The “HR–line‐connecting HRM system” and its effects on employee turnover

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21905
• Date: 01 September 2018
• Published date: 01 September 2018

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The “HR–line-connecting HRM system”and its effects on

employee turnover

Sunghoon Kim

1

| Zhong-Xing Su

2

| Patrick M. Wright

3

1

UNSW Business School, University of New

South Wales, Sydney, Australia

2

School of Labor and Human Resources,

Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

3

Darla Moore School of Business, University

of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina

Correspondence

Zhong-Xing Su, School of Labor and Human

Resources, Renmin University of China,

No. 59, Zhongguancun Street, Beijing,

100872, China.

Email: suzhongxing@ruc.edu.cn

Funding information

National Natural Science Foundation of China,

Grant/Award numbers: Project No: 71272157,

71472178

Although the importance of positive, trusting, and cooperative relations between HR profes-

sionals and line managers has been well documented, little is known about how organizations

can systematically nurture such relationships. This article specifies the “HR–line-connecting

HRM system,”which consists of a bundle of HRM practices designed to improve the relation-

ship between HR and line managers. Drawing on the social capital perspective and HR strength

theory, we propose that such HRM practices develop HR managers' social networks with line

managers and facilitate the formation of a shared language between them, which should in turn

result in low employee turnover. Our theory is generally supported by empirical analyses on

data from Chinese high-tech firms.

KEYWORDS

HR–line-connecting HRM system, shared language, social capital, social network,

strategic HRM

1|INTRODUCTION

Strong social bondin g between HR professio nals and line managers

is indispensable fo r successful imple mentation of HRM pol icies

(Brewster, Gollan, & Wright, 2013; Farndale & Kelliher, 2013;

Kim & Ryu, 2011; Renwick, 2003; Ryu & Kim, 2013; Sanders &

Frenkel, 2011). Res earch suggests that p ositive, trusting , and coop-

erative relationships between HR professionals and line managers

could generate a strong HRM climate (Bowen & Ostroff, 2004)

and thereby lead to pos itive outcomes such as e nhanced employee

performance (e.g., Alfes, Shantz, Truss, & Soane, 2013), effective

work–life balance programs (McCarthy, Darcy, & Grady, 2010), and

the expedited adopti on of advanced produc tion systems (Gollan ,

Kalfa, & Xu, 2015). Although the organizational benefits of positive

HR personnel–line manager relation s are well understood, li ttle is

known about how organ izations can system atically nurture an d

develop such relationships. The literature has predominantly

treated HR–line relations as an exogenous variable, and its ante-

cedents have received surprisingly limited attention. This is an

unfortunate omissi on, as practitione rs need to know how to

facilitate close wo rking relationshi ps between line manag ers

and HR professionals (e.g., Conaty & Charan, 2010; Ulrich &

Brockbank, 2005).

Our study fills this gap by investigating an antecedent of collabo-

rative relations between HR professionals and line managers. Specifi-

cally, we have identified a set of HRM practices that could

systematically promote social interaction and collaboration between

HR specialists and line managers. This bundle of HR practices, which

we have termed the HR–line-connecting human resource management

(HRM) system, consists of practices that can enhance the collaborative

capacity and motivation of line and HR managers to cooperate, as

well as provide them with opportunities to work side by side. Draw-

ing on social capital theory and HR strength literature, we assert that

the HR–line-connecting HRM system enhances the strength of the

HR climate by influencing intraorganizational social networks and

shared cognitive mental models, thereby improving employee

outcomes.

Our study on the HR–line-connecting HRM system is in line with

the growing interest in HRM literature about HR subsystems that tar-

get specific organizational goals (Jackson, Schuler, & Jiang, 2014).

Traditionally, HRM scholars have focused on general HRM systems

(such as high-performance work systems) and their impacts on

generic organizational performance (Huselid, 1995; Jackson et al.,

2014; Lepak, Liao, Chung, & Harden, 2006). Despite its merits and

influences, this approach has been the subject of debate. For

instance, P. Wright and Sherman (1990), in exploring the lack of

DOI: 10.1002/hrm.21905

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