A model of high performance work practices and turnover intentions
| Date | 21 December 2007 |
| Published date | 21 December 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480810839950 |
| Pages | 26-46 |
| Author | Roberto Luna‐Arocas,Joaquín Camps |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
A model of high performance
work practices and turnover
intentions
Roberto Luna-Arocas and Joaquı
´n Camps
University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to clarify the relationship between human resource practices and staff
retention by selecting three high performance work practices (precursors) and one outcome variable
(turnover intentions), and trying to demonstrate the mediator role of employee commitment and job
satisfaction in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model has been analyzed with a sample of 198
employees and a structural equation modeling methodology.
Findings – Salary strategies and job enrichment strategies were positively related to job satisfaction.
Job enrichment strategies and job stability strategies were positively related to employee commitment.
Employee commitment was negatively related to turnover intentions. The relationship between job
satisfaction and turnover intentions was mediated by employee commitment
Research limitations/implications – One limitation of the findings is the use of self-report
questionnaires to collect data on all measures. Another potential limitation concerns the measurement
of some latent factors with only two observable variables.
Practical implications – Turnover continues to be a serious problem for businesses. The proposed
model suggests the use of specific practices that develop satisfaction and commitment as an
intermediate step to low turnover intentions.
Originality/value – A sample of 198 workers was used as the source of information. This
information offers clear advantages over the more widely used samples from managerial directors or
statistical data gathered in human resource practices, as in this case. The perceptions of those people
on whom these measures are directly carried out are readily accessible.
Keywords Performance management, Employee turnover, Job satisfaction,
Human resource management, Organizationaleffectiveness
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In recent decades, academic literature has argued that the human resources (HR) of the
firm are potentially the sole source of sustainable competitive advantage for
organizations (Kochan and Dyer, 1993; Pfeffer, 1994). These works have drawn on the
resource-based view of the firm and have argued that few of the more traditional
sources of sustainable competitive advantage create value in a manner that is rare,
non-imitable, and non-substituable (Ferris et al., 1999). The strategy literature has
emphasized the existence of a wide gap betwee n strategic formulation and
implementation (Hamel and Prahalad, 1994). Following the resource-based view of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
This research is part of a Research and Development Project granted by the Spanish Ministry of
Science and Education: SEJ2005-04553.
PR
37,1
26
Received 9 November 2005
Revised 10 January 2007
Accepted 17 January 2007
Personnel Review
Vol. 37 No. 1, 2008
pp. 26-46
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/00483480810839950
the firm theory it has been argued that more attention must be paid to the resources
required to execute strategies (Barney, 1991; Teece et al., 1997). One such key resource
is the human capital of an organization – its workforce. Following Lee and Miller
(1999), a dedicated and talented workforce may serve as a valuable, scarce, nonimitable
resource that can help firms execute an appropriate positioning strategy.
The emergence of the subfield of strategic human resource management (SHRM),
focused on exploring HR’s role in supporting business strategy, developed a new
context for the study of the human factor in the organizations. Studies suggest that HR
practices affect organizational outcomes by shaping employee behaviors and attitudes
(Huselid, 1995). More specifically, high performance work practices (HPWP) increase
organizational effectiveness by creating conditions where employees become highly
involved in the organization and work hard to accomplish its goals, in other words, by
increasing their employees’ commitment to the organization and job satisfaction
(Eisenberger et al., 1997). The strategic relevance of HPWP is well understood within
the context of a theoretical framework such as the AMO model. The initials AMO refer
to ‘ability-motivation-opportunity’ (Bailey, 1993; Appelbaum et al., 2000; Boselie et al.,
2005). Under the AMO model, HR practices are expected to influence business
performance via the workforce’s ability (e.g. using selective hiring, training),
motivation (e.g. using pay for performance), and opportunity to contribute (e.g. using
teams and suggestion systems) (Gerhart, 2005).
Organizational HR practices have received increased attention of late for their
effects on an important outcome variable, turnover. Staff retention has become the
leading challenge facing many human resources departments. Extensive empirical
research has been carried out on the linking of HR practices and employee turnover,
especially at the organizational level (Shaw et al., 1998; Delery et al., 2000). Boselie et al.
(2005) were able to identify 27 empirical articles on HR and turnover in the time period
1994-2003. Retaining staff is usually a far better investment than the cost of recruiting
replacements (Mitchell et al., 2001; Farrel, 2001). For example, turnover rate moderates
the curvilinear relationship between social capital losses and performance (Shaw et al.,
2005). However, little explanation has been offered for how HR practices influence
individual turnover decisions (Guest, 1999; Allen et al., 2003). In Wright and Boswell’ s
(2002) typology of HR research, our work would be situated within the bounds of the
lower left quadrant (Figure 1), i.e. the quadrant that focuses on research exploring
multiple practices at the individual level of analysis. This research is specifically in line
with articles that focus on how the system of HR practices influences individu al
perceptions of the psychological contract (e.g. Rousseau and Greller, 1994). Since the
Wright and Boswell study (2002), our individual perspective of analysis has been
poorly treated in the HR literature.
The role of commitment and satisfaction as mediators between HPWP and turnover
has been studied (Rhoades et al., 2001; Whitener, 2001; Allen et al., 2003), but
contradictory results have been obtained on the association between these var iables,
mainly because of the different sets of HR practices that have been considered. For
example, Whitner (2001) and Allen et al. (2003) showed the direct relationship between
perceptions of organizational support and employee commitment. But in the Whitener
study, HR practices are considered as a moderator variable, while in the Allen et al.
study these practices are deemed predictor variables.
High
performance
work practices
27
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