This study investigates the relation of further training and employees’ affective commitment by disentangling the relevance of a firm’s general support for further training and the individual’s actual participation. Using linked employer-employee data, we consider both the firm’s and the individual’s perspective and control for several HR instruments additionally to the usual demographics and job characteristics. We also distinguish between subgroups of employees regarding age and schooling. Results show that employees’ participation in further training and a firm’s support for further training are both positively related to affective commitment. Furthermore, our results hint for differences in employees’ expectations regarding the amount of the firm’s support for further training. Whereas there is no meaningful relation of the general firm’s support for further training to commitment of university graduates, participation in further training measures and the individuals’ perceived support for personnel development is particularly relevant for this group of employees.
PurposeWe analyze the role of works councils for the use of performance appraisals (PA). We distinguish between the incidence of PA systems as intended by the firm and their actual implementation on the level of the individual employee.Design/methodology/approachWe draw on two complementary data sets. These are the German Linked Personnel Panel (LPP), which combines firm-based information with information provided by several of those employees, and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), which is a representative longitudinal study of persons living in Germany.FindingsWe find that works councils tend to promote rather than restrict PA. Employees working in establishments with a works council are more likely to face a formal PA procedure. Works councils also act as a transmission institution for the actual use of an existing PA system – i.e. among the firms that claim to implement PA for all their employees, the likelihood of their employees actually having regular appraisals is substantially larger when works councils are in place. Moreover, the existence of works councils is positively related particularly to PA systems, which affects bonus payments.Research limitations/implicationsWe contribute to the understanding of the work of works councils in firms. In more general, we shed light to the relation of industrial relations and human resource management in firms.Practical implicationsThis result hints at a higher acceptance of PA systems in firms with works councils. It seems likely that the stronger formalization of such systems necessitated by codetermination laws increases the likelihood of supervisors consistently carrying out such appraisals.Originality/valueWe are the first who complement the analysis of the existence of HR practices (PA system) with its actual use for employees.
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