Perceptions of HR practices, person–organisation fit, and affective commitment: The moderating role of career stage

• Author: Corine Boon,Dorien T.A.M. Kooij
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12164
• Published date: 01 January 2018
• Date: 01 January 2018

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Perceptions of HR practices, person–organisation

fit, and affective commitment: The moderating role

of career stage

Dorien T.A.M. Kooij

1

|Corine Boon

2

1

School of Social and Behavioral Sciences,

Department of Human Resource Studies,

Tilburg University

2

Amsterdam Business School, Department of

Leadership and Management, University of

Amsterdam

Correspondence

Dorien T.A.M. Kooij, School of Social and

Behavioral Sciences, Department of Human

Resource Studies, Tilburg University,

Warandelaan 2, 5037 AB, Tilburg, the

Netherlands.

Email: t.a.m.kooij@uvt.nl

Abstract

In a three‐wave survey study among 487 Dutch university

employees, we examined how and when employees' perceptions

of high‐performance work practices (HPWP) affect employee affec-

tive commitment. We proposed that perceived person–organisation

(PO) fit mediates this relationship and that the relationships among

perceptions of HPWP, perceived PO fit, and affective commitment

differ across career stages. Our results confirm that perceptions of

HPWP enhance PO fit perceptions and, in turn, strengthen affective

commitment. Moreover, the relationship between perceptions of

HPWP and perceived PO fit is only significant among employees in

the advancement stage of their careers; however, direct comparison

across different career stages reveals no significant differences in

the HPWP–PO fit relationship. Furthermore, career stage partly

moderates the relationship between PO fit and affective commit-

ment, which is only significant among employees in the maintenance

career stage. These findings have important implications for the

literature on strategic Human Resource Management and PO fit.

KEYWORDS

affectivecommitment, career stage,perceptions of high‐performance

work practices, person–organisationfit

1|INTRODUCTION

Over the past few decades, many studies in strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) have established

relationships between HRM practices and organisational performance (Boselie, Dietz, & Boon, 2005; Combs, Liu, Hall,

& Ketchen, 2006). A particular focus has emerged on high‐performance work practices (HPWP), a term that refers to a

set of interconnected HR practices—such as selective recruitment and selection, extensive training and development,

performance management, performance‐based pay, and participation in decision making (Jiang, Lepak, Hu, & Baer,

2012)—that are expected to improve firm performance by enhancing employee knowledge, skills and abilities,

Received: 16 September 2016 Revised: 22 May 2017 Accepted: 8 June 2017

DOI: 10.1111/1748-8583.12164

Hum Resour Manag J. 2018;28:61–75. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltdwileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrmj 61