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The concept of empowering leadership (EL) has seen increasing scholarly interest in recent years. This study reports a meta-analysis investigating the effects of EL on employee work behavior. On the basis of data from 105 samples, we found evidence for the positive effects of EL on performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and creativity at both the individual and team levels. We further examined these relationships by exploring potential boundary conditions and the incremental contribution of EL over transformational leadership and leader–member exchange. Furthermore, at the individual level, both trust in leader and psychological empowerment mediated the relationships of EL with task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and creativity. We also found evidence that leader–member exchange was a significant mediator between EL and task performance. At the team level, empowerment mediated the effects of EL on team performance, whereas knowledge sharing showed no significant indirect effect. Our results have important theoretical and practical implications and suggest some areas that require further research.

The concept of psychological ownership (PO) reflects a state in which individuals feel as though the target of ownership (e.g., job or organization) is theirs. In recent years, there has been an expansion of research linking PO with a range of desirable employee attitudes and behaviors. However, the theoretical foundations of the construct, its measurement, the factors that influence its development, and when and how it influences outcomes are areas of continued debate in the literature. In this article, we provide a narrative review of extant PO literature with the aim of developing a research agenda that encourages scholars to target opportunities for future research. In particular, we highlight the need for continued refinement of the conceptualization and measurement of PO, and development of its nomological network. In addition, we call for greater investigation of PO towards different objects or foci; examination of possible multilevel applications of PO research; identification of potential boundary conditions of PO; and exploration of the influence of culture and individual differences on the development and influence of PO. We also introduce alternative theoretical approaches for understanding and investigating PO. In doing so, we provide a roadmap for scholars to progress the development of the field.

Little research to date has focused on understanding employee motivation to share and hide knowledge. Using self-determination theory, we tested the premise that knowledge sharing and hiding might be differentially motivated and that work design characteristics might influence the motivation to share knowledge with colleagues. In a panel survey of Australian knowledge workers and in a Chinese knowledge-intensive organization, we asked knowledge workers, using time-lagged designs, about perceptions of work design, motivation to share knowledge, and self-reported knowledge sharing and hiding behaviors. Results, largely replicated across both samples, indicated that cognitive job demands and job autonomy were positively related to future reports of knowledge-sharing frequency and usefulness via autonomous motivation to share knowledge. Unexpectedly, task interdependence was positively related to the three forms of knowledge hiding (evasive and rationalized hiding, and playing dumb) via external regulation to share knowledge. Implications for the design of jobs that motivate knowledge sharing and demotivate knowledge hiding are discussed.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer an understanding of the development and consequence of absorptive capacity (AC) at the individual level of analysis. The authors assess how perception of organizational commitment to learning and intrinsic motivation affects individual potential AC, and employee creativity and job performance as the key outcomes of individual AC. Furthermore, the authors examined the dual role of realized AC as a mediator in the potential AC-creativity relationship, and a moderator on the creativity-job performance relationship. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws from 125 paired supervisor-employee survey data, where supervisors rated subordinates’ creativity and job performance. Hierarchical regression was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The results confirm that both perception of organizational commitment to learning and intrinsic motivation contribute to the development of individual potential AC (above and beyond extrinsic motivation). Individual realized AC mediated the potential AC-creativity relationship. Employee creativity was positively related to job performance. Research limitations/implications This study speaks directly to the question of how an organization can encourage its employees to absorb new knowledge, and the benefits of employee learning activities on their creativity and job performance. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to offer a more nuanced understanding of the development and consequences of individual AC – a level of analysis has been lack of empirical studies. It further point out how individual characteristic and perceptions can influence their learning capacity, and in turn, their performance.

The topic of skilled migrants has gained importance in the past decade as they are increasingly becoming one of the main drivers for labor supply in developed countries like Australia. Although there is research on skilled migrants, most have been studied from the perspectives of (un)employment, wage and over-education. Some evidence suggests that skilled migrants are often less satisfied with their job compared to their local counterparts, yet little is known about why these differences exist. Using a nationally representative sample of Australian workers, we examine how two important job characteristics, job security and skill utilization, exert their differential interaction effect on job satisfaction for skilled migrants and Australian born workers. We found a differential moderation effect between job security and skill utilization for skilled migrants and Australian born workers. For skilled migrants, high job security did not lead to positive reaction (i.e., job satisfaction), as this effect was dependent on their skill utilization; while such moderation effect was not present for Australian born workers. This study highlights the need to take a more fine-tuned approach by understanding target sample groups (e.g., skilled migrants) when study the relationship between key job characteristics and job satisfaction. Furthermore, it highlights the importance for organizations to revisit their human resource management strategies and policies to recognize the needs for enhancing skill utilization for skilled migrants.

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to investigate how human resource professionals (HRPs), in a variety of organizations, responded to the crisis brought about by the event of COVID-19. In particular, it aims to show how organizations, across all sectors, in Western Australia responded with urgency and flexibility to the crisis and showed “resilience in practice”.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on 136 questionnaire responses, 32 interviews and 25 managerial narratives. The mixed qualitative methodology was designed to enable an investigation of the impact of COVID-19 and the response of HRPs.FindingsHRPs have responded with agility and flexibility to the impact of COVID-19. They have done so through extensive trial and error, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. They have not simply activated a preconceived continuity plan.Research limitations/implicationsThe research indicates that resilience is an ongoing accomplishment of organizations and the people in them. The objective was description rather than prescription, and the research does not offer solutions to future pandemic-like situations.Practical implicationsThe research suggests that, given the impact of COVID-19 on organizations, HR practices, processes and policies will need to be thoroughly reconsidered for relevance in the post-COVID world. Possible future directions are highlighted.Originality/valueThe research considers the actions of HRPs as they responded to a global crisis as the crisis unfolded.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer an autonomous motivation perspective to explore the relationship between perceived overqualification and adaptive work behavior and examine job autonomy as a factor that may moderate the association. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were tested in two culturally, demographically, and functionally diverse samples: sample 1 was based on North American community college employees (n=215); sample 2 was based on full-time workers, employed in a Chinese state-owned enterprise specializing in shipping (n=148). Findings In study 1, perceived overqualification was negatively related to self-rated adaptive behavior. A follow-up study 2 extended these findings by demonstrating that perceived overqualification was negatively related to supervisor-rated adaptive work behavior when job autonomy was low, rather than high. Research limitations/implications The results of this research offer an autonomous motivation perspective to explain why perceived overqualification relates to adaptive behavior and suggests a job design approach to encourage adaptive behaviors of people who feel overqualified – a sizable segment of the current workforce. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to explore adaptive behavior of workers who feel overqualified – an outcome that has not been examined in this domain. The findings further point out what can be done to encourage adaptive behaviors among overqualified employees.

The role of HRM in crisis management has begun to gain interest in the literature; yet, research in this field has largely adopted an internal perspective focusing on how HRM helps to manage risk and complexity during the crisis response stage (Bundy et al., 2017). Research on crisis similar to COVID-19 pandemic represents the “most overlooked area of investigation” (Ererdi et al., 2020, p. 25), with only three studies examined crises similar to COVID-19: those that has affected both organizations and their employees by threatening the basic social structure around places of work (e.g., Merlot and De Cieri, 2012; tsunami; Opdyke et al., 2017, typhoons). The paper also reinforces the need for ensuring that the way in which work is designed allows for, and encourages, innovative behavior, a sense of control over how work is performed and, provides a psychologically safe work environment. Not only does the paper reinforce the need for a realistic job preview to be provided to employees when required to shift to working from home, but also includes a number of suggestions for interventions to be employed to assist employees in navigating such a change in work design.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate employee turnover in a leading Chinese retail organisation, where high turnover rates are recognised as being a major issue for human resource strategy. The study seeks to focus on the job satisfaction-turnover relationship, examining how this is moderated by occupation.Design methodology approach - A literature review on employee job satisfaction and employee turnover provides the basis for the research model and hypotheses. A self-completion questionnaire survey, involving 164 respondents (95.4 per cent response rate) from a leading Chinese retail organisation was used to gather data and test existing theory in a Chinese context.Findings - The results provided strong support for the hypothesised negative relationship between employee turnover intention and job satisfaction. Occupation is also significantly associated with job satisfaction, turnover intention and the job satisfaction-turnover relationship: non-management frontline employees expressed higher levels of intention to leave their job than management office employees.Research limitations implications - The sample was limited to one retail organisation in China. It may not be appropriate to generalise the findings across other populations or settings. However, the sample can be viewed as a representative case typical of many other organisations in the same industry.Practical implications - The results provide insight into the impact of employee job satisfaction on turnover intention in the particular Chinese retail setting which could benefit managers and policy makers in the focus organisation as well as other organisations operating in the same sector in general.Originality value - The paper studies problems that characterise the Chinese retail sector.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effect of human resource management (HRM) practices on employees' organisational job embeddedness and job performance. Following the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) model of HRM, the authors predicted that ability-, motivation- and opportunity-enhancing HRM practices would relate to fit, links and sacrifice components of job embeddedness, with these components mediating the relationship between HRM and employee job performance. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from a matched sample of 197 Chinese state-own firm employees and their supervisors. Multiple mediation test was used to test direct and mediating effects. Findings - Results indicated that HRM practices contribute to the creation and development of embeddedness, and the improvement of job performance. The job embeddedness components of fit, links and sacrifice were found to mediate the HRM-job performance relationship. The results suggest that organisations can proactively enhance both embeddedness and employee performance through implementing appropriate HRM practices. Research limitations/implications - While this study makes a contribution to the understanding of the relationship between HRM practices, employees' organisational job embeddedness, the authors collected most of the data during one time period. Originality/value - Directly addressing these theoretical and methodological issues, the study makes two key contributions to the HRM and job embeddedness literatures. First, the authors found that the HR practices will directly influence employees' job embeddedness. Second, the authors extend the scope of the AMO framework of HR by proposing that job embeddedness dimensions as important mediators in the HRM-job performance relationship.