South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management, Volume 10, Issue 1, Page 85-106, June 2023.
Along with advancements in information technology and related infrastructure, the gig economy is expanding to more and more cities in the world. In emerging economies like India, due to increasing urbanisation and Internet connectivity, many services are being delivered through technology platforms, and their numbers are growing fast. However, not much is known about the impact of app-based employment on the workers. The online food delivery sector is a suitable segment to probe the same. How vulnerable is this ever-dispensable food delivery employee in his monotonous job? These workers are employed under the mobile apps that control them like in a sci-fi game. What does it mean to be constantly under the mobile app surveillance? Does the flexibility of the gig economy impact the skills and aspirations of these boys? Does it dehumanise the workers and transform them into human drones? This study maps the lived experience of food delivery boys and their families, which has so far remained behind the celebrated success of the platform economy in India. Using both interview and participant observation methods to study gig workers and deploying dimensional analysis to unpack the context, this study finds evidence of unobtrusive dehumanisation. Given the mushrooming trend of such gig workers, the findings of this study call for a deeper analysis of the social impact of the gig economy and have far-reaching implications.
Category Archives: South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management
Towards Compassionate Total Rewards: COVID-19’s Clarion Call for a Paradigmatic Shift
South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management, Volume 10, Issue 1, Page 152-162, June 2023.
The COVID-19 ‘new normal’ has forced organisations to reinvent business practices including rewards in order to retain and motivate employees. This article reviewed the published literature to identify the changing Total Rewards strategies adopted by firms in India as they navigated the various phases of this unprecedented pandemic. The review of academic papers as well as practitioner articles or news articles on relevant themes published in the period of 2020–2021 was followed by semi-structured interviews with 12 human resource practitioners working in the Compensation and Benefits or Total Rewards function across various organisations in India to arrive at the findings of the study. The study revealed that most firms have adopted a compassionate approach while reformulating their Total Rewards strategy. Agility, fairness and hyper-personalisation form the cornerstones for relooking at the Total Rewards dimensions such as pay, benefits, learning and development, and work environment. Spurred by the pandemic, the article highlights the endeavour of Indian firms to imbibe compassion into their Total Rewards strategies by being agile, fair and hyper-personalised. Further, it also lists potential challenges that Indian reward leaders might need to address to successfully implement and sustain a compassionate Total Rewards culture in their organisations.
The COVID-19 ‘new normal’ has forced organisations to reinvent business practices including rewards in order to retain and motivate employees. This article reviewed the published literature to identify the changing Total Rewards strategies adopted by firms in India as they navigated the various phases of this unprecedented pandemic. The review of academic papers as well as practitioner articles or news articles on relevant themes published in the period of 2020–2021 was followed by semi-structured interviews with 12 human resource practitioners working in the Compensation and Benefits or Total Rewards function across various organisations in India to arrive at the findings of the study. The study revealed that most firms have adopted a compassionate approach while reformulating their Total Rewards strategy. Agility, fairness and hyper-personalisation form the cornerstones for relooking at the Total Rewards dimensions such as pay, benefits, learning and development, and work environment. Spurred by the pandemic, the article highlights the endeavour of Indian firms to imbibe compassion into their Total Rewards strategies by being agile, fair and hyper-personalised. Further, it also lists potential challenges that Indian reward leaders might need to address to successfully implement and sustain a compassionate Total Rewards culture in their organisations.
The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment on the Transformational Leadership-Innovative Work Behaviour relationship: A Study of Indian Banking Sector
South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management, Volume 10, Issue 1, Page 130-151, June 2023.
The purpose of the study was to examine the association between managers’ transformational leadership style and employees’ innovative work behaviour (IWB) through psychological empowerment. We employed survey methodology and collected data by administering a standardised instrument to employees (n = 203) working in public and private sector bank branches in the Delhi-NCR region of India. By applying structural equation modelling, we found that by adopting a transformational leadership style, managers can encourage employees’ IWB. Psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and the IWB of the employees. Additionally, we found that the transformational leadership style is positively associated with the psychological empowerment of employees, and employees’ psychological empowerment is positively related to the IWB of the employees. The study practically iterates that transformational leaders can augment their employees’ innovative behaviour by empowering them.
The purpose of the study was to examine the association between managers’ transformational leadership style and employees’ innovative work behaviour (IWB) through psychological empowerment. We employed survey methodology and collected data by administering a standardised instrument to employees (n = 203) working in public and private sector bank branches in the Delhi-NCR region of India. By applying structural equation modelling, we found that by adopting a transformational leadership style, managers can encourage employees’ IWB. Psychological empowerment partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and the IWB of the employees. Additionally, we found that the transformational leadership style is positively associated with the psychological empowerment of employees, and employees’ psychological empowerment is positively related to the IWB of the employees. The study practically iterates that transformational leaders can augment their employees’ innovative behaviour by empowering them.
Striving for Inclusion of Diverse Employees: How Important is the Context?
South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management, Volume 10, Issue 1, Page 107-129, June 2023.
Organisations are making efforts to enhance diversity and become inclusive, yet there is little agreement on what leads an organisation to become inclusive. This article explores how organisations become inclusive through certain policies, practices, and behaviours. We conducted this study on a multinational subsidiary based in Pakistan with its parent company headquartered in Europe. Single case study methodology was used along with semi-structured interviews to gather in-depth data. Our findings suggest that inclusive organisations and inclusion can be considered relative concepts based on the context. An effort to find standardised policies, practices and behaviours to create inclusive organisations may not be possible. Organisations may be considered inclusive in the context that they operate in. The study strongly demonstrates the need to further refine the concept of inclusive organisations especially in light of societal context. The study serves as a valuable point of discussion in understanding how local operating context is balanced with international transfer of human resource (HR) practices. Our study contributes to diversity and inclusion literature through discussing behavioural and procedural elements that contribute towards building an inclusive workplace in a non-western context.
Organisations are making efforts to enhance diversity and become inclusive, yet there is little agreement on what leads an organisation to become inclusive. This article explores how organisations become inclusive through certain policies, practices, and behaviours. We conducted this study on a multinational subsidiary based in Pakistan with its parent company headquartered in Europe. Single case study methodology was used along with semi-structured interviews to gather in-depth data. Our findings suggest that inclusive organisations and inclusion can be considered relative concepts based on the context. An effort to find standardised policies, practices and behaviours to create inclusive organisations may not be possible. Organisations may be considered inclusive in the context that they operate in. The study strongly demonstrates the need to further refine the concept of inclusive organisations especially in light of societal context. The study serves as a valuable point of discussion in understanding how local operating context is balanced with international transfer of human resource (HR) practices. Our study contributes to diversity and inclusion literature through discussing behavioural and procedural elements that contribute towards building an inclusive workplace in a non-western context.
Choose to be Optimistic, it Feels Better! The Role of Career Decision-making Self-efficacy on the Relationship between Boundaryless Career Orientation and Career Optimism
South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management, Volume 10, Issue 1, Page 9-35, June 2023.
Drawing on the conservation of resources (CoR) theory, this study examined whether career decision-making self-efficacy (CDSE) intervenes in the association of employees’ boundaryless career orientation and career optimism. The study further sets out to assess the interactional contribution of employees’ consideration of distant future consequences—future (CFC-F) on the fore connection of employees’ CDSE and optimism. In this vein, data were collected from 211 electronic media employees through cluster sampling via an electronically administered questionnaire. SPSS 21 and SmartPLS 3.0 were used for preliminary data analyses and hypothesis testing, respectively. The results showed that CDSE significantly and positively intervened in the relationship between boundaryless career orientation and career optimism. Furthermore, the interactional effect of CFC-F was also found significant in a way that employees demonstrated a higher degree of career optimism at the higher levels of CFC-F. Hence, the premise of CoR theory that constructive resources (e.g., boundaryless career orientation) help individuals to gain other key resources (e.g., CDSE, optimism) was substantiated. Theoretical and practical implications of the study were also discussed.
Drawing on the conservation of resources (CoR) theory, this study examined whether career decision-making self-efficacy (CDSE) intervenes in the association of employees’ boundaryless career orientation and career optimism. The study further sets out to assess the interactional contribution of employees’ consideration of distant future consequences—future (CFC-F) on the fore connection of employees’ CDSE and optimism. In this vein, data were collected from 211 electronic media employees through cluster sampling via an electronically administered questionnaire. SPSS 21 and SmartPLS 3.0 were used for preliminary data analyses and hypothesis testing, respectively. The results showed that CDSE significantly and positively intervened in the relationship between boundaryless career orientation and career optimism. Furthermore, the interactional effect of CFC-F was also found significant in a way that employees demonstrated a higher degree of career optimism at the higher levels of CFC-F. Hence, the premise of CoR theory that constructive resources (e.g., boundaryless career orientation) help individuals to gain other key resources (e.g., CDSE, optimism) was substantiated. Theoretical and practical implications of the study were also discussed.