Knowledge that Transforms

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is purely an asset when it comes to talent acquisition: that is the dominant narrative among Human Resource Management (HRM) practitioners and scholars alike. Growing evidence, however, gives reason to question this assumption. Accordingly, in this conceptual paper, we develop a process model to articulate both the pros and cons of CSR for recruitment. Using fairness heuristic theory as a central organizing framework, we integrate three theoretical perspectives into the HRM and micro‐CSR literatures. First, we leverage dual‐processing attribution theory to propose that job seekers process information about CSR through both heuristic and deliberative processes, leading them to attribute employer CSR to substantive or symbolic motives. We explain how CSR attributions represent a fairness heuristic, meaning a proxy for how trustworthy job seekers appraise an employer to be. Second, invoking expectancy violation theory, we propose that the more job seekers attribute employer CSR to substantive (symbolic) motives, the higher (lower) their justice expectations will be, thereby increasing (decreasing) the consequences to employers for violating those expectations. Third, expanding scholarship on the dynamic nature of organizational fairness perceptions, we propose that job seekers update their attributions of employer CSR in a recursive cycle that can improve, but tends to degrade, as the recruitment process unfolds—particularly if they have high expectations to begin with. In so doing, we nudge the talent acquisition literature beyond static, fixed‐in‐time accounts to a more representative description of the dynamic and dual‐sided role of CSR in recruitment over time.

In the contemporary digital age, continued online learning behaviors have become indispensable for fostering employee development. However, the learning and development literature predominantly focuses on traditional instructor‐led approaches. It remains unclear how organizations can shape employees' learning behaviors, particularly in the context of online learning. The current study clarifies this underexplored research area by investigating how organizational investment in employee developmental climate (IEDC) can promote employees' continued online learning behaviors. Drawing on social influence theory and employing a multilevel research design, we find empirical support for our research model, which specifies that IEDC positively affects employees' continued online learning behaviors through the effect of normative pressure. The findings also reveal the moderating role of online learning facilitating conditions. Specifically, in firms characterized by higher levels of online learning facilitating conditions, the positive relationship between IEDC and normative pressure becomes more pronounced when compared to organizations with lower levels of such facilitating conditions.

The trickle‐down effect has been proposed as one means to address women's continued underrepresentation in leadership positions globally. While earlier research supported the trickle‐down effect's prediction that increasing women's representation at higher managerial levels will positively impact women's careers at lower managerial levels, recent studies provide inconsistent evidence, leading to claims that it may be spurious. Due to data limitation, most prior trickle‐down research has explored just two managerial levels—board and executives—making it difficult to separate a trickle‐down effect from external pressures (e.g., shareholders, law) or internal factors (e.g., organizational culture) that may cause it. Furthermore, prior research does not adequately account for women's representation in managerial pipelines, a crucial source of potential managerial talent. To address these concerns, we analyze Australian workplace panel data (2014–2020) that allow for a more robust test of the trickle‐down effect than previously examined. Our results support the trickle‐down effect across multiple managerial levels below the board level, independent of managerial pipeline effects. The trickle‐down and pipeline effects were only observed for positions immediately above and below each managerial level. This highlights the proximity of positions within management hierarchies where the in‐group preference and women's direct advocacy for other women are most likely to occur. Our study suggests that simply appointing more women to top positions, such as boards, while beneficial, is not enough to address gender inequality in management meaningfully. We recommend that rather than focusing on gender representation at the top, organizations should set gender diversity goals and monitor progress at all managerial levels. We conclude with implications for theory, practice, and future research.

Research has shown that thriving at work leads to positive outcomes for both organizations and employees. A critical element of thriving is self‐regulation, which enables employees to effectively manage their emotions and behaviors in alignment with their long‐term goals. However, there is a limited understanding of how employees experience thriving when self‐regulation is impaired. In this article, we integrate thriving theory and one of its central elements, self‐regulation, with research on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) which has shown that the condition is associated with reduced and sometimes severely impaired self‐regulation. Empirically, we explore how employees with ADHD experience thriving at work using a qualitative study of working individuals. In contrast to previous findings, our study uncovers a dark side of thriving for employees with ADHD, with negative consequences for their wellbeing and growth opportunities, and ultimately an increased likelihood of voluntary quitting. In our analysis, we explain why, despite an initial positive boost in productivity, thriving ends up being a harmful process for employees with ADHD. We argue that low self‐regulation, together with low self‐esteem and fear of failure, drive them to work excessively and neglect caring for themselves and their families. We develop recommendations for employees with ADHD and their companies to stop this negative downward spiral.

Understanding the workplace experiences of people with disabilities (PWD) is crucial for creating truly inclusive environments. We explore how perceived climate for inclusion affects social anxiety among employees with varying levels of disability severity. Adopting an interactionist perspective, we propose a mediated moderation model in which disability severity weakens the negative effect of perceived climate for inclusion on social anxiety, with this effect mediated by acceptance of disability. To test our hypotheses, we conducted two studies: one with a sample of Chinese employees and another with a culturally diverse sample. We found that the protective effect of perceived climate for inclusion on reducing social anxiety diminishes as disability severity increases, because individuals with more severe disabilities have lower levels of acceptance of disability. These findings underscore the complexities of fostering workplace inclusion and highlight the critical role of self‐acceptance in shaping the effectiveness of inclusive initiatives. Our research contributes to the literature on disability, inclusion, and workplace diversity by revealing the nuanced dynamics that influence social anxiety among PWD in inclusive settings.

Human resource (HR) managers hire conscientious employees because they are both productive and are viewed as upholding high ethical standards due to their propensity to engage in voice. Organizations may strive to create a work context conducive to all employees acting ethically, not just conscientious ones, by centralizing decision‐making authority and promoting formalization through a higher hierarchy of authority. Yet, we propose that from the social information processing perspective, in higher hierarchy of authority contexts, peers may view their highly conscientious colleagues as less ethical. We hypothesize these effects through the lens of trait activation theory, according to which in a higher hierarchy of authority context, others are less likely to notice the voice behaviors of conscientious employees. Problematically, when others fail to notice conscientious employees' voice, they may perceive these workers as being less ethical. We tested our hypothesized moderated mediation model in a matched sample of employees ( N = 820), their supervisors ( N = 445), and peers ( N = 529). As predicted, hierarchy of authority moderated the positive relationship between conscientiousness and voice, which in turn explained others' perceptions of their ethicality. Conscientiousness was positively related to peer assessments of ethicality via promotive (not prohibitive) voice when hierarchy of authority was lower (but not higher), partially supporting our hypotheses. These results suggest HR practitioners should be cognizant of the differential evaluations of highly conscientious employees in contexts with different levels of hierarchy of authority, and continuing challenges associated with balancing flexibility and formalization.

The workforce is aging and becoming more age‐diverse. To better support people working across the lifespan, it is important to understand the barriers they face and the consequences of such barriers. Drawing on the job demands‐resources model, we evaluate the negative effects of age discrimination on employees' perceived work ability and the subsequent consequences for employee well‐being, performance, and motivation. Using two field samples, with two and three data collection time‐points respectively, we hypothesize and find support for age discrimination's direct negative effect on perceived work ability. Moreover, we find support for our hypotheses that age discrimination will have negative indirect effects on employee well‐being, performance, and motivation through perceived work ability. Together, these studies contribute to the aging workforce literature and extend both the age discrimination and work ability literatures by identifying a mechanism through which age discrimination leads to negative consequences for employee well‐being and work outcomes.

Relationship‐oriented human resource management (HRM) contributes to organizational functioning by promoting employee relationships, coordination, and cooperation. We propose unit‐level positive affective climate as a motivational mechanism through which relationship‐oriented HR systems can positively influence unit service quality and relationships with beneficiaries, and prevent individual emotional exhaustion. Moreover, we propose collective occupational calling serves as an alternative motivational source that can substitute for the positive effects of positive affective climate. In analyzing a sample composed of 742 nurses from 48 nursing units of two hospitals in China with data collection at three time points before and after the COVID‐19 outbreak, our results supported the substituting effects of unit‐level collective occupational calling on positive affective climate stemmed from relationship‐oriented HR systems. Our study connects strategic HRM and motivation research by shedding light on an affective mechanism from relationship‐oriented HR systems and the contingencies involving employees' various sources of motivation, such as occupational calling. We further discuss theoretical and practical implications of the research.

Despite increasing interest in supporting older workers' motivation, retention, and well‐being at work, knowledge about how social networks at work may affect the efficacy of training interventions among older employees is scarce. These social ties are an important source of resources for older workers' careers. This study examined the characteristics of older workers' personal social networks as boundary conditions for the effects of late‐career management intervention on work engagement. Data were used from an earlier randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which senior employees (mean age of 58 years) participated in a peer group‐based training intervention and were asked to complete follow‐up surveys at baseline, post‐intervention, and after 6 months (Vuori et al., 2019, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 115: 103327). The results showed that older workers' social ties at higher organizational levels (upper reachability) and the number of social ties at work moderated the effect of the intervention on work engagement. Specifically, the intervention aimed at enhancing employees' personal resources improved work engagement for senior employees with few or no social ties at work with whom they could discuss important matters, and for those with social ties at higher organizational levels. However, the relationship quality between older workers and their leaders showed no moderation effect. This study encourages human resources professionals to consider the social network characteristics and peer learning of older workers when providing training to enhance their work engagement.

With robot usage becoming increasingly prevalent in contemporary workplaces, a key task for supervisors is conducting performance ratings in the context of employee‐robot value co‐creation. In this research, we explore whether, how, and when employees' robot usage affects supervisors' performance ratings. Drawing upon attribution theory, we suggest that supervisors might overestimate the performance of employees who use robots at work. Across a pilot study, two experiments, and one field study, we find that employees' robot usage is positively associated with supervisors' illusory performance transference (i.e., supervisors' belief that robot–associated performance should be attributed to employees who use robots at work). In turn, this transference is positively associated with high performance ratings for the respective employees. Furthermore, the supervisor–perceived experience of robots (i.e., supervisors' perceptions that robots are able to feel emotions and sensations) weakens this indirect effect. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our findings and future directions.