The threshold effect of commitment-oriented HRM practices on employee job performance: the role of employee age
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-11-2020-0516 |
| Published date | 17 May 2022 |
| Date | 17 May 2022 |
| Pages | 1372-1392 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Mingchuan Yu,Qianying Jiao,Greg G. Wang,Yuan Liu |
The threshold effect of
commitment-oriented HRM
practices on employee job
performance: the role of
employee age
Mingchuan Yu and Qianying Jiao
Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
Greg G. Wang
The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, Texas, USA, and
Yuan Liu
Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance, Shanghai, China
Abstract
Purpose –To reconcile the mixed findings on commitment-oriented human resource management (HRM) on
employee job performance, this study tests whether commitment-oriented HRM has a threshold effect on
employee job performance and when this threshold effect matters. The authors further tested the role of
employees’age in the relationships.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors conducted a survey and collected data from 601 employees
in 32 firms in China, and used a multilevel approach to test the hypothesis.
Findings –The results showed that the association between commitment-oriented HRM and employee job
performancewas J-shaped, meaning that commitment-orientedHRM was positively related to jobperformance
whenthe degree of commitment-orientedHRM exceededa threshold. Moreover,the authors found that employee
age moderated this J-shape relationship. Specifically, the curvilinear relationship between development
commitment-orientedHRM and job performance wasstronger in younger employees.Contrary to our prediction,
the results showed that younger employees reacted more strongly to improve job performance than older
employees whenmaintenance commitment-orientedHRM exceeded a moderate degree.
Originality/value –The findings on the J-shape effect and moderating role of employee age on the J-shape
provided critical insights into understanding the mixed results of the effect of HRM. Additionally, this study
provided new insight in the linkage between HRM practices and employee outcomes.
Keywords Commitment-oriented HRM, Job performance, Employee age, Threshold effect, Development
commitment-oriented HRM, Maintenance commitment-oriented HRM
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In recent years, the strategic human resource management (SHRM) literature has been
focused on the effect of HRM bundles on employee and organizational performance (Boselie
et al., 2005;Bou-Llusar et al., 2016;Chadwick et al., 2015;Combs et al., 2006;Hauff et al., 2014;
Zhou et al., 2013). Among the studies, commitment-oriented HRM practices (ComHRM) as one
of the bundles, such as selection and recruitment, extensive training, performance appraisal,
high remuneration, participation in management, etc. has received increasing scholarly
attention (Xiao and Bj€
orkman, 2006). These practices are linked to driving organizational
ER
44,6
1372
The author is grateful for the contributions of the guest editors and anonymous reviewers for their
suggestions on revising this manuscript. This study is supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (Grant No. 71802134) and National Social Science Foundation (17ZDA057)
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 30 November 2020
Revised 27 June 2021
29 January 2022
29 April 2022
Accepted 29 April 2022
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 44 No. 6, 2022
pp. 1372-1392
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-11-2020-0516
performance through improving employee outcomes (e.g. Boon and Kalshoven, 2014;Koster,
2011;Veth et al., 2019;Whitener, 2001).
However, existing literature has reported inconsistent findings on the association between
ComHRM and employee outcomes. For example, some found a weak or moderate positive
relationship between ComHRM and employee outcomes (e.g. affective commitment, Boon and
Kalshoven, 2014;Koster, 2011;Whitener, 2001;Kehoe and Wright, 2013), others reported that
ComHRM practices were unrelated to employee outcomes (e.g. affective commitment, Renee
Baptiste, 2008;Snape and Redman, 2010;Kooij and Boon, 2018). A plausible explanation for
the inconsistent findings may be that the relationship between commitment-oriented HRM
and employee outcomes is more complex than a simple linear one.
According to the cognitive theory of emotion (Schachter and Singer, 1962;Simonov, 1970,
2013), low or weak stimulations and signals may not activate the individual to arouse
subsequent emotions. Bundles of HRM practices are stimuli and signals perceived by
employees (Townsend et al., 2012;Haggerty and Wright, 2009;Kehoe and Wright, 2013;Boon
and Kalshoven, 2014). Thus, low degree of ComHRM may not be sufficient enough to serve as
strong cues or signals of an organization’s commitment and expectations to employees,
inhibiting the activation and arousal of physical and psychological reactions. Based on this
theoretical rationale, we propose a threshold hypothesis such that ComHRM and employee
job performance has a J-shaped relat ionship rather than a linear relation ship. Job
performance is unrelated to ComHRM practices when employee perceived their
organization’s ComHRM is at a degree below a threshold; when above the threshold, the
relationship turns to be positive.
Furthermore, while scholars believe that ComHRM is beneficial to employee outcomes,
controversies about whether HRM practices benefits all employees has been reported in the
literature (Combs et al., 2006;Bal et al., 2013). Several studies contend that the effectiveness of
HRM practices may differ because employees’needs and concerns for HRM practices are
varied and diverse (Jackson et al., 1989;Lepak and Snell, 1999;Boon and Kalshoven, 2014).
The assumptions of the cognitive theory of emotion stipulate that the sensitivity to external
signals is different in different age groups as they are varied by differentiated needs
(Schachter and Singer, 1962;Simonov, 1970,2013). With increasing in age, individuals’
perceptions of time boundaries may also be varied, and more realistic goals related to
emotional meaning will be considered a priority over future goals for the purpose of obtaining
information and expanding their horizons (Carstensen et al., 2006). These arguments
suggested that as individuals age, their work-related needs and motivations change
gradually from a mainly growth and future-orientation to a more of maintenance and present
orientation (e.g. Veth et al., 2019). Therefore, employee age is a contingent factor in the
J-shaped association between ComHRM and job performance.
In short, we aim to address the above two issues. First, we test the threshold effect of
ComHRM practices on employee job performance. In line with cognition theory of emotion,
we proposed that ComHRM practices are unrelated to employee job performance until
employees perceived ComHRM exceeds a certain degree. This J-shaped effect may be able to
explain, at least partially, why previous literature observes a linear relationship (weak or
strong), or no association between ComHRM practices and employee outcomes. Second, we
investigate whether employee age affect the threshold effect of ComHRM practices on
employee job performance. Specifically, we aim to examining whether the threshold effect of
maintenance and development HRM on employee job performance are different between
employees in different generation cohorts.
We contribute to the strategic HRM (SHRM) literature in the following aspects. First, we
offer an alternative explanation on the mixed relationship between ComHRM practices and
employee outcomes by examining a J-shaped association between the two variables. This
relationship provides not only critical insight into interpreting the mixed results on the effect
Threshold
effect of HRM
practices on job
performance
1373
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