Reducing perceptions of overqualification and its impact on job satisfaction: the dual roles of interpersonal relationships at work

• Author: Sabine Baalen,Amanda Shantz,Kerstin Alfes
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12094
• Published date: 01 January 2016
• Date: 01 January 2016

Reducing perceptions of overqualification and its

impact on job satisfaction: the dual roles of

interpersonal relationships at work

KerstinAlfes, Chair of Organisationand Human Resource Management,ESCP Europe

Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin

Amanda Shantz,Department of Management, IÉSEGSchool of Management LEM-

CNRS (UMR 9221)

Sabine van Baalen, Department of Human ResourceStudies, Tilburg University

Human Resource Management Journal, Vol 26, no 1, 2016,pages 84–101

A sizeable portionof the working population perceives thatthey are overqualified for their jobs. Thisis

problematic,given that research consistentlyshows that such beliefs translateinto lower levels of job

satisfaction.Hence, it behoves human resource management(HRM) scholars to identifyfactors that influence

perceptions of overqualificationand also moderators that may reduce the negative effect of perceived

overqualification on job satisfaction. In this study, we present a moderated path modelthat posits that the

quality of therelationships that employeeshold with their leaderand with their team is not only antecedents of

perceived overqualification but it is alsohypothesised to weaken the negativerelationship between perceived

overqualification and job satisfaction. Survey data that were gathered from two organisations in the

Netherlands (n= 183) supported the model. Implications for theory and practice in HRM arediscussed.

Contact: Kerstin Alfes, ESCP Europe Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin, Chair of Organisation and

Human Resource Management, Heubnerweg 8-10, 14059 Berlin. Email: kalfes@escpeurope.eu

Keywords:job satisfaction; leader–member exchange; perceived overqualification; team cohesiveness

INTRODUCTION

One of the central issues facing HRM practitioners isensuring that employees possess

and deploy skills to carry out their jobs successfully (Grugulis, 2003). While human

resource management (HRM) research has primarily focused on managing under-

skilled workers (e.g. Edwards et al., 2009), more recently, attention has been directed towards

managing those who are overqualified for their jobs (Erdogan et al., 2011a). This is because a

number of conditions, including rising education levels, the global mobility of jobs and the

recent economic crisis, have led to a situation in which an increasing number of employees

possess more skills and education than what is required for their jobs (Quintini, 2011;

Pouliakas, 2013). For instance, research suggests that as many as one in three workers are

overqualifiedin countries such as the UK, the US, Canada and Germany (Groot and Maassen

van den Brink, 2000; Quintini, 2011), and the number of overqualified employees is likely to

increasein the future (Vaisey,2006). Overqualification is thereforeof central interest to scholars,

policymakers and HRM practitioners.

Human resourcemanagement research has produced compelling evidence that perceptions

of overqualification, that is, theextent to which employees areaware of the mismatch between

their qualifications and job requirements, have negative consequences for overqualified

employees and the organisations that employ them (e.g. Feldman et al., 2002; Erdogan and

Bauer, 2009). Indeed, a robust finding is that employees who perceive that they are

overqualifiedhave poor job satisfaction because they believe that theyare deprived of a better

Please cite thisarticle in press as: Alfes, K.,Shantz, A. and van Baalen, S. (2016)‘Reducing perceptions of overqualification andits impact on job

satisfaction:the dualroles of interpersonalrelationships at work’.HumanResource ManagementJournal 26: 1, 84–101.

84 HUMAN RESOURCE MAN AGEMENT JOURNAL, VOL 26, NO 1 , 2016

©2016 John Wiley& Sons Ltd.

doi: 10.1111/1748-8583.12094

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job (Crosby, 1976; Feldmanet al., 2002). This is problematic given the association between job

satisfaction and a host of important individual and organisational outcomes (e.g. Judge et al.,

2001; Faragher et al., 2005). In order to minimise the occurrence and negative consequences

of perceivedoverqualification,HRM scholars must respond to two pressingquestions: (a) what

factors influence the extent to which employees perceive that they are overqualified for their

jobs? and (b) what factors minimise dissatisfaction due to overqualification?

Theoretical models have shed some light on the first question (Feldman, 1996; McKee-

Ryan and Harvey, 2011). Indeed, factors such as the economic environment, employees’

career history and employees’traits and work preferences likely influence the extent to

which employees feel overqualified for their jobs (see McKee-Ryan and Harvey, 2011, for

a review). In the present article, we argue that factors located within an employee’s work

environment may also be associated with perceived overqualification. This is because

proximal factors in the work environment play a dominant role in influencing employee

attitudes (Lewin, 1943).

To respond to the second question, it is necessary to exploremoderators of the relationship

between perceived overqualification and job satisfaction. Examining moderating factors is

important, not only because it enhances overqualification theory by identifying conditions

under which the relationship between overqualification and job satisfaction is tempered

(Whetten, 1989; Colquitt and Zapata-Phelan, 2007) but it also has practical significance. This

is becauseHRM professionals seeminglyface a dilemma with regard to engagingand retaining

overqualifiedworkers. Although they recognisethat many overqualified candidatesare likely

to perform well in their jobs, HRM professionals are oftentimes fearful of hiring overqualified

workersbecause they believe that theywill be less satisfied at workand may quit if they find an

alternative jobthat is commensurate with their qualifications (e.g. Green, 2013;Sullivan, 2014).

Hence, identifying factors that reduce the negative relationship between perceptions of

overqualification and job satisfactionwill help to resolve this dilemma.

The present study wasdesigned to respond to these two questionsthrough an examination

of the dual (i.e. independent and moderating) roles of interpersonal relationships at work

(Figure 1) in the context of overqualification. Specifically, we focus on employees’perceptions

of the quality of the relationships that they have with their manager, or leader–member

exchange (Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995) and with their team, as indicated by employees’

perceptions of team cohesiveness (Schermerhorn et al., 2002) as antecedents of perceived

overqualification, as well as moderators of the relationship between perceived

overqualification and job satisfaction.

INTERPERSONALRELATIONSHIPS AT WORK AS ANTECEDENTSOF PERCEIVED

OVERQUALIFICATION

Although researchers in the fields of education and economics suggest that employees are

overqualified when their educational qualifications exceed the mean or modal level of

qualification held by their occupational group (Pouliakas, 2013), researchers in HRM tend to

take a broader view of overqualification. Theysuggest that it occurs when employees perceive

that they have skills, knowledge, abilities, qualifications and/or experience that exceed the

requirements of the job, or are not used on the job (Erdogan et al., 2011b). We focus on

perceptions of overqualification because they take into account more than educational

qualifications, they reflect the experience of employees (Zalesny and Ford, 1990; Maynard

et al., 2006) and they are more likely to be related to important job attitudes such as job

satisfaction (Erdogan et al., 2011b).

Kerstin Alfes,Amanda Shantz and Sabine van Baalen

HUMAN RESOURCEMANAGEMENT JOURNAL, VOL 26, NO 1, 2016 85

©2016 John Wiley& Sons Ltd.