Three Essays on Labor and Employee Sentiment

Download or read book Three Essays on Labor and Employee Sentiment written by Paul Obermann and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CHAPTER 1 I study the turnover of Human Resource Officers (HROs) in large U.S. corporations. While poor firm financial performance does not significantly increase the probability of turnover, another factor seems vital: Employee Sentiment. Using evaluations by current firm employees on Glassdoor.com, I show that the likelihood of HRO dismissal decreases when employee sentiment regarding the overall firm, senior leadership, career opportunities, compensation and benefits, work-life balance, or culture and values is higher. These factors seem exclusive to HRO turnover and hold no explanatory power with CEO turnover, suggesting that HROs face different factors in their performance evaluation than other Executives. An analysis of CEO and HRO turnover dynamics indicates that the probability of HRO turnover is marginally higher if the CEO was replaced recently. CHAPTER 2 We study the role of connections between CEOs and division managers in managerial career outcomes. Holding divisional and managerial characteristics constant, we find that CEOs are substantially less likely to dismiss division managers with whom they share a personal connection. Additionally, the sensitivity of turnover to divisional performance is significantly smaller for more connected division managers relative to others. These findings hold even when we consider CEO-division manager relationships that are more likely to arise for exogenous reasons, suggesting a causal role for personal connections in how managers are treated in a firm's internal labor market. Complementing this evidence,we find that division managers connected to the CEO are relatively more likely to be promoted within the firm. Turning to the external labor market, we find that dismissed division managers who were connected to the CEO fare particularly poorly in the external labor market, suggesting that the ability floor leading to the dismissal of a connected manager is particularly low. We argue that the collective evidence we present is most consistent with personal connections leading, on average, to inefficient job allocation assignments in the senior executive ranks. CHAPTER 3 Recent global market shocks and extreme volatility warrant a renewed practical interest inexecutives' strategic risk management. Risk and uncertainty in organizations has been studied in management primarily at the macro-organizational level, focusing on how firm investments take on risk to shape future capabilities and financial outcomes. Risk has also been studied in finance, with a focus more on how executives can protect the firm by reducing future financial volatility. Yet neither stream of research has been connected to micro-organizational research on how employees experience and perceive organizational conditions (e.g., climate), and how those perceptions shape employee job attitudes. Given employees are a key stakeholder of firms and are potential benefactors (or victims) of firms' risk management, we seek to bring these perspectives together. Results of our study suggest firms' strategic risk management indeed shape employees' perceptions of risk and job satisfaction. Specifically, risk-taking activities (i.e., aimed at increasing future firm returns) and risk-reducing activities (i.e., hedging) have a positive indirect effect one mployee job satisfaction (through employees' perceptions of job satisfaction). Our research builds theoretical implications by connecting multiple levels of analysis and disciplinary perspectives. Further, the practical implications of our research suggest strategic risk management not only influences financial outcomes, but also shapes employees' experiences within the firm.