Who Will We Recruit? Targeting Deep- and Surface-Level Diversity with Human Resource Policy Advertising

Diversity branding by organizations

An increasing number of organizations worldwide are engaging in diversity branding to promote their commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace. In this paper, we review 39 peer-reviewed articles on diversity branding, representing the most recent and significant studies in the field. Our review highlights the prevalence of diversity branding, core conceptual and theoretical approaches, and key findings. We also identify directions for future research, emphasizing company-level outcomes and potential negative, unintended consequences of diversity branding.

Managing Diversity in the Chinese Organizational Context: The Impact of Workforce Diversity Management on Employee Job Performance

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of workforce diversity management on employee job performance in the Chinese organizational context, considering the mediating effect of person-job match and employee commitment and the moderating effect of structural empowerment. Data were collected from 400 telecommunication sector employees in China. All hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings of the study illustrated that workforce diversity management has a positive and significant impact on employee job performance. Furthermore, the results indicated that person-job match and employee commitment partially mediate the relationship between workforce diversity management and employee job performance. Moreover, structural empowerment directly affects employee job performance, whereas a moderating effect is also found in the relationship between workforce diversity management and employee job performance. Finally, implications and limitations are discussed.

The Work Values of Portuguese Generation Z in the Higher Education-to-Work Transition Phase

The cohort of young people born with or after the Internet has been dubbed Generation Z (Gen Z, or post-millennials). They are now entering the higher education-to-work transition phase, although this is yet to be studied. Previous studies have found that work values and work preferences vary across generations and national cultures, justifying regular and localised examination. However, very little is known to date about the work values of Portuguese Gen Zs. In this study, we describe the work values of Portuguese university students in the higher education-to-work transition phase and examine their influence on salient work-related preferences. We surveyed over 3000 students attending university degrees from eight main Portuguese universities. We find that Portuguese Gen Zs value social values above all, followed by intrinsic and then extrinsic work values, potentially configuring a unique profile. Work values partially explain work preferences such as employer size and salary expectations. Gender differences mark our results, with women expressing higher work values in all three dimensions and lower entry salary expectations. These results can be useful for employers seeking to attract the best university graduates, facilitate their integration and promote their development.

Stigma hurts: exploring employer and employee perceptions of tattoos and body piercings in Nigeria

Purpose

This study draws on social stigma and prejudice to examine the perceptions and beliefs of managers and employees regarding visible tattoos and body piercings, as well as the impact they have on potential employment and human resource management in the global South, using Nigeria as the research context.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a qualitative research approach, drawing on data from 43 semi-structured interviews with employees and managers in Nigeria.

Findings

Contrary to the popular opinion that tattoos and body piercings are becoming more accepted and mainstream in society, this study finds that some Nigerian employers and employees may stigmatise and discriminate against people with visible tattoos and body piercings. The findings of this study suggest that beliefs about tattoos are predicated on ideologies as well as religious and sociocultural values, which then influence corporate values.

Research limitations/implications

The extent to which the findings of this research can be generalised is constrained by the limited sample and scope of the research.

Practical implications

Religious and sociocultural preconceptions about people with visible tattoos and body piercings have negative implications for the recruitment and employment of such people and could prevent organisations from hiring and keeping talented employees. This implies that talented employees might experience prejudice at job interviews, preventing them from gaining employment. Furthermore, stigmatising and discriminating against people with visible tattoos and body piercings may lead to the termination of employment of talented employees, which could negatively affect organisational productivity and growth.

Originality/value

This study provides an insight into the employment relations regarding tattoos and body piercing in Nigeria. The study highlights the need for mild beliefs and positive perceptions about people with visible tattoos and unconventional body piercings. There should be a general tolerance of the individual preference for body art and physical appearance, and this tolerance should be incorporated in organisational policies, which are enactments of corporate culture.

Diversity and creativity in cross-national teams: The role of team knowledge sharing and inclusive climate

Diversity literature has demonstrated negative effects of surface-level diversity and positive effects of deep-level diversity. How do two types of diversity among cross national team members influence team knowledge sharing and team creativity? The purpose of this study is to explore conditions that leverage the positive and restrain the negative effects of team diversity on team knowledge sharing, which leads to team creativity. We expect inclusive climate as the significant condition and knowledge sharing as the profound intervening mechanism between team diversity and team creativity relationship. We tested the hypotheses with data from a sample of 60 cross-national research teams from several universities in China. The results support the hypothesized relationships among inclusive climate, team knowledge sharing, and team creativity. Our findings contribute to the advancement of team diversity and team creativity literature, and their theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Herding Cats – Future Professionals' Expectations of Attractive Employers

Professionals, like business consultants, have been described as crucial for modern knowledge-intensive organizations, but they are not always thought to be easy to manage or to attract. This might be due to a need for autonomy and commitment that is aimed more at the profession than at their employer. For their recruitment it is thus important for modern organizations like professional service firms (PSFs) to know what expectations applicants who are future professionals have regarding human resource (HR) principles and programmes. We refer to the institutional logics perspective to gain insights whether, in the context of PSFs, applicants' expectations are associated with the logic of the profession, the corporation or the family. This article describes a discrete choice experiment conducted to analyse the influence of HR attributes in job advertisements used by PSFs to attract business management students. We use a hierarchical Bayesian analysis to carry out the conjoint analysis, as it enabled us to measure the relative importance of attributes on an individual level. The results show that first required job-related attitudes and then company and job description are the most important features of a job advertisement. Our study also indicates that future professionals simultaneously draw on different institutional logics when deciding which employer is attractive.