The Influence of Employee Human Resource Satisfaction on Employee Innovative Work Behavior

Aims: This study examines the influence of employee HR satisfaction on employee innovative work behavior. It also examines whether employee perceptions about the demanding aspects of their jobs mediate the relationship between HR satisfaction and innovative work behavior.

Study Design: Employee attitude surveys were administered to employees across five firms.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in Ireland, in firms where high performance work systems were in use between 2007 and 2009.

Sample: A sample of 220 employees who represented production, maintenance, service and clerical areas, and employees from administrative and executive areas.

Methodology: Five companies participated, all of which were represented in the upper quartile of high performance work system utilization of the larger study. These five firms represented an upper, medium and lower range within this quartile. Based on the profile and utilization of high performance work systems in these companies, on average, the companies’ utilization of HPWS was about 48.81 per cent. The companies came from the manufacturing, financial services, transport and communication industries.

Results: Of the sample, 67% were male. In terms of education level, 33 per cent had completed their secondary level education. With regard to occupational type, the technician category was the smallest with a 7 per cent of the total sample; the professional group was the largest accounting for 30 per cent of the respondents. The majority of the respondents (85%) were of Irish origin. Employee HR satisfaction with communication and feedback practices was positively related to employee innovative work behavior (ß = .59, p < .001). The HR satisfaction measures accounted for 18 per cent of the variance explained in innovative work behavior (∆F = 5.581, p < .001). Employee HR satisfaction had an indirect effect on employee innovative work behavior via perceptions of job demands as computed through the Sobel test, (Sobel z = -1.76, P = .078).

Conclusion: Employees’ perceptions matter in determining behavioral outcomes, because they are determinant in eliciting discretionary efforts such as innovative work behavior, which in turn affect company performance.