Title of presentation: "Examining Potential Trade-Offs of HRM Investments in Employability"

1. EXAMINING POTENTIAL
TRADE-OFF EFFECTS OF HRM
INVESTMENTS IN EMPLOYABILITY
JOS AKKERMANS, MARIA TIMS,
SUSANNE BEIJER, & NELE DE CUYPER
EAWOP Meeting 2017, Dublin, Ireland

2. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
2 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS PRESENTATION
 THE EMPLOYABILITY MANAGEMENT PARADOX MIGHT NOT EXIST AT ALL…
 Increases in external employability do not diminish commitment
 HRM HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY
 High-commitment HRM practices are positively related to commitment
via internal and external employability
 HRM BLACK BOX
 Employability might be a mechanism through which HRM practices
relate to outcomes

3. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
3 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?

4. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
4 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?
THE EMPLOYABILITY MANAGEMENT PARADOX
Investing in employees helps
them develop their
competencies: that’s great!
But won’t that make them less
attached to the organization
and potentially leave…?

5. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
5 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?
THE EMPLOYABILITY MANAGEMENT PARADOX
 SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS INVEST IN EMPLOYABILITY?
 Evidence thus far seems positive (e.g., Philippaers et al., 2016; Nelissen et al., 2017; AOM
conferences 2014, 2016)
 Potential advantages: increase in human capital, more competent employees
 Potential disadvantages: risk of diminished commitment and turnover…?
 Research thus far is incomplete (no HRM; external only)
 HIGH-COMMITMENT HRM PRACTICES (e.g., Arthur, 1999; Whitener, 2001)
 Training & Development
 Performance Management
 Communication & Participation

6. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
6 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
 SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY (Blau, 1964; Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005)
 Social interactions are shaped by a reciprocal exchange of rewards
 Norm of reciprocity  investments have signaling effect
 Attitudinal “pathway”
 Economic “pathway”
 When taking HRM investments into account, we expect that the EMP
does not exist

7. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
7 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?
RESEARCH MODEL
HRM
T&D
HRM
PM
HRM
C&P
External
PE
Internal
PE
Organizational
Commitment
Added expectation: indirect path via internal PE will be stronger than indirect path via external PE

8. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
8 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?
METHOD
 TWO STUDIES
 T1 – T2: 6 weeks in between
 T2 – T3: 1 year in between
 DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS
T1 – T2 Sample: T1 – T3 Sample:
N = 437 N = 127
60.6% female, Mage = 34.6 69.3% female, Mage = 36.4
 Analyses
 SEM using Amos 23, bootstrapping to test indirect effects
 Study 1: x = T1, mediator and outcomes = T2 (6 weeks later)
 Study 2: x = T1, mediator and outcomes = T2 (1 year later)

9. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
9 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?
RESULTS
First number = T1-T2; second number = T1-T3

10. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
10 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?
RESULTS
 T1-T2 SAMPLE
 PC and TD indirectly related to commitment via employability
 Indirect relationship via internal not stronger than via external
 T1-T3 SAMPLE
 PC indirectly related to commitment via employability
 Indirect relationship via internal not stronger than via external
 OVERALL
 No evidence for a trade-off effect

11. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
11 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
 THE MANAGEMENT PARADOX MIGHT NOT EXIST
 No trade-off for organizations of investing in employability
 ESPECIALLY PARTICIPATION & COMMUNICATION SEEMS RELEVANT
 Important driver of commitment via employability
 Training & development also important (T1-T2 sample)
 HRM BLACK BOX
 Role of employability as mechanism through which HRM impacts
outcomes

12. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
12 Trade-off effects of investing in employability?
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
j.akkermans@vu.nl
www.josakkermans.com