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The strength-based approach is promulgated as a management practice that improves individual productivity and performance. This study's purpose is to explore the prospective applicability of the strengths-based approach to managing and developing employees in small businesses. The study focuses on four domains of practice: selection, training, performance evaluation and task assignment.

The study employed semi-structured, face-to-face interviews to obtain data. The units of analysis were managers and employees of small businesses. Eleven managers and 19 employees were interviewed. Data analysis involved thematic analysis with the NVivo 12 software program.

First, the small businesses used a strengths-based approach for employee selection during employees' temporary status of employment and in employee task assignment. However, managers did not employ a strengths-based approach to employee selection during selection interviews, training or performance evaluations. Second, the managers perceived strengths identification as a difficult task. Based on personal observations, they perceived employees' positive character traits, job-related skills and work-related efficiency as employee strengths.

This study informs managers about a potential alternative to the traditional weakness-based management practice. The findings and conceptual arguments suggest that a strengths-based approach can provide a cost-effective alternative to the resource-intensive approaches commonly employed to enhance employee productivity and performance.

The study provides the first empirical evidence on the prospective applicability of the strengths-based approach to small businesses and explores conceptually the suitability of the said approach to this context.

The purpose of this paper is to discover the types of HR outsourcing processes employed by Australian organisations and their relationship to outsourcing outcomes.

This paper is based upon the results of a survey of medium to large Australian organisations. The survey data were analysed using quantitative analysis to extract the types of HR outsourcing processes, outcomes, and their relationship.

The analyses identified three types of HR outsourcing processes: screening and selecting, strategic fit, and managing and monitoring. The “strategic fit” process exhibited the strongest relationship to the HR outsourcing outcome followed by the “managing and monitoring” process. The “screening and selecting” did not correlate with HR outsourcing outcome. For each type of HR outsourcing process no correlation was found with the outsourced HR functions. It was found that the most important criteria for selecting an outsourced service provider were trustworthiness, reputation in the industry, cost structure, and history with the organisation. The least important criteria were the service provider’s financial position and cultural similarity with the organisation.

The research design acquired information from a single participant from each organisation which may result in a one-dimensional view. In addition, the data were collected from Australian organisations limiting its generalisation globally. Environmental and political factors were not included in the study. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to consider the influence of these factors on the HR outsourcing process.

The discovered HR outsourcing processes, although different from the generic HR outsourcing model, can be used by organisations to outsource HR functions in a more efficient and effective manner within the Australian context. The research results also indicate the importance for service providers to develop a good reputation and establish trust.

This study is the first quantitative research that determines the specific HR outsourcing processes and how they related to the HR outsourcing outcome in medium to large Australian organisations. The identification of these process types is unique and useful in validating and refining HR outsourcing knowledge within the Australian context.

This paper aims to examine whether participation in training and development (T&D) events is associated with employees’ affective commitment and propensity to enact innovative behaviours in small professional services firms. The study also investigates associations between both attitudes towards T&D and policy and practice supportive of T&D and levels of participation in T&D events.

Data from 203 employees in small professional services firms employing 50 or fewer staff were analysed using regression analysis and PROCESS macro.

Only policy and practice supportive of T&D was associated with participation levels. Participation in T&D events was positively related to affective commitment. Furthermore, employees who participated in more T&D events were more likely to enact innovative behaviours, while affective commitment mediated the positive relationship between number of T&D events attended and innovative behaviours. Contrary to expectations, neither participation in just training nor participation in just development was associated with either attitudes or behaviours.

The findings have important implications for small firms which tend to rely on wholly work-based experiences for the development of employees’ knowledge and skills. Such an approach to learning for work may inadvertently shape a workforce that lacks commitment to the organisation and that has a diminished capacity for innovative behaviours.

There is limited research on how T&D affects attitudes and behaviours in small firms. Large and small firms are fundamentally different, thus findings from studies in large firms may not extend to small firms.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between task-based and interactional informal learning practices in small professional services firms and the moderating role of proactivity in the relationship.

Job demand-resources theory was used to develop theoretical arguments for a link between informal learning and work engagement. Data were collected from 203 employees in professional services firms and analysed using structural equation modelling.

Analysis of the data showed that opportunities to learn through task-based learning processes and through interactions with supervisors and colleagues were positively related to employees’ levels of work engagement. Furthermore, the strength of relationships between these informal learning practices and work engagement was influenced by employees’ proactivity.

The limitations pertain to the non-random sampling procedure, cross-sectional nature of the study and the use of self-report measures. These limitations were mitigated by employing rigorous analytical procedures.

The results suggest that managers are able to influence the quantity and quality of informal workplace learning through strategies such as selecting employees who have a propensity for proactive behaviour, encouraging proactive behaviour, enabling experimentation and reflection and fostering positive interpersonal relations.

The study links two streams of research that have seemingly not been connected previously. The results suggest that small firms are sites with abundant potential for development of employees’ knowledge and skills and the associated experiences of work engagement.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the applicability of job embeddedness (JE) theory to employees in manufacturing SMEs in Central Java, Indonesia, and to qualitatively assess the transferability of the JE framework and its measure to these distinctive contexts.

Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 42 employees from 13 SMEs. The JE framework informed development of the interview questions, which focussed on participants’ lived experiences. Thematic analysis of the textual data was conducted.

Distinctive characteristics of SMEs, such as resource constraints and managerial informality, and cultural factors influenced employees’ perceptions of the forces that embedded them in their jobs. For example, participants perceived the psychological costs associated with severing ties with co-workers as a more salient embedding force than the material costs associated with leaving a job. Additionally, lack of job fit was not an important turnover determinant, because work was perceived as a duty or obligation, rather than a personal choice.

The findings imply that the JE framework and its measure only partially explain why employees stay in manufacturing SMEs in Central Java. Accordingly, the original JE scale items would need to be significantly modified to accurately assess employees’ levels of embeddedness in Indonesian manufacturing SMEs.

Limited research has examined how SME owner-managers can retain key employees, particularly in Indonesia. This study contributes to an understanding of factors that embed employees in the cultural context of Indonesia and enhances our understanding of how JE theory operates in SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to enable management decisions to develop innovation within an organisation by examining the relationship between job embeddedness (JE) and innovative work behaviour (IWB) while also considering the moderating effect of life satisfaction upon this relationship.

Data were collected from 213 employees of small- and medium-sized organisations in Thailand. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the reliability of the measures and validity of the constructs. Multiple regression and PROCESS Macro techniques were used to test the direct and moderation effects.

The two components of JE, organisational and community embeddedness, were found to positively predict IWB. Additionally, life satisfaction was found to moderate the relationship between organisational embeddedness and IWB, but not the relationship between community embeddedness and IWB. At low levels of life satisfaction, the JE and IWB relationship was non-existent.

Organisations can potentially foster employee innovation by adopting strategies that seek to strengthen employee embeddedness in the organisation and in their community.

Studies on the effect of JE on IWB, particularly in small and medium enterprises and the influence of life satisfaction is sparse. This study redresses this imbalance in the knowledge base.

This study aims to systematically review sustainable human resource management (HRM) research with the aim of establishing its research themes, methods and contextual focus to develop a better understanding of the state of the field and the gaps in the research, as well as to propose a future research agenda.

This study uses a systematic literature review method that involves the use of 122 studies from six reputable databases covering January 2003 to March 2020.

There is an over-concentration on the ecological perspective of sustainable HRM and managers dominate the examined population. Moreover, there are geographical imbalances in sustainable HRM research. More so, the idea of bundling sustainable HRM practices together has received scanty research attention relative to the individual sustainable HRM best practices. Consequently, from a strategic HRM perspective, the authors highlight various ways to bundle sustainable HRM practices together. Also, the authors suggest that the ability-motivation-opportunity enhancing (AMO) theory’s perspective provides particularly useful means for this investigation. Furthermore, the findings suggest that sustainable HRM can influence organisations to become more competitive and effective in their quests to ensure economic prosperity, social well-being and ecological outcomes for their stakeholders.

The evidence reveals that there are significant gaps in the literature on the topic and confirms that the field is still at its developmental stage. Hence, there is a need for more rigorous research on the topic to help develop a better understanding of this new field.

This study contributes by providing the first comprehensive review of sustainable HRM themes, methods and contextual focus and by proposing future research agenda. It, therefore, offers a valuable point of departure for those moving into the sustainable HRM domain, as well as valuable insights for those already working in this space.

The purpose of this paper is to examine simultaneously multiple mediating mechanisms through which transformational leadership affects innovative work behaviour (IWB). Specifically, the authors test job autonomy, affective commitment and supportive management as the three mediating paths through which transformational leadership predicts innovative wok behaviour.

Data were collected from 358 employees working in large retail banks in Accra, the capital of Ghana. A partial least squares structural equation modelling technique was used to estimate the measurement and structural models.

Job autonomy and supportive management rather than affective commitment mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and IWB. In addition, transformational leadership positively relates to job autonomy, affective commitment, supportive management and IWB.

By adopting leadership behaviours that seek to offer employees freedom on the job, a feeling of attachment to the organisation and positive perception of leadership support, managers and HR professionals can potentially foster employee innovation. This could stimulate organisational innovation and business success in the financial sector.

Although it is important to understand the mechanisms or processes through which transformational leadership behaviour promotes IWB, research in this area is scanty and scarce. This study theorises and empirically examines job autonomy and support management as novel mechanisms through which transformational leadership behaviour translates into workers’ innovative behaviour in formal banking institutions.

This paper aims to investigate barriers to employee participation in voluntary formal training and development opportunities from the perspective of employees in small engineering businesses.

An exploratory qualitative methodology involving data collection via site visits and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 employees in five small engineering businesses was used. Interviews explored the role of developmental proactivity and employees’ perceptions of conditions in the immediate work environment and industry sector that represent barriers to their participation in formal training and development. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis.

Three key findings are as follows. First, proactive behaviour regarding access to external training and development is muted in small business settings because of strong resource allocation norms. Second, factors in the internal work environment rather than the industry sector constitute the major barriers to training and development. Third, owner-managers and employees appear to have significantly differing perspectives of barriers to training and development.

The findings suggest avenues for future research. These include examining how workplace norms influence employee behaviour with regard to accessing formal training and development and investigating the learning strategies that employees use to compensate for a lack of access to training and development.

Research into relatively low levels of employee participation in formal training and development in small businesses is deficient because it predominantly involves surveys of owner-managers’ opinions. This study is novel because it seeks to generate new insights not previously articulated by employees. The study yielded four propositions that have practical and research implications.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Proactive behavior regarding access to external training and development is muted in small business settings because of strong resource allocation norms. Second, factors in the internal work environment constitute the major barriers to training and development. Third, owner-managers and employees appear to have significantly differing perspectives of barriers to training and development.

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.