Employeeperceptionsofmanagementrelationsasinfluenceson…11
behavior(Graham&Tarbell,2006).Employeeattitudesarelikelytobeinfluencedbyrelationswiththesedifferentmanagementfunctionaries.
Employeerelationshipswiththreecategoriesofmanagementaredeemedtobecritical.Thefirstconcernsseniormanagement—theheadsofbusinessunitsordepartmentswhotypicallyreporttotheCEOoftheorganizationorasubsidiary.Atthisstrategiclevel,seniormanagementdevelopsandcommunicatesvalues,policies,andproceduresthatinfluenceemployees’attitudestomanagementlegitimacyandextentofsupportformanagement.Seniormanagementsettheorganizationaltone;theymaytreatemployeesasvaluableresourcesworthyofinvestmentorasexpend-ablefactorsofproduction.Theformerviewislikelytoincludelong-term,open-endedexpectationsandresponsivenesstoemployees’expressedneeds(seeMossholder,Richardson,&Settoon,2011;Sunetal.,2007).Accordingtosocialexchangetheory(Blau,1964),favorabletreatmentwillleadtohigherlevelsofjobsatisfaction,affectivecommitment,organizationalcitizenshipbehavior,higherper-formance,andlowerturnover(Allen,Shore,&Griffeth,2003;Maertz,Griffeth,Campbell,&Allen,2007;Organ,Podsakoff,&Mackenzie,2006;Rhoades&Eisenberger,2002;Wayne,Shore,Bommer,&Tetrick,2002).
Thesecondrelationshipreferstooperationalorlinemanagement’srelationshipwithemployees.ThesemiddleandjuniormanagersinterpretandimplementHRandotherpoliciesthataffectemployees.Linemanagementrelationswithemployeesinfluencethelatter’sgeneralworkexperience(Ng&Sorensen,2008;Rhoades,Eisenberger,&Armeli,2001)andstronglypredictsemployeeattitudes,particularlyaffectivecom-mitment(Liden,Sparrowe,&Wayne,1997;Stinglhamber&Vandenberghe,2003).Linemanagementbehaviortowardsemployeesisnotsimplydeterminedbyseniormanagementexpectations.Itisshapedbyincentivestructures,themeaningattributedtoseniormanagementcommunications,rolepriorities,competence,andsalienceaccordedtoemployeerelationsandassociatedHRtasksandrelationswithHRmanagers(McGovern,Gratton,Hope-Hailey,Stiles,&Truss,1997;Purcell&Hutchinson,2007;Truss,2001).Inshort,linemanagersareunlikelytosimplyfollowseniormanagementdecisionsandexpectations;theywillhavetheirownviewsandpreferencesfordevelopingparticularrelationshipswithemployees.
ThethirdrelationshipconcernsHRmanagersandemployees.Thesemanagershavebeenseekingamorecentralroleinstrategicdecision-making,howevertheyremainpreoccupiedwithadvisingandsupportinglinemanagersinsolvingpeople-relatedproblemsandbuildingemployeecapability(Larsen&Brewster,2003;Ulrich&Brockbank,2005).Inaddition,partoftheirroleistoprovideinformationandadvicetoindividualemployeestosupplementinformationobtainedthroughintranetandotherstandardizedsources(Ulrich&Brockbank,2005)
Wherebothseniorandlinemanagementconveyacommonmessageoffavorabletreatmenttoemployeesonemployeejobsatisfactionandquitintentionswilldifferfromasituationwheremessagesareeithervagueorcontradictory.AccordingtoBowenandOstroff(2004),messagesneedtobedistinctive(i.e.,attractive),clearandconsistent,andsubjecttoconsensusbykeymanagementstakeholders.Inotherwords,HRpoliciesformulatedbyseniormanagementandexecutedbybothseniorandlinemanagementwithassistancefromHRmanagers,shouldconveyasharedunderstand-ingofHRgoals,priorities,andassociatedpracticestoemployees.Wherethisoccursthevisibilityofthemessageisamplifiedandmanagementlegitimacyisenhancedas