The Role of Authentic Leadership in Shaping Performance Feedback Reactions: The Mediating Role of Trust in Leader

In this study we attempted to explore the effect of authentic leadership on followers’ feedback reactions in the performance appraisal context using trust in leader as the mediating variable. We collected data from a sample of 183 employees working in the information technology sector of Pakistan using a self-administered questionnaire, employing a cross-sectional study design with convenience sampling technique. The study provided empirical evidence about the effect of authentic leadership on performance feedback reactions and the associated mediating mechanism. It drew on authentic leadership theory and investigated why such a leadership style was important in making the performance appraisal process successful and effective. As hypothesized, authentic leadership significantly predicted perceived feedback accuracy and utility (two feedback reactions in performance appraisal). Our findings confirmed that there was a significant mediating effect of trust in leaders between authentic leadership and performance feedback reactions. The inferences drawn based on the results suggested that raters’ authenticity in performance appraisal context creates a trusting situation and leads to ratees’ perception of feedback accuracy and utility.

Exploring Linkages Between Workplace Spirituality and Occupational Stress Among Indian Police Personnel

The inclusion of spirituality at workplaces has yielded significant advantages for the employees and the organisations. The present study probes the optimistic facet of workplace spirituality (WPS) to identify its linkages with one of the most daunting issues for organisations, occupational stress (OS). Police officers from Himachal Pradesh, a hilly state in Northern India, were approached and responses were collected from 385 participants. The study utilises the three-dimensional WPS measure conceptualised by Milliman et al. (2003) . Sense of community and value alignment was found to be explaining significant variance in occupational stress. The findings demonstrate the importance of embracing WPS as an effective tool for alleviating OS, thereby augmenting the performance and morale and guiding strategy formulation of future human resource development activities.

Aspects of Women’s Leadership in the Organisation: Systematic Literature Review

In most organisations, women are underrepresented in top positions. Many aspects of Women’s Leadership are studied in the literature for underrepresentation of women leaders. This study aims to analyse and consolidate the insights about those aspects of Women’s Leadership, which gives them a stable and secure position in the organisation, beyond the unseen walls of gender discrimination. These aspects are barriers, enablers, strengths and weaknesses of Women’s Leadership. The research method used for the study is a systematic literature review method. Peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles and book references between 1990 and 2021 identified from the Scopus and Web of Sciences databases are considered for the study. The result showed much uniformity in the ‘Women’s Leadership’ phenomenon, globally. This research found that Women’s Leadership studies are mostly conducted in areas such as social sciences, business and management, medicine, education, etc. It also found that most women-leadership-related studies are conducted in developed countries where the percentage of women leaders is comparatively higher than in other industries. Still, women leaders in both developed and developing countries face similar barriers during their careers. The gender gap and the glass ceiling they have to break are some of the issues experienced by women in any organisation. Organisational bias, lack of assertiveness and poor networking also pose barriers to Women’s Leadership. Yet, there are some enablers for Women’s Leadership, such as mentoring, good training programmes and workplace culture. However, maintaining a work–life balance, working under pressure and excluding informal communication are considered as limitations for Women’s Leadership. Strengths, such as high emotional intelligence, empathy, democratic leadership style, sincerity and ability to make decisions under critical circumstances benefit the organisation. This study will help to get an integrated and consolidated theoretical review of different aspects of Women’s Leadership in the organisation. Moreover, the study can help to implement various organisational policies to increase the percentage of women in leadership roles.

Labour Regulations, Growth and Employment: A South Asian Perspective

Drawing on the experience of four South Asian economies (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), this article argues that properly designed labour market institutions and regulations play a pivotal role in engendering desirable economic and social dividends. The alternative is a Hobbesian world of an unregulated labour market, which is likely to produce poor wages and working conditions. Policymakers in the region should acknowledge common challenges pertaining to low utilisation of the skills and talents of young people, entrenched gender disparities, high, and in many cases rising, informality, significant incidence of working poverty and vulnerability. They should focus on designing complementary interventions to tackle such shared challenges rather than being fixated on the narrowly conceived notion of deregulating labour markets.

Predicting Service Recovery Performance through Job Crafting Perception and Behaviour: Does Proactivity Make a Difference?

The central aim of this study is to investigate whether the proactive personality (PP) of frontline service employees moderates the impact of perceived opportunity to craft (POC) on actual job crafting (JC) behaviour. We also examine the consequent effect of JC on employee work engagement (WE) and perceived service recovery performance (SRP). Primary data collected from 624 dyads of Indian frontline banking employees and their immediate colleagues (peers) formed the basis of empirical analysis. Data on JC perception, WE and JC behaviour was self-reported by the employees. On the other hand, peer-rating was invited for frontline employees’ PP and recovery performance. Empirical results indicated that the likelihood of POC resulting in actual JC is significantly higher for proactive employees in comparison to their reactive counterparts. The results also suggest that JC nurtures WE which, in turn, enhances SRP.

Mediating Role of Psychological Contract Fulfilment on the Relationship between Strength of HR Signal and Organisational Commitment: Evidence from the Indian Manufacturing Sector

This study examined the relationship between human resource (HR) signals’ strength and affective organisational commitment (AOC) through the mediating role of psychological contract fulfilment (PCF). Survey data were collected from 460 manufacturing sector respondents. Structural equation modelling confirmed that HR signals’ strength and PCF positively influenced AOC. PCF also mediated the relationship between the HR signal and AOC’s strength. Results have theoretical implications, as well as practical implications for the management to consider fulfilling its obligations to meet employee needs and expectations through appropriate HR strategies for enhancing employees’ AOC.