
School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia, and
Julia Connell
Graduate Research School, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationships between high-performance
work systems (HPWSs) and four employee outcomes job satisfaction, employee engagement, presenteeism
and well-being in Indian call centres.
Design/methodology/approach A path model is developed to investigate the direct and mediation
effects between the assessed variables. The study utilised a survey of 250 call centre employees working in
five business process management firms based in India.
Findings The findings indicate that HPWSs have a positive relationship with job satisfaction, engagement
and well-being. Job satisfaction also had a positive relationship with engagement and presenteeism, and
engagement was positively related to presenteeism and well-being. However, there was no significant direct
effect of HPWS on presenteeism. Mediation analysis showed that HPWS has an indirect effect on well-being
via engagement and also via job satisfaction and engagement combined.
Research limitations/implications HPWS significantly increases job satisfaction and employee
engagement and indirectly influences employee well-being via these outcomes. However, job satisfaction and
employee engagement was also found to increase presenteeism, which, in turn, can reduce employee
well-being. These findings contribute to the HPWS theory and the literature on employee well-being, and have
implications for HR personnel and call centre management.
Originality/value Given the well-established challenges with employee retention in Indian call centre
environments, one solution may be the adoption of a more strategic approach to HRM using HPWS. Such an
approach may enhance employeesperceptions that HPWS practices would have a positive influence on job
satisfaction, employee engagement and employee well-being.
Keywords India, Well-being, Quantitative, Engagement, High-performance work systems (HPWS),
Presenteeism, Call centres
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
It is well established that call centres in the Indian business process management (BPM)
sector generally operate under formal, structured and rationalised human resource
management (HRM) systems (Ananthram et al., 2017; Budhwar et al., 2006) despite several
weaknesses in those systems (DCruz and Noronha, 2012). Raman et al. (2007) noted in a
sample of Indianknowledge process outsourcingfirms that the human resource(HR) function
tends to perform a strategic role in relation to employee involvement and commitment work
practices. Common HR measures used in BPM firms include: structured recruitment and
selection practices; formal performance appraisals and associated compensation systems; as
well as specialised needs-based training (Budhwar et al., 2006, p. 355), which were similar to
Personnel Review
Vol. 47 No. 4, 2018
pp. 931-950
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-09-2016-0239
Received 14 September 2016
Revised 4 April 2017
24 May 2017
3 August 2017
1 December 2017
17 January 2018
Accepted 10 February 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
931
HPWS and
employee
outcomes
the HR practices found in other industry sectors (Budhwar et al., 2006). The similarity with
other industry sectors provides impetus for the suitability of BPM as a context for adding to
the theory of high-performance work system (HPWS).
Within the BPM sector, Indian call centres characterised by the provision of low-cost
services are an important industry to examine (Russell, 2008) to further the understanding
of the applicability of HR practices in such environments and thereby provide the relevant
context for our study. Compared with Western call centres, Indian call centre employees are
expected to follow more scripted conversations and are exposed to greater levels of work
simplification. Moreover, despite being exposed to Western influences, Indian organisations
do not function in the same way as organisations in the West, given that the Indian ethos
continues to prevail, with Indian workplaces reflecting a confluence between Indian culture
and western industrialism(DCruz and Noronha, 2012, p. 188). The authors specifically
refer to issues relating to high power distance and control in relation to the Indian workplace
culture which impact employee outcomes. These issues as well as the high levels of
absenteeism and attrition experienced in Indian call centres (Thite and Russell, 2010) inform
this study to develop an approach with an HPWS foundation that may help to improve
employee outcomes (Fan et al., 2014). Thus, employee-related issues confronting Indian call
centres provides impetus for a better understanding of work systems and their influence
on employees.
Van De Voorde and Beijer (2015, p. 62) acknowledged that although research has shown
that the use of high-performance work systems (HPWS) is associated with employee
outcomes, our knowledge of the meanings employees attach to HPWS systems and how
these shape employee outcomes is still limited. Fan et al. (2014, p. 934) contended that
the majority of past research argues for a positive association between HPWS and employee
outcomes, suggesting such practices benefit employees through higher skills, more
meaningful work, better income, greater task discretion, improved communication
channels, more secure jobs and more family-friendly measures. The HPWS described by
Fan et al. have been found to result in more satisfied employees (Holman, 2002), who are
engaged (Lee et al., 2012), and more likely to have a positive perception of well-being
(Wood and de Menezes, 2011). Fan et al. (2014) also indicated that limited research has
examined constructs that intervene or interact with the relationship between HPWS and
employee well-being.
We conceptualise HPWS similarly to Fan et al. (2014), proposing that such practices may
result in positive outcomes for employees and their employing organisations. However, we
add to the positive model proposed by Fan et al. (2014). Specifically, we contribute to the
theory of HPWS by suggesting that the context of Indian call centres, characterised by low
flexibility, low autonomy, long work hours, pressurised environments and unprecedented
job insecurity, is likely to create an environment that also increases employee perceptions of
pressure to come to work even when unwell (i.e. presenteeism). Such a proposition fits with
the potential dark side of a highly engaged workforce, wherein highly engaged employees
may burnout over time if their expectations are not met (Maslach, 2011; Bakker et al., 2011).
Schaufeli and Salanova (2011) suggest when there is an imbalance between employee effort
(i.e. engagement) and their expectations of the employers, the result in the long-term is likely
to be employee burnout. In the short-term, as proposed by Bakker et al. (2011), we suggest
that engaged employees will seek to manage their job demands and resources, as one
approach to conserve resources in a constrained environment. As a result, engagement
within a pressurised workplace may lead to employees feeling that they should be at work
when unwell, so to be able to achieve their work goals.
While a plethora of studies have examined the impact of HPWS in call centres on
work-related employee outcomes in Western economies (Batt, 2002; Hutchinson et al., 2000;
Holman, 2002), few to date (Thite and Russell, 2010) appear to associate HPWS with
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