Alignment of employees’ competencies with espoused organizational values

Abstract

Building on previous values- and competencies-related scholarly research, in this paper we aimed to explore the relationship between espoused organizational values and competencies. We drew on LinkedIn data and focused on the top ten companies with “the best LinkedIn company pages” according to the annual #BestofPages contest launched by LinkedIn. The analysis revealed that values emphasis varied between individual companies and that only one company, the winner of the best LinkedIn company page context, had employees’ competencies fully aligned with the espoused organizational values.

From the scholarly perspective, this research offers a piece of empirical evidence on the emphasis placed on espoused values in international organizations and provides a nontraditional approach for understanding competencies almost in real-time, which was labeled by previous scholars as a difficult problem. The analysis also helps to shed light not only on the existing versus needed/wanted competencies or their gaps but also provides an alternative approach to understanding how the competencies can mirror organizational values, evolve with them over time, and be better aligned to help organizations achieve their strategic aims. This is the practical contribution of this study.

Keywords:

• Competencies
• espoused organizational values
• LinkedIn
• skills
• social media

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stefano Di Lauro

Stefano Di Lauro is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Sannio (Italy). He recently completed his PhD in Management focused on organizational identity, corporate identity and social media at the University of Naples Federico II. During his PhD, he was a visiting researcher at the Business School of the University of Edinburgh. Prior to PhD he accumulated an extensive international work experience in digital communication and marketing. He teaches Organization studies related topics, and studies People Analytics, organizational values, and competencies.

Aizhan Tursunbayeva

Aizhan Tursunbayeva is an Assistant Professor at the University of Naples Parthenope (Italy). Her previous professional roles include Assistant Professor at the University of Twente (Netherlands), Management Consultant at KPMG Advisory (Italy), and Manager at HSBC Bank (Canada, UK, Poland, Kazakhstan). She teaches Organizational Design, Human Resource Management (HRM), and People Analytics. Her research lies at the intersection of HRM, technology, innovation, and healthcare.

Gilda Antonelli

Gilda Antonelli is a Full Professor in Organizational Design and Human Resources Management at the University of Sannio (Italy). Her research focuses on innovation and change management at different organizational levels (individual, team, organization, and network), and on organizational identity. She is now focused on studying organizational change driven by People Analytics methods. She is responsible for several national and international research funds, and is a member of the Italian Academy of Organizational Studies.

Luigi Moschera

Luigi Moschera is a Full Professor of Organization Studies at the University of Naples Parthenope (Italy). He teaches Business Organization, Inter-firm Network Design, and Human Resource Management. Luigi’s most recent research focuses on contingent/alternative employment arrangements, technology and their implications for employees’ attitudes, well-being, and behavior. He authored several international publications on organizational change in the temporary work agency sector in Italy and Europe, and chaired a number of international conferences.