Employees’ perceptions of human resource management practices and employee outcomes: Empirical evidence from small and medium-sized enterprises in China
ISSN: 0142-5455
Article publication date: 3 September 2019
Issue publication date: 16 September 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employees’ perceptions of HRM practices and two outcomes, namely, employee commitment and turnover intention (TI), in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in mainland China.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a quantitative approach based on a sample of 227 employees working in 24 SMEs in eastern and western China.
Findings
Employees’ perceptions of HRM practices, such as training and development, reward management and performance management, are significant predictors of employee commitment. A negative direct relationship is found between employees’ perceptions about the use of HRM practices and TIs.
Research limitations/implications
Although data were collected from two representative provinces of eastern and western China, the size of the sample may limit the generalisability of the findings to the wider region.
Practical implications
The relationship between employees’ perceptions of HRM practices and employee outcomes in Chinese SMEs provides an effective way for SME owners and HR practitioners to generate desirable employee attitudes and behaviours, which, ultimately contribute to improving organisational performance.
Originality/value
This is an original paper which makes a contribution by helping to address the dearth of studies which have explored aspects of the effectiveness of HRM in SMEs in China. In contrast to the majority of China-focussed studies on this topic, it highlights HRM outcomes at the individual level rather than the organisational level. Further, the study involves SMEs in western China which is an under-explored region.
Keywords
Citation
Li, S., Rees, C.J. and Branine, M. (2019), "Employees’ perceptions of human resource management practices and employee outcomes: Empirical evidence from small and medium-sized enterprises in China", Employee Relations, Vol. 41 No. 6, pp. 1419-1433. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-01-2019-0065
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited