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Chapter 5
IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEEATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR: A PATH ANALYSIS
There is growing evidence that HR practices are related to Organizational
Performance though weakly in some cases, but little empirical attention has been paid
to exploring the path through which these practices impact organizational outcomes,
such as productivity and profitability. HR models are mostly based on a common
underlying assumption that HR practices affect Organizational Performance through
HR outcomes, like changes in their work related attitudes and behaviours which
determine the extent of usage of their skills and abilities by the employees for the
benefit of the organization (Wright et al., 1994; Guest, 1999; Wright and Nishii, 2004;
Macky and Boxall, 2007). In terms of achieving improved Organizational Performance
the important employee outcomes including Perceived Organizational Support,
Affective Commitment, Organizational Trust and Organizational Citizenship
Behaviour are regarded as positive outcomes (Guest, 1999; Hoque, 1999; Eisenberger
et al., 2001). The researchers in the past included one or more of these employee
outcomes as part of their evaluation of the effects of HR practice on the basis that
individual skills and abilities will not on their own add value to an organization.
Rather, it is employees’ behaviour and attitudes that ultimately determine the extent to
which they are prepared to put their abilities to use within the organization (Park et al.,
2003). The present study has examined the causal chain of relationships among POS,
AC, Organizational Trust and Discretionary Behavior, incorporating all in a single
model.
Discretionary Behavior has been conceptualized as a core element of employee
performance (Rotundo and Sackett, 2002), which is influenced by individual attitude
and dispositional variables rather than directly by an employee's knowledge, skills and
abilities (Organ and Ryan, 1995; Konovsky and Organ, 1996). When supervisors treat
employees fairly, social exchange and the reciprocity norms dictate that employees
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also reciprocate. Organ (1988) proposes that Discretionary Behavior may be one likely
avenue for employee reciprocation. Compared to economic exchange relationships
which are more short term in nature, social exchange relationships tend to involve the
exchange of socio-emotional benefits which are long term in nature (Blau, 1964;
Organ, 1988; Cropanzano et al., 2001). These are associated with close emotional
attachment, informal, personal and more transparent obligations. When individuals
form social exchange relationships with their working organizations, they tend to
demonstrate improved job performance, enhanced discretionary behavior and weaker
turnover intentions (Wayne et al., 1997; Hendrix et al., 1998).
The literature on Discretionary Behavior reveals that this dimension of
performance is influenced by several workplace attitudes, notably Commitment
(Meyer et al., 2002), Organizational Support (Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002) and
Organizational Trust (Tyler, 2003). Although the relevance of these psychological
states has been widely recognized, the role of HRM practices in these mediating
mechanisms has not been properly explored. Guzzo et al., (1994) studied the influence
of HRM practices on employees’ intention to quit by testing the mediating role of
Organizational Commitment and perception of Organizational Support. Wayne et al.,
(1997) evaluated the effect of HRM practices on ‘in-role and extra-role performance’
by examining the mediating roles of organizational support and quality of the leader-
member exchange (LMX). Meyer and Smith (2000) studied the effect of HRM
practices on Organizational Commitment and the mediating role of procedural justice
and Organizational Support, whereas, Allen et al., (2003) evaluated the effect of HRM
practices on ‘turnover’ and the mediating role of commitment and organizational
support. Whitener (2001) explored the influence of organizational support on
organizational commitment, the intermediate role of trust and the moderating role of
HRM practices. Gould-Williams (2003) assessed the direct influence of HRM
practices on various HRM performance indicators (effort, intention to stay) and the
intermediate role of organizational commitment, satisfaction, and trust. Pare and
Tremblay (2007) examined the effect of HRM practices on ‘intention to quit’ and the
intermediate role of justice, organizational commitment and extra-role behaviors. The
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literature illustrates that the effect of HRM practices on employee attitudes and extra-
role behaviors is attracting growing attention (Zellars and Tepper, 2003; Gould-
Williams, 2007). However, the influence of HRM practices on Extra-role behaviors
has not been yet investigated with a model, where Organizational Commitment, Trust,
and Organizational Support are the mediating variables. The present study attempted
to examine the relationship of HR practices with Extra-role behaviors with
Organizational Commitment, Trust, and Organizational Support acting as intermediary
variables. Before testing the final model which includes all the intermediate variables,
causality was determined between variables on the basis of theoretical justification and
empirical support. Here, only the significant relationships are reported.
HR PRACTICES, AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT AND
DISCRETIONARY BEHAVIOR
As discussed in previous chapter, the firms employ a well defined system of
HR practices through which they motivate their employees to engage in Discretionary
Behavior that ultimately contributes to the achievement of firms’ goals. Affective
Commitment has been found to be one of the significant antecedents of Discretionary
Behavior (Van Dyne et al., 1995; Organ and Ryan, 1995; Bolino et al., 2004).
According to Appelbaum et al., (2000) committed workers not only identify
psychologically with their employer and feel stronger attachment to the organization,
they are also more likely to expend discretionary efforts towards achieving
organizational ends. Wright et al.,(2003) have very rightly apprehended that the
employees who are committed to their organizations on one hand can be expected to
show less counterproductive behaviour than those less committed and on the other
hand to get engaged in a greater amount of positive extra-role behaviour and better
quality in-role behaviour. Thus, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that progressive
HR practices might serve to improve Discretionary behavior by improving
Organizational Commitment.
Correlations among all the intermediary variables are presented in Table 5.1.
The highest correlation coefficient (r = 0.732; p
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Organizational Trust, which indicate a possible problem of multicollinearity between
the two variables. This has been discussed later in the section dealing with testing
relationship between HR practices, POS and Trust.
Table 5.2 depicts the results of mediation effect of Affective Commitment
between Human Resource practices and Discretionary Behavior. In the first step the
Discretionary Behavior was regressed upon HRM practices and it has been found that
the HR practices explained about 9.9 percent of the variance in DB (p
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Table 5.2: Impact of HR practices on DB through AC
Variables Step 1(DB) Step 2 (AC) Step 3 (DB) Step 4 (DB)
Selection and Staffing 0.178** 0.229** -- --
PerformanceAppraisal
-- 0.206** -- --
Training andDevelopment
0.195** 0.192** -- 0.197**
Work Life Balance -- 0.146** -- --
Affective Commitment -- -- 0.294** 0.205**
Adj. R2 0.099 0.341 0.083 0.110
F - Ratio 17.771** 32.506** 28.641** 19.868**
N 306 306 306 306
Table 5.3: Other Relevant Statistics
Variables Standardizedcoefficients (β)
t - values Tolerance Collinearitystatistics- VIF
Training and Development 0.197 3.299 0.815 1.227
Affective Commitment 0.205 3.429 0.815 1.227
In the third step, Affective Commitment explained approximately eight percent of
the variance in DB, and it was found that the regression coefficient of Affective
Commitment was significant (β = 0.294, t = 5.352; p
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be the significant predictors of Discretionary Behavior, whereas Selection and Staffing,
Performance Appraisal and Work Life Balance practices became insignificant (Table
5.3). The results indicated that Affective Commitment had a significant partial mediating
effect on the relationship between HRM practices and Discretionary Behavior. The direct
and indirect relationship between HR practices and Discretionary Behavior through
Affective Commitment is shown in Figure 5(i).
Figure 5(i): AC as a mediator between HR Practices and DB.
As shown in figure 5(i) the dotted arrow from Selection and Staffing to
Affective Commitment indicates insignificant relationship between the two. For all
other significant links respective regression coefficients have been given showing a
direct as well as indirect relationship between Training and Development and
Discretionary Behavior. The results of previous researches have shown Training and
Development to be significantly related to Organizational Commitment (Chang, 1999;
Dockel et al., 2006) and Extra- role Behaviors to be the results of the Organizational
Commitment (Foote et al., 2005). Training and Development aims to enhance KSAs,
i.e. Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes of the workforce that are necessary to perform
the tasks effectively. Training has also been found to affect the psychological state of
the employees by making them feel that the organization is concerned about them and
their commitment level increases (Chang, 1999) and Organizational Commitment
results into Extra-role Behaviors (Noor, 2009). Results of the present study
0.195**
0.178**Selectionand Staffing
AffectiveCommitment
DiscretionaryBehavior
0.197**
.205**
Training andDevelopment
137
empirically support these theoretical arguments in favour of Organizational
Commitment acting as significant mediator in the relationship between HR practices
and Discretionary Behaviour.
HR PRACTICES, TRUST AND AFFECTIVE COMMITMENT
Appelbaum et al., (2000) observed that in case of steel and medical
electronics’ workers, the High Performance Work Practices associated with providing
employees with opportunities to participate in decision making, led to increased
Organizational Commitment which was due to increased Trust in management and
intrinsic rewards, but no such relationship existed in case of apparel workers. Finally,
drawing on social exchange theory, Whitener (2001) used cross-level hierarchical
linear modeling to show that employee Commitment and Trust in management were
stronger when employees believed that their managers were more supportive and
committed to them. These perceptions were partially influenced by the HR practices
used by firms, thus suggesting that HR practices can change employee attitudes. Trust
in management was also found partially mediating the observed relationship between
Perceived Organizational Support and an employee’s Commitment to his/her
organization. The work of Whitener (2001) and Appelbaum et al., (2000) suggest that
Trust in management may have an important mediating role between the employee
experience of labour management practices associated with High Performance Work
System (HPWSs) and other attitudinal responses to these practices. Appelbaum et al.,
(2000) found that HPWSs enhanced employees’ trust in managers for all three
industries they studied and this largely explained the effects that participation
opportunities resulting from implementing HPWSs had on Organizational
Commitment. Other studies outside the HPWS framework have also shown that the
level of Trust workers show in their management is consistently and positively
correlated with Organizational Commitment (e.g. Gopinath and Becker, 2000; Pearce,
1994).
138
Trust develops when the actions of others are expected to be beneficial or at
least not harmful to one’s own interests (Robinson, 1996). As Whitener (2001)
observed, Trust in management reflects the belief that managers are competent and
that their actions in seeking to attain organizational goals will ultimately prove
beneficial to employees. The trustworthiness of managers therefore comprises three
factors: their perceived ability, benevolence and integrity (Mayer and Davis, 1999;
Mayer et al., 1995). Management’s adoption of High Performance Work Practices
should lead to increased trust to the extent that such actions are seen by employees as
demonstrating managerial competence, reduce their perceptions of vulnerability or
threat, and are otherwise seen to be in the worker’s interests. Guest (1999) suggested
that greater use of high-commitment HR practices was associated with higher levels
of perceived fairness in how employees have been treated, stronger beliefs that
management delivered on promises, stronger feeling of job security, and higher levels
of Trust in management. Brockner and Siegel (1996) also observed that
organizational policies perceived by employees as procedurally and structurally fair
increased Trust, while the lack of such perceived fairness reduced Trust. It could
therefore be theorized that High Performance HR practices termed as ‘Progressive HR
practices’ in this study act to improve employee trust in their management which in
turn, influences employee commitment to their organization.
Table 5.4 reports the results of mediation of Organizational Trust between
Human Resource practices and Affective Commitment. In the first step, the Affective
Commitment was regressed upon HRM practices and these were found to explain
about 34 percent of the variance in Affective Commitment (p
139
Table 5.4: Impact of HR practices on Affective Commitment (AC) throughOrganizational Trust
Variables Step 1
AC
Step 2
Trust
Step 3
AC
Step 4
AC
Selection and Staffing 0.229** -- -- 0.167**
Career Development -- 0.183** -- --
Compensation -- 0.275** -- --
PerformanceAppraisal
0.206** -- -- 0.132*
Supervisory Support -- 0.430** -- --
Training andDevelopment
0.192** -- -- 0.179**
Work Life Balance 0.146** -- -- 0.149**
Organizational Trust -- -- 0.448** 0.163**
Adj. R2 0.341 0.568 0.198 0.340
F - Ratio 32.506** 134.393** 75.892** 32.389**
N 305 305 305 305
**p≤0.01, *p≤0.05
p
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Table 5.5: Other Relevant Statistics
Variables Standardizedcoefficients (β)
t - values Tolerance Collinearitystatistics- VIF
Selection and Staffing 0.167 2.764 0.597 1.834
Performance Appraisal 0.132 1.951 0.476 2.101
Training and Development 0.179 3.048 0.628 1.593
Work Life Balance 0.149 2.663 0.695 1.439
Organizational Trust 0.163 2.580 0.545 1.834
Selection and Staffing (β = 0.167, t = 2.764; p
141
Figure 5(ii): Organizational Trust as a mediator between HR Practices and AC.
0.132**
0.192*
0.206**
0.146*
0.229**
0.149**
Selection andStaffing
Training andDevelopment
Work Life Balance
Organizational Trust AffectiveCommitment
0.179**
0.167**
0.163*
PerformanceAppraisal
142
HR PRACTICES, TRUST AND DISCRETIONARY BEHAVIOR
Trust is globally viewed as a social expectation that has to do with peoples’
perception of the integrity/honesty, caring, and competence of an individual or system
that is verified by experience. Trust is essential in developing mutually dependent
relationships and is based upon repetitive actions that yield constant results (Fairholm,
1994). Trust has been associated with the willingness to take a chance on behalf of the
organization without fearing exploitation (Eddy, 1981). According to Mayer, et al.,
(1995) trust is the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party
based on expectations that the other will perform a particular action important to the
trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party. McAllister (1995)
defines Organizational Trust as reliability among the employees in terms of each one’s
discourses, acts and decisions. Being honest and concerned for the welfare of others is the
core of Trust. This does not mean that the interests of others always come before the
needs of the organization as a whole; however, it does require an understanding of the
impact of one’s actions on others. Belief in management, assurance about the thoughts of
the colleagues, honesty and positive expectations are common components among
various constructs of Organizational Trust used by various researchers (Yilmaz and
Atalay, 2009).
Organizations aiming to portray themselves to be employee friendly try to
identify ways to develop the required attitudes. Gould-Williams (2003) identified ways to
develop and enhance trust among employees and reported that bundle of HR practices
including employment security, selective hiring, team-working, performance-related pay,
training and development, egalitarianism and information sharing consistently predicted
change in systems and interpersonal trust. Tzafrir and Gur (2007) investigated the impact
of HRM practices on perceived service quality through employees’ trust in their
managers. Except training out of the five dimensions of HRM practices studied by them
the other four practices including leadership and supervision, promotion and career
development, compensation, and feedback and recognition have been found to be
significantly related to trust in managers. The practices like supervision, promotion,
143
career development, compensation and recognition recorded as significant predictors of
trust were also perceived by employees as indicators of organizational care and support.
The linkage between Trust in organization and OCB has been primarily examined
by Konovsky and Pugh (1994) and Wong et al., (2004). According to Konovsky and
Pugh (1994), trust is a manifestation of social exchange, and social exchange accounts for
OCB by encouraging employees to behave in ways that are not strictly mandated by their
employers. The employees with higher trust in their organization are believed to be likely
to display more OCB, regardless of the types of organization (Rousseau and Parks, 1993).
Trust is based on Social Exchange Theory (Blau, 1964) which explains how individuals
feel about a relationship and what are the expected results from that relationship. If a
person trusts another person he/she will expect some benefits from the relationship. Trust
here is seen in two aspects; trust towards organization and trust towards a colleague.
Trust towards organization is important because an employee who has high trust towards
an organization will strive to make the organization achieve its goals (Mayer and Davis,
1999). The employees too will work beyond their job specification in order to show their
trust towards the organization (Settoon et al., 1996). Trust is expected to encourage
voluntary cooperation among the workers. Hence, is considered as the key of an
organization’s success.
Table 5.6 reports the results of mediation of Organizational Trust between Human
Resource practices and Discretionary behavior. In the first step the Discretionary
Behavior was regressed upon HRM practices. It has been found that the HR practices
explained about 9.9 percent of the variance in Discretionary Behavior (p
144
regression coefficient of Organizational Trust was observed to be significant (β = 0.268, t
= 4.851; p
145
Figure 5(iii): Trust as a mediator between HR Practices and DB.
0.196**
0.178**Selection andStaffing
OrganizationalTrust
DiscretionaryBehavior
0.181**
0.192**
Training andDevelopment
146
Table 5.7: Other Relevant Statistics
Variables Standardizedcoefficients (β)
t - values Tolerance Collinearitystatistics- VIF
Training and Development 0.219 3.784 0.877 1.141
Organizational Trust 0.192 3.313 0.877 1.141
Because Training and Development impacts Discretionary Behavior not only
directly but also indirectly through Organizational Trust. The direct and indirect
relationship between HR practices and Discretionary Behavior through Organizational
Trust is presented in Figure 5(iii). Respective regression coefficients have been given for
all significant links showing a direct as well as indirect relationship between Training and
Development practices and Discretionary Behavior. The dotted line indicates
insignificant link between Selection and Staffing practices and Organizational Trust.
Thus, only Training and Development practices can be seen as having significant direct
relationship and indirect relationship through Organizational Trust with Discretionary
Behaviour.
HR PRACTICES, PERCEIVED ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT AND
ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST
POS refers to the degree to which employees perceive their employer to be
concerned with their well-being and to value their contributions to the organization
(Eisenberger et al., 1986). Eisenberger et al., (1990) suggested that employees would
consider positive discretionary activities by the organization that benefited them as
evidence that the organization cared about their well being. It is argued that
organizational rewards represent investment by the organization in the employee and are
interpreted by the employee as indication of organizational appreciation and recognition
and thus contribute to the development of POS (Shore and Shore, 1995; Eisenberger et
al., 1997). Rhoades and Eisenberger (2002) suggested that providing potential career
147
opportunities, such as promotions may imply a high level of concern for employees and
the recognition of their contributions by the organization. Since these organizational
actions go beyond what is mandated by company policy or employment contract,
employees are likely to view them as discretionary treatment by the organization that are
indicative of organizational caring and support (Shore and Shore, 1995; Eisenberger et
al., 1997). According to Wayne et al., (1997) developmental experiences and promotions
both have significant positive impact on employees’ perceptions of organizational
support. It is also believed that the level of supervisory support has a positive relationship
with POS (Wayne et al., 1997; Rhoades et al., 2001; Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002) and
POS has been found mediating the relationship between these variables and
Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Affective Commitment (Wayne et al., 1997).
Eisenberger et al., (1990) suggested that POS may be vital for determining, if any
attitudes or behaviors benefiting the organization, like Affective Commitment or
Citizenship Behaviors, emerge from the employment relationship. Annamalai et al.,
(2010) also examined the mediation effects of POS in the relationship between
organizational justice and teacher’s trust in the organization but found no such effects.
Riggle (2007) has shown that trust in the organization is positively influenced by the
employee’s perception of organizational support. Employees may perceive an
organization’s concern about their well-being as a benevolence evidence of the
organization’s trustworthiness (Chen et al., 2005). The more the employee views the
organization to be supportive of their efforts and value their contribution, the more trust
an employee will have in the organization (Tremblay et al., 2010).
Only a few researchers (like Whitener, 2001; Riggle, 2007; Annamalai et al.,
2010; Tremblay et al., 2010) have examined the support–trust relationship and their
findings show mixed results. The present study attempted to extend the existing research
and by seeking empirical support for mediation of POS in the relationship between HR
practices and Organizational Trust , believing that behaviors related to Organizational
Support (e.g. Promotions, Compensation, Career Development efforts) appear to be
interpreted by employees as mark of respect and consideration on the part of their
148
employer, which in turn appears to increase their Trust in and the quality of their
relationship with the latter (Eisenberger et al., 1990; 2001).
Table 5.1 reports the correlation coefficients among intermediary variables. It can
be noticed that the highest correlation (r=0.732, p
149
Table 5.8: Impact of HR practices on Trust through Perceived OrganizationalSupport (POS)
Variables Step 1(Trust)
Step 2(POS)
Step 3(Trust)
Step 4(Trust)
PerformanceAppraisal
0.178** 0.275** -- --
Selection and Staffing 0.117* 0.149** -- --
Career Development 0.176** -- -- 0.181**
Compensation 0.167** 0.130* -- 0.181**
Supervisory Support 0.310** 0.377** -- 0.204**
POS -- -- 0.741** 0.381**
Adj R2 0.602 0.594 0.548 0.645
F - Ratio 89.767** 108.402* 356.744** 134.561**
*N=295
4.741; p
150
Table 5.9: Other Relevant Statistics
Variables Standardizedcoefficients (β)
t - values Tolerance Collinearitystatistics- VIF
Career Development 0.181** 3.539 2.163 0.462
Compensation 0.181** 3.789 1.898 0.527
Supervisory Support 0.204** 4.111 2.044 0.489
POS 0.381** 7.177 2.332 0.429
**p ≤0.01, *p≤0.05
POS in the regression equation and the regression coefficients of other significant
predictors also diminished as well (Table 5.9).
The results indicate that POS has a significant partial mediating effect on the
relationship between HR practices and Organizational Trust. It indicates that
Performance Appraisal practices and Selection and Staffing have been able to build
Organizational Trust among employees but these are not being perceived as supportive at
individual level. The results suggest that an organization’s investment in employee
Career Development should demonstrate to employees, the organizational effort and
support being offered to assist employees to expand their skills for employability. Liu
(2004) has revealed how ERG theory given by Alderfer (1972) helps in guiding the
organizations to employ HR practices to prove support for employees in order to develop
positive employee attitudes and behaviors. The theory holds that individuals attempt to
satisfy three levels of needs in organizations; existence, relatedness and growth.
Accordingly, several HR practices are important in offering support for employees to
satisfy these needs. For instance, satisfactory pay is necessary for meeting individuals’
physiological or existence needs, growth needs can be met by sufficient career
development opportunities that help employees extend their potential and expand their
capabilities. HR practices that provide social support, such as helping employees
maintain good work and family relationships through supervisory support can be instrumental
151
Figure 5(iv): POS as a Mediator between Human Resource Practices and Organizational Trust
0.178**
0.117*
0.176**
0.310**
0.167**
0.204**
Selection andStaffing
CareerDevelopment
Compensation
SupervisorySupport
PerceivedOrganizational
Support
Organizational Trust0.181**
0.181**
0.381**
PerformanceAppraisal
152
in fulfilling employees’ need for relatedness. The results of the present study are in line
with the existing literature. (e.g. Shore and Shore, 1995; Eisenberger et al., 1997; Wayne
et al., 1997). Figure 5 (iv) also shows that Compensation, Career Development and
Supervisory Support practices affect Organizational Trust directly as well as through
POS but POS does not mediate the relationship between Performance Appraisal,
Selection and Staffing and Organizational Trust and the same is depicted in the figure 5
(iv) with a dotted line without a regression coefficient.
HR PRACTICES, POS, TRUST, AC AND DB
Earlier in this chapter different sub paths have been tested separately. This part
deals with testing how far the selected employee attitudes namely Perceived
Organizational Support, Affective Commitment and Organizational Trust mediate in the
relationship between HR practices and Discretionary behaviour. Table 5.10 shows the
results of the causal chain between HR practices and Discretionary behavior. At step 1,
when Discretionary Behavior was regressed upon demographic variables and HR
practices. The practices namely Selection and Staffing (β = 0.178, t = 2.811; p
153
Table 5.10: Impact of HR practices on DB through Trust and AC
Variables Step 1DB (β)
Step 2DB (β)
Step 3DB (β)
Step 4DB (β)
Selection and staffing 0.178** 0.178** -- 0.085
Training and development 0.195** 0.195** 0.219** 0.167**
POS -- -0.035 -- --
Trust -- -- 0.192** 0.140*
Affective Commitment -- -- -- 0.156*
R2 0.099 0.099 0.108 0.123
F - Ratio 17.783** 17.783** 19.446** 15.159**
N 305 -- 305 305
Table 5.11: Other Relevant Statistics
Variables Standardizedcoefficients (β)
t - values Tolerance Collinearitystatistics - VIF
Training andDevelopment
0.167 2.725 0.770 1.298
Trust 0.140 2.288 0.772 1.296
Affective Commitment 0.156 2.439 0.702 1.424
**p≤0.01, *p≤0.05
Development influences Organizational Trust which in turn impacts Affective
Commitment ultimately leading to significant change in employee Discretionary
Behaviour. It can be inferred that organizations who want their employees to go
beyond their prescribed role requirements should not consider Training to be a cost.
Rather investment by an organization in employee Training and Development might
be seen by employees as something that yields long term benefit instead of short term
154
Figure 5(v): Trust and AC as mediators between HR practices and DB.
0.156*0.140*
0.178**
0.196**
Selection andStaffing
Organizational Trust DiscretionaryBehavior
.167**
Training andDevelopment
AffectiveCommitment
155
gains for them. This helps in building trust among employees. With the passage of time
cognitive evaluation of organizational efforts by employees may help to create a sense of
belonging among them, which in turn may bring about discretionary efforts from them.
Employees under such circumstances might not bother about time spent or hardships
faced but only works with full zeal and zest to achieve organizational goals. This is really
needed in today’s competitive world because discretionary behaviour which is observed
to be important, is quite rare.
The present study hence, used a broad-based and multi-industry sample to
examine the extent to which the use of HPWS yields desired attitudes and behaviour in
Indian context. The results of the present study suggest that openness is a part of Trust
and Trust enhances Commitment, which in turn might increase Discretionary Behaviour
and Organizational Performance.