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Changes in HRM and job satisfaction, 1998–2004: evidence from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey
Author(s) -
Brown Andrew,
Forde Chris,
Spencer David,
Charlwood Andy
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
human resource management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.44
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1748-8583
pISSN - 0954-5395
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-8583.2008.00069.x
Subject(s) - job satisfaction , job security , human resource management , job attitude , survey data collection , industrial relations , unemployment , human resources , perception , job design , quality (philosophy) , job performance , psychology , work (physics) , business , demographic economics , social psychology , management , economics , economic growth , engineering , mechanical engineering , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , epistemology , neuroscience
This paper examines the relationship between human resource management practices and job satisfaction, drawing on data from the 1998 and 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Surveys. The paper finds significant increases in satisfaction with the sense of achievement from work between 1998 and 2004; a number of other measures of job quality are found to have increased over this period as well. It also finds a decline in the incidence of many formal human resource management practices. The paper reports a weak association between formal human resource management practices and satisfaction with sense of achievement. Improvements in perceptions of job security, the climate of employment relations and managerial responsiveness are the most important factors in explaining the rise in satisfaction with sense of achievement between 1998 and 2004. We infer that the rise in satisfaction with sense of achievement is due in large part to the existence of falling unemployment during the period under study, which has driven employers to make improvements in the quality of work.