Work enrichment and employee voice in human resource management-performance studies

Abstract

Studies assessing the link between human resource management and performance were spawned by the high commitment or high involvement models. We show that work enrichment and employee voice were central to these models, yet as resource-based theory was increasingly used to justify the association of such models with high performance the seeds for a diminishing role for employee involvement were set. We then assess the associated empirical work, and show how employee involvement is neglected in favour of alternative emphases on skills and knowledge, labour flexibility and extrinsic motivation. It is proposed that future work should abandon the dominant approach of testing a single null hypothesis and instead examine competing models of the HRM–performance relationship.

Keywords:

• Human resource management
• high performance work systems
• high involvement management
• employee voice
• work enrichment
• performance-related pay
• voice
• high commitment
• high performance HRM