Perception Is Reality: How Employees Perceive What Motivates HR Practices Affects their Engagement, Behavior and Performance

KEY FINDINGS Espoused or intended HR practices have differential effects on employee engagement and citizenship behaviors depending on the underlying management motives employees attribute to those practices. To achieve desired organizational outcomes, it’s important to have not only the right HR practices but the right employee perceptions of those practices. Within the service organization studied, employees were more engaged when they believed HR practices were motivated by the organization’s concern for high-quality service and employee well-being. Employees were less engaged when they believed a company’s HR practices were motivated by a desire to reduce costs and exploit employees. Employee attitudes coalesce into unit-level citizenship behaviors, some of which are associated with greater customer satisfaction