High-performance work practices lecturers’ performance connection: Does working condition matter?

Abstract

Poor performance of lecturers in Nigerian Polytechnics warrants independent research on lecturers’ job performance, given that the poor performance has seriously affected educational development in the country. Substantial evidence from the extant literature has highlighted that high-performance work practices are significant predictors and drivers of enhanced performance. Also, the functionality of high-performance work practices is context-dependent. Therefore, the current study investigates the effect of high-performance work practices (recruitment and selection, training and development, and employee involvement) on lecturers’ performance in the context of Nigerian polytechnics. It also examines the moderating role of working conditions in the high-performance work practices’ relationship with lecturers’ performance. Data were obtained from 539 academics in the North-west Nigerian polytechnics. The overall findings indicate that training and development and employee involvement are significant predictors of enhanced lecturers’ performance, and working condition strengthens the recruitment and selection–performance connection and employee involvement–performance relationship. This implies that the link between HR practices and enhanced performance could be affected by the environment within which organizations operate. The present study focused mainly on teaching staff from the polytechnics located in the north-central geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Thus, other geopolitical zones and non-teaching staff from various polytechnics could be studied further by future studies.

Keywords

High-performance work practices task performance human resource management Nigeria working condition

Introduction

Poor performance of lecturers in Nigerian Polytechnics warrants independent research on lecturers’ job performance, given that polytechnics in Nigeria represent a significant portion of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Nigeria (Agbu and Mishra, 2017). Polytechnic lecturers’ performance is essential in Nigerian HEIs as it plays a significant role in the development of the Nigerian educational system (Yusuf and Ogbudinkpa, 2017), the realization of education for all goals, and the accomplishment of socio-economic growth of Nigeria. However, the performance of lecturers in the Nigerian polytechnics is at low ebb (Onoyase, 2017), despite several educational policies initiated by the government and professional bodies regulating polytechnics to maintain standards in teaching (Fareo, 2013).

Furthermore, the low level of polytechnics lecturers’ performance has adversely affected the ranking of the Nigerian education system. According to the human development index of the United Nations Development Plan (UNDP, 2013), the ranking of Nigeria in the world educational ranking was 153 out of 186 countries. Nigerian polytechnics have no choice other than improving the performance of their teaching staff (i.e. lecturers) because catching up with other HEIs in the advanced countries requires the enhanced performance of the employees (see Ismail et al., 2017). In addition, the poor performance of the lecturers could jeopardize the national development to which Nigerian polytechnics should contribute.

Job performance is a significant factor that influences organizational performance. Behaviors of an individual (employee) who contributes to the organizational goal accomplishment constitute what is called job performance (Motowidlo, 2003). This indicated that job performance is the expected value of what people do in organizations which is relevant toward enhancing organizational effectiveness. Job performance also refers to the ability of employees to carry out responsibility, at a given time by using the appropriate procedure and available resources (see Borman and Motowidlo, 1993). It also connotes the behaviors and actions of employees that contribute positively to the overall job performance (Sen and Dulara, 2017).

The poor performance of lecturers has seriously affected educational development in the country (Oseni, 2011), because students’ academic success hinges on the good performance of their lecturers. In this regard, it behooves the management of the HEIs to design and put in place the performance-enhancing strategies and practices that will improve the performance of the lecturers. This is accentuated by the findings of the existing studies. The studies such as Fu (2013), Ismail et al. (2017, 2020), Jibrin-Bida et al. (2017), Koshy and Suguna (2014), etc., have portended that the success of contemporary organizations depends on productive employees, because employees are instrumental to the accomplishment of the organizational objective, and the organizational feat is contingent upon employees. Organizational strategies and plans are turned into reality via the efforts, productivity, and performance of skillful employees.

In this study, polytechnic lecturers’ performance denotes connections between employee ability, discretionary effort, and performance opportunities. Polytechnic lecturers’ performance was measured with two dimensions: task and contextual performance. The two dimensions improve organizational effectiveness (Tsui et al., 1997). The measures of the performance have been consistently validated by the prior studies (see Rahman et al., 2012, 2015).

Nevertheless, there are some studies conducted on the effect of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) on lecturers’ job performance in the Nigerian context, but there is still a need for more research on the subject matter to solidify the existing theory. According to Pak and Kim (2016), a few studies investigated the impact of HPWPs on employee job performance, and most of the available studies were conducted on organizational performance in industrial settings (see Ismail et al., 2017, 2021; Mazzei et al., 2016; Meddour et al., 2019, 2020; Shin and Konrad, 2017).

Moreover, there have been substantial numbers of studies (e.g., Delery and Doty, 1996; Fu, 2013; Ismail et al., 2017; Sivapragasam and Raya, 2018, etc.) which established that performance-enhancing human resource (HR) practices (i.e. HPWPs) are significant predictors and drivers of enhanced performance. HR and its management form an indispensable part of the whole competitive advantage (Allen and Wright, 2007; Boxall and Purcell, 2003; Delery and Roumpi, 2017). Strategic HR that enhances task and performance is formed through the effective adoption of HPWPs. It has been discovered by researchers and practitioners of HR that performance is greatly enhanced by HR practices that influence human capital through the acquisition, development, and motivation of the best talents (Posthuma et al., 2013).

Also, employees with knowledge and competencies are the key assets in assisting firms to survive and sustain their competitive advantage (see Fu, 2013; Ismail et al., 2015a). Performance is enhanced through HR practices that can build up employee capability, commitment, and productivity (Posthuma et al., 2013). HPWPs improve and motivate employees to show quality job performance and reduced turnover (Aryee et al., 2012; Karatepe, 2013). According to the ability–motivation–opportunity (AMO) model, the performance of the firm can be expedited through three factors, which are ability, motivation, and opportunity. The AMO model highlights that empowered and motivated employees with boosted knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) would remain in the organization and record higher performance which consequently enhances higher performance (Appelbaum et al., 2000; Boxall and Macky, 2009; Browning, 2006; Gyensare and Asare, 2012). The first factor of the AMO model, that is, ability, can be achieved through recruiting and selecting quality personnel. Jiang et al. (2012) assert that the ability of the firm’s human capital can be enhanced through all-inclusive recruitment, rigorous selection, and broad training. The HR practices such as employee involvement constitute what can be used to motivate, empower employees and give them the opportunity.

Thus, this research adopts recruitment and selection, training and development, and employee involvement to constitute the HPWPs of the study. Recruitment is the act of producing competent employees to apply for employment in an organization (French and Rumbles, 2010), and selection is the process in which the numbers of the job applicants are reduced, and applicants with the best qualifications are chosen (Bohlander and Snell, 2007). Tabiu and Nura (2013) found that the recruitment and selection variable is positively related to job performance. Also, Kepha et al. (2014) conducted a study and found that the correlation between recruitment and selection and job performance was highly significant. In addition, Saleem and Khurshid (2014) conducted a study on the effect of recruitment and selection on job performance and found a strong positive connection between recruitment and selection and job performance. These findings are in line with Babagana’s (2014) finding that indicates a positive relationship between recruitment and selection and job performance.

While training, as special activities, is intended to help to learn of skills, attitude and knowledge between the employees in the organization to improve their specific work performances as well as achieving organizational goals (Edralin, 2004), development activities are aimed at the long-term by preparing future work responsibilities and the current work as well. Numerous research findings (see Amin et al., 2013; Asfaw et al., 2015; Falola et al., 2014; Hafeez and Akbar, 2015; Hassan, 2016; Tabiu et al., 2016, etc.) have indicated a significant positive relationship between training and development and job performance. For instance, Tabiu et al. (2016) examined the contribution of training and development in improving job performance in some northern Nigerian public sector organizations. The findings of the study showed that training and development are positively related to job performance. Additionally, in the context of employment relationships, when the management of an organization provides employees with sufficient training and development opportunities, this will send a message to employees that the organization cares for them (Aguinis and Kraiger, 2009), and such employees will tend to reciprocate to perform the job in the most effective and efficient ways toward the achievement of organizational goals and objectives.

Regarding employee involvement, it refers to the process through which information is exchanged in an organization (Posthuma et al., 2013). The practice had been found to affect creativity climate (Heffernan et al., 2016) and organizational performance (Gittell et al., 2010). Evidence from the literature indicated a positive relationship between employee involvement and job performance (Ali and Rizwan, 2013; Cho and Yoon, 2009; Hassan, 2016; Nadarasa, 2013). Also, Hassan (2016) investigated the impact of employee involvement on job performance in the Textile industry of Pakistan. Using a sample of 68 employees, the data were analyzed through Pearson correlation statistical and regression technique, and the result revealed that employee involvement has a positive impact on job performance. Also, the findings of Tabiu and Nura (2013) and Nadarasa (2013) signified the positive influence of employee involvement on job performance. This is in line with the study of Qi and Wang (2018) that revealed a significant positive relationship between employee involvement and job performance.

Also, Ismail et al. (2017) posited that contingent (moderating variables) do have effects on the HPWS–performance relationship since the context within which organization operates and the strategic orientations of organizations have a bearing on the application of HR practices and its impact on performance. The functionality of HR practices is context-dependent because the success or failure of HR systems can hinge on boundary conditions (Chadwick et al., 2013). Also, investigating the boundary condition in the HPWS–performance relationship would yield thoughtful implications to research and offer a deeper perspective on what can represent generalizable findings and commonly held views in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) research field, and thus enrich the theories (Goldsby et al., 2013).

Therefore, working condition is deemed a fitting moderating variable in the context of this study. The reason for this is that the poor working condition of Nigerian workers has continued to be dire and exacerbating. Onoyase (2017) revealed that the existence of poor working conditions in the Nigerian high educational institutions is connected with poor lecture halls, inadequate lecturer’s offices, libraries, and insufficient books and journals. Equally, Pihie and Elias (2004) and Victor and Babatunde (2014) revealed that lack of good working conditions as well as the motivational mechanism has led to low morale and performance of the lecturers.

Given the poor working condition in the educational sector in Nigeria, the federal government of Nigeria has increased the education budget allocation in 2018 from N550 billion¹ allocated in 2017 to N605 billion² in 2018. This is to boost the educational sector including working conditions especially in the higher institutions where academic staff and non-academic staff are threatening to go on strike due to poor working conditions (Utomi, 2018). Moreover, there is substantial evidence demonstrating that employees’ perceptions of their working conditions can affect their behaviors and attitudes, in the workplace (Yang et al., 2014). Also, the negative working condition had a more detrimental consequence on organizational citizenship behavior for employees with more traditional values (Wang et al., 2014). Thus, this study aims to examine the moderating role of working conditions on the relationship between HPWPs and job performance.

In theory, this research is underpinned by the AMO model and contingency theory. The AMO model explains how the HPWS influences job performance. Therefore, under AMO performance of the employees can be explained through three factors which are ability, motivation, and opportunity. The AMO model suggested that motivated and empowered employees with boosted knowledge, skills, and abilities would record higher performance and remain in the organization which subsequently enhances higher organizational performance (Gyensare and Asare, 2012).

Moreover, contingency theory is a significant organizational theory that has yielded many insights. Organizational success depends on contingencies including environment (Burns and Stalker, 1961) and organizational strategy (Chandler, 1962). Contingency theory presently provides a major framework for organizational design (Donaldson, 2006). Contingency theory postulates that the environment within which an organization operates matters most and thus explains the moderation influence of working conditions on the link between HPWS and job performance. Contingency theory also explains the link between HR practices (HPWS) (as an independent variable) and performance (as a dependent variable) is dependent on the effort of a third variable called contingent variable (working condition). Such constructs influence the HPWS–performance relationship (Martin-Alcazar et al., 2005).

Overall, the current study investigates the effect of HPWPs (recruitment and selection, training and development, and employee involvement) on lecturers’ performance in the context of Nigerian polytechnics (see Figure 1). Likewise, this study examines the moderating role of working conditions on the HPWPs’ relationship with lecturers’ performance. The remainder sections include methodology, results, discussion of the results, and conclusion.

Figure 1.

Research framework.

Methodology

This study adopted a cross-sectional research approach in which data was collected using a questionnaire once for the study, and it was analyzed and interpreted statistically to generate conclusions or make inferences in respect of the population of the study. This research approach is considered relevant and effective, given that it is cost-effective, time, and money-saving (Saunders et al., 2009; Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). The current study examines 4441 academics of the North-west Nigerian polytechnics. Using Krejcie and Morgan’s (1970) benchmarks and the supposition of Hair et al. (2014), a sample size of 702 was chosen to stand for the entire population of the study. Thus, 702 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents via a disproportionate sampling technique. Five hundred and forty-six questionnaires were returned, but only 539 questionnaires were usable for data analysis, representing a valid response rate of 74.7%. In line with the viewpoint of Sekaran (2003), which indicated that a minimum response rate of 30% is adequate for a survey, it can therefore be stated that this study’s response rate is appropriate and adequate for further analysis.

The data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 21 and Smart PLS 3 software packages, and the two-step approach as suggested by Chin (1998) was adopted to obtain valid and reliable results. Based on Hair et al.’s (2011) proposition, the two-stage approach which includes the measurement model and structural model was undertaken. Additionally, the items constituting lecturers’ job performance were adapted from Tsui et al. (1997) while the instruments of HR practices were adapted from Demo et al. (2012). The items constituting working conditions were adapted from Uline and Tschannen-Moran (2008). All items were scaled with a 5-Likert scale.

Data analysis and discussion

Results and discussion

The data analysis in the current study involved the two-step approach: testing measurement model and structural model (Chin, 1998). This would enable valid and reliable results. The demographic information of the respondents of the current study indicates that the respondents are of different backgrounds, signifying that the data is rich, and the findings from the data could be generalized.

Measurement model (outer model) evaluation

A testing measurement model involves validation of the indicator reliability, internal consistency reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the constructs (Hair et al., 2014). These are depicted in Figure 2 and Tables 1 and 2.

Figure 2.

Measurement model evaluation result.

Table 1.

Indicator reliability, internal consistency, and convergent validity.

Constructs	Items	Loadings	CA	CR	AVE
Employee involvement	EI1	0.775	0.959	0.964	0.689
Employee involvement	EI10_1	0.829
	EI11_1	0.844
	EI12_1	0.823
	EI2_1	0.771
	EI3_1	0.800
	EI4_1	0.849
	EI5_1	0.816
	EI6_1	0.850
	EI7_1	0.852
	EI8_1	0.881
	EI9_1	0.862
Recruitment and selection	RS1_1	0.859	0.946	0.957	0.789
Recruitment and selection	RS2_1	0.896
	RS3_1	0.922
	RS4_1	0.926
	RS5_1	0.906
	RS6	0.817
Training and development	TD1	0.607	0.828	0.867	0.527
Training and development	TD2	0.570
	TD3_1	0.679
	TD4	0.811
	TD5_1	0.856
	TD6_1	0.786
Lecturers’ performance	TP1	0.739	0.930	0.940	0.588
Lecturers’ performance	TP10	0.740
	TP11_1	0.730
	TP2_1	0.766
	TP3_1	0.752
	TP4_1	0.710
	TP5_1	0.774
	TP6	0.787
	TP7_1	0.806
	TP8_1	0.795
	TP9_1	0.826
Working environment	WC1_1	0.857	0.922	0.937	0.682
Working environment	WC2_1	0.818
	WC3_1	0.854
	WC4	0.808
	WC5	0.842
	WC6_1	0.819
	WC7_1	0.778

AVE, average variance extracted; CR, composite reliability; CA, Cronbach’s alpha.

Table 2.

Discriminant validity.

Constructs	EI	RS	TD	TP
EI
RS	0.696
TD	0.566	0.632
TP	0.606	0.539	0.571
WC	0.492	0.348	0.327	0.292

TP, Lecturers’ performance; TD, training & development; RS, recruitment & selection; EI, employee involvement; WC, working condition.

Regarding indicator reliability, it indicates the suitability and capability of items (i.e. indicators) spawned for a particular construct in measuring the main concept in given research (Hair et al., 2010). According to Hair et al. (2017), the items with loadings above 0.5 have fulfilled the threshold for indicator reliability (Hair et al., 2014). With the result depicted in Table 1 and Figure 2, the outer loadings of individual items show higher value on their respective constructs and thus signifying sufficient levels of indicator reliability.

In Table 1, the estimation of internal consistency reliability is presented. Internal consistency reliability is a form of reliability used to judge the consistency of results across items on the same test According to Bijttebier et al. (2000), internal consistency reliability can be defined as the extent to which all items on a particular (sub) scale are measuring the same concept. It determines whether the items measuring a construct are similar in their scores (i.e. if the correlations between the items are large) (Hair et al., 2017). To check for internal consistency reliability, composite reliability value and Cronbach’s alpha value should be vetted, composite reliability should be >0.70, but composite reliability values <0.60 indicate a lack of internal consistency reliability (Hair et al., 2017). Also, the minimum threshold for the value of Cronbach’s alpha is put at 0.6 by Sekaran (2003). The result in Table 1 indicates that all the constructs of the study have high levels of internal consistency reliability, as the composite reliability and Cronbach’s alpha values of all the constructs are well above the threshold values of 0.7 and 0.6, respectively.

With regard to convergent validity assessment, it refers to the extent to which a measure correlates positively with alternative measures of the same construct (Hair et al., 2017). Convergent validity assessment is based on average variance extracted (AVE) values. AVE, which should be 0.5 or above, refers to the grand mean value of the squared loadings of the indicators associated with the construct (i.e. the sum of the squared loadings divided by the number of indicators) (Hair et al., 2017). Thus, the AVE is equivalent to the commonality of a construct. AVE values of the constructs of the current study ranged between 0.506 and 0.846, and thus well above the minimum requirements of 0.5 (Hair et al., 2011). This informs that all the constructs of the study have the highest levels of convergent validity.

The last aspect of the measurement model involves discriminant validity which denotes the extent to which a construct is truly distinct from other constructs by empirical standards. The heterotrait–monotrait ratio (HTMT) of the correlations was adopted in this study for discriminant validity evaluation (Hair et al., 2017). HTMT is the ratio of the between-trait correlations to the within-trait correlations (Hair et al., 2017). The result in Table 2 confirms the discriminant validity of this study’s constructs, as the HTMT values for all pairs of constructs in a matrix fell below the threshold value of 0.90. In sum, having confirmed the content validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the constructs of this research, it can then be claimed that the construct validity and reliability have been established in this study.

Structural model

Figure 2 and Table 2 show measurement model evaluation. Figure 3 and Table 3 show the structural model evaluation. The purpose of running the model with all variables was to establish the results of the direct effect of HPWPs on lecturers’ performance.

Figure 3.

Structural model evaluation result.

Table 3.

Hypotheses testing and effect size.

Hypotheses	BETA	STD	T Stat	P Val	Decision
RS→TP_	0.020	0.058	0.335	0.738	Not supported
EI→TP	0.411	0.052	7.907	0.000	Supported
TD→TP	0.271	0.049	5.530	0.000	Supported
WC→TP	−0.008	0.039	0.214	0.831	—
WC·RS→TP	−0.117	0.041	2.878	0.004	Supported
WC·EI→TP	0.198	0.041	4.841	0.000	Supported
WC·TD→TP	0.053	0.043	1.249	0.212	Not supported
The effect size of the HR practices on lecturers’ performance
Constructs	f ²	Effect size
EI	0.096	Small effect
WC	0.000	No effect
RS	0.010	No effect
TD	0.072	Small effect

TP, Lecturers’ performance; TD, training & development; RS, recruitment & selection; EI, employee involvement; WC, working condition; HR, human resource.

Considering Table 3 and Figures 2 and 3, an R² value of 0.410 (see Figure 2) signifies that in the model, recruitment and selection, training and development, and employee involvement explain 41% of the variance in lecturers’ performance. Moreover, the result (β = 0.411, t = 7.907, p < 0.001; β = 0.271, t = 5.530, p < 0.01) indicates a positive effect of employee involvement and training and development on lecturers’ performance. However, the direct path regarding the relationship between recruitment and selection and lecturers’ performance, representing β = 0.020, t = 0.335, p > 0.10, is non-significant. This result indicates that recruitment and selection has a non-significant effect on lecturers’ performance.

Moreover, using the product indicator approach (Helm et al., 2010; Henseler and Chin, 2010; Henseler and Fassott, 2010), the moderating effect of working conditions was tested. The results in Table 3 and Figure 3 indicate that two out of the three moderation-based hypotheses are supported as the result (β = −0.117, t = 2.878, p < 0.05; β = 0.198, t = 4.841, p < 0.01) shows that the working condition moderates the relationship between recruitment and selection and lecturers’ performance and the relationship between employee involvement and lecturers’ performance respectively. Also, Figures 4 and 5 accentuate the result (Dawson, 2014). The remaining moderation-based hypothesis is not supported (β = 0.053, t = 1.249, p > 0.05).

Figure 4.

Interaction effect of recruitment & selection and working condition with lecturers’ performance.

Figure 5.

Interaction effect of employee involvement and working condition with lecturers’ performance.

Furthermore, the effect size in the structural model evaluation, lecturers’ performance is explained by employee involvement and training and development with effect size (f²) of 0.096 and 0.072, respectively, indicating that employee involvement and training and development have a small effect size on lecturers’ performance, respectively, but working condition and recruitment and selection with effect size (f²) of 0.000 and 0.010 have no effect on lecturers’ performance.

Overall, the result portends that training and development and employee involvement are significant predictors of enhanced lecturers’ performance. This result is consistent with the existing literature such as Faizan and Zehra (2016), Hassan (2016), Imran and Tanveer (2015), Ismail et al. (2020), etc. This finding indicates that training and development can be designed to improve worker’s skills, and competencies required for the performance of present and future tasks, which will, in turn, improve lecturers’ performance of the employees. Because an enhanced performance is possible if training and development are given due priority in the organization so that employees would have the opportunity to acquire new skills (Ulrich, 1997). Also, the result signifies that employee involvement, which can enrich worker’s job-related knowledge and inspire employees to use their domain-relevant and creativity-relevant skills to propose developments and create new ideas, can motivate the employee and in turn translate to the employee task performance. This also indicates that if the performance of the organization is to be accomplished, there is a need for employee involvement in the organizational strategic planning and the strategies designed to accomplish the organizational goals and objectives. Workers should be equipped with financial and strategic information of the firm to improve and enrich workers’ job-related knowledge.

Nevertheless, recruitment and selection do not significantly predict lecturers’ performance, even though the existing literature has established that recruitment and selection can induce increased levels of employee commitment and consequently would result in higher performance. A possible reason for this could be attributed to unfair recruitment and selection processes in the Nigerian polytechnics hiring system. The process is characterized by many malpractices such as favoritism, partiality, and unfairness. The hiring process in public institutions is not merit-based. According to Yaro (2014), sentiment and other primordial issues such as ethnicity, nepotism, and favoritism are entrenched in the hiring process in public institutions. This adversely led to labor turnover and increased costs of governance. The major challenges identified are constant political interference which manifested out of the desire of the politicians to get their relatives in the service; recruitment purely based on skills rather than a good attitude and the principle of federal character that further compounded the problem in the form of ethnic balancing.

Additionally, the result signifies that working condition moderates the relationship between recruitment and selection and lecturers’ performance. Working conditions moderated the relationship negatively because the working condition is not conducive enough for effective learning and teaching in Nigeria, and recruitment and selection could not induce task performance, given the unfair recruitment and selection processes in the Nigerian public hiring system. The process is characterized by many malpractices such as favoritism, partiality, and unfairness. The hiring process in public institutions is not merit-based. Nevertheless, this finding is very unique and fortify the contingency theory’s supposition that the context within which organizations operate matters most; this assumption could imply the application of HR practices because HR practices can be destructive or helpful because the failure or success of HR practices depends on internal and external boundary conditions, and the environment in which organization operates determines, to a large extent, the HR policies and practices (Chadwick et al., 2013; Teo et al., 2011). Moreover, the contingency theory focuses on the assumptions behind the conceptualization of what HR management (HRM) is and does. The theory explicitly highlights the significance of investigating the effect of contextual factors from the external environment (Boselie et al., 2005).

This result also signifies that the working condition moderates the relationship between employee involvement and lecturers’ performance. This implies that the working condition strengthens the relationship between employee involvement and lecturers’ performance in which if a good working condition interacts with employee involvement, it would further enhance employee involvement and thus increasing task performance of the lecturers. This result is similar to some extent to the research of Abubakar (2017), and Qi and Wang (2018). However, the result indicates that the working condition does not moderate training and development–performance nexus in the Nigerian polytechnics. This result is contrary to some previous research studies such as Abubakar (2017), Chiang and Birtch (2010), and Okechukwu (2017). In the context of this study, the working condition seems to be irrelevant to either strengthen or weaken the significant positive effect training and development has on the task performance of the lecturers. The reason could be linked to the fact that the polytechnic lecturers believe that the important thing is for the government to invest in the right types of training in their respective institutions, and such training and developmental programs are tailored to enhancing their task performances.

The findings of this study extend and advance the existing theory in the HPWS research field. It also expands the present scope of knowledge in the research area. This research could be claimed to be indispensable, given the fact that investigating the moderating role of the working condition in the HPWS–performance relationship yields thoughtful implications to research and offer a deeper perspective on the findings in the SHRM research field and thus enriches the existing HPWS theory.

Limitations and future research directions

The present study offers quite limited generalizability as it focused mainly on teaching staff from polytechnics located in the north-central geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Thus, additional work is needed to include other geopolitical zones and non-teaching staff from various polytechnics to generalize the findings. Polytechnics should be studied and compared with other institutions of higher education such as universities, mono-technics, and colleges of education. Furthermore, the research design of this research is a cross-sectional research design which does not give room for causal inferences to be made from the population. So, a longitudinal research design could be used for future research to measure the theoretical constructs at different points in time to validate the results of the current research.

Conclusion

Although the current study has some limitations, it significantly contributes to the existing body of knowledge. The current study found that training and development and employee involvement are significant predictors of enhanced lecturers’ performance. Also, working condition moderates the recruitment and selection–performance connection and employee involvement–performance relationship. Normally, the findings of the current study underscore the contingency theory’s supposition that the link between HR practices and enhanced performance could be affected by the environment within which organizations operates, and that HR practices cannot always predict enhanced performance, given that HR practices can be destructive or helpful because failure or success of HR practices depends on internal and external factors. This gives support to a theoretical supposition which signifies that the success or failure of HR systems rests on external and internal boundary conditions (Chadwick et al., 2013).

Given the findings of this research, it could be asserted that this research has enriched the existing literature and broaden the scope of the extant body of knowledge in the HRM study area by providing empirical evidence for the moderating role of working conditions in the connection between HPWPs and on lecturers’ performance in North-western Nigeria Polytechnics. In addition, it is noteworthy that the major gap filled by this study is the inclusion of moderation in the model, because the moderated research model of this study, which was developed, evaluated, and established via literature survey, widens the scope of the prevalent business theories. This study makes additional contributions by selecting the HPWPs based on the AMO model, which emphasizes the importance of HPWPs in enhancing the performance of polytechnic lecturers in Northwestern Nigeria.

Also, in an organizational context, this study confirms social exchange theory which explains that employees and organizations come into reciprocal relationships in which the organization is expected to provide adequate support and a conducive working condition for employees in exchange for loyalty, commitment, and higher performance on the part of the employee (Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005). Based on this, it can be argued that individuals who perceive that their organizations have provided them with adequate support and a conducive working environment will feel obligated to reciprocate. The employees’ reciprocal act can include higher organizational commitment, loyalty, and job performance.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Iyanda Ismail Abdussalaam

Notes

Author Biographies

Umar A Abboh is currently working at Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic Sokoto, Sokoto State, Nigeria. He finished his Doctoral program at the School of Business Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia. He has many years of experience in teaching. He had attended many seminars and workshops on different academic areas. His research interest includes human resource management, compensation, and rewards management and organizational performance.

Abdul H A Majid completed his BBA from Mississippi State University, Starkville, USA. Then, he pursued his MBA at Cardiff Business School, University of Wales, UK, and his Doctorate in Business Administration at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. He is currently serving as Professor in HRM at College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia. He also serves as a Distinguished Research Fellow of IBCSI. His area of research interest includes human resource management, pay and remuneration, work and career motivation, and non-governmental organizations.

Mohammad Fareed is currently working at Universiti Utara Malaysia where he obtained his PhD. He has many years of experience in teaching. He had attended many seminars and workshops on different academic areas. His research interest includes human resource management and human resource development.

Iyanda Ismail Abdussalaam is a seasoned teaching professional with a doctorate in human resource management from an AACSB accredited institution, Universiti Utara Malaysia. He is currently serving as an assistant professor at the University of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. His research is inclined towards organizational behavior, leadership, HPWS, HR practices, and work wellbeing.

References

Abubakar

MIFM

(2017) The moderating effect of physical working environment on job attitude and employee performance. International Sciences of Management Journal 3(3): 1–14.

Agbu

JFO

Mishra

(2017) Open Educational Resources Policy for Higher Education in Nigeria. Retrieved from Open Educational Resources Policy for Higher Education in Nigeria.

Aguinis

Kraiger

(2009) Benefits of training and development for individuals, teams, organization and society. Annual Review of Psychology 60: 451–474.

Ali

Rizwan

(2013) Factors influencing corporate social and environmental disclosure (CSED) practice in the developing countries: An institutional theoretical perspective. International Journal of Asian Social Science 3(3): 590–609.

Allen

Wright

(2007) Strategic management and HRM. In: Boxall

Purcell

Wright

(eds) The Oxford Handbook of Human Resource Management. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 88–107.

Amin

Saeed

Lodhi

(2013) The impact of employees training on the job performance in education sector of Pakistan. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 17(9): 1273–1278.

Appelbaum

Bailey

Berg

, et al. (2000) Manufacturing Advantage: Why High-Performance Work Systems Pay Off. Cornell University Press.

Aryee

Walumbwa

Seidu

, et al. (2012) Impact of high-performance work systems on individual- and branch-level performance: Test of a multilevel model of intermediate linkages. Journal of Applied Psychology 97(2): 287–300.

Asfaw

Argaw

Bayissa

(2015) The impact of training and development on employee performance and effectiveness : A case study of district five administration. Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies 3(04): 188–202.

10.

Babagana

(2014) Influence of training and development on lecturers’ performance in Nigerian polytechnics : a case of Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi. International Journal of Finance and Management in Practice 2(1): 11–20.

11.

Bijttebier

Delva

Vanoost

, et al. (2000) Reliability and validity of the critical care family needs inventory in a Dutch-speaking Belgian sample. Heart & Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care 29: 278–286. https://doi.org/10.1067/mhl.2000.107918

12.

Bohlander

Snell

(2007) Training and development: Managing human resources. Sociological Review 44(6): 881–894.

13.

Borman

Motowidlo

(1993) Expanding the criterion domain to include elements of contextual performance. In: Schmitt

Borman

(eds) Personnel Selection in Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 71–98.

14.

Boselie

Dietz

Boon

(2005) Commonalities and contradictions in research on human resource management and performance. Human Resource Management Journal 15(3): 67–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-858

15.

Boxall

Macky

(2009) Research and theory on high performance work systems: progressing the high involvement stream. Human Resource Management Journal 19(1): 3–23. 3.2005.tb00154.x

16.

Boxall

Macky

(2009) Research and theory on high performance work systems: progressing the high involvement stream. Human Resource Management Journal 19(1): 3–23.

17.

Boxall

Purcell

(2003) Strategy and Human Resource Management. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

18.

Browning

(2006) The relationship between HRM practices and service behavior in South African service organizations. Journal of Human Resource Management 17: 1321–1338.

19.

Burns

Stalker

(1961) The Management of Innovation. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership Historical Research Reference in Entrepreneurship. Available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1496187.

20.

Chadwick

Way

Kerr

, et al. (2013) Boundary conditions of the high-investment human resource systems-small-firm labor productivity relationship. Personnel Psychology 66(2): 311–343.

21.

Chandler

Jr (1962) Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.

22.

Chin

(1998) The partial least squares approach to structural equation modelling. In: Marcoulides

(ed) Modern Methods for Business Research. Mahwah, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 295–336.

23.

Cho

Yoon

. (2009) Human Resource management, individualism-collectivism, and individual performance among public employees: A test of the main and moderating effects*. The Korean Journal of Policy Studies 23(2): 57–78.

24.

Cropanzano

Mitchell

(2005) Social exchange theory : An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management 31(6): 874–900.

25.

Dawson

(2014). Moderation in management research: what, why, when, and how. Journal of Business and Psychology 29(1): 1–19.

26.

Delery

Doty

(1996) Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management: Tests of universalistic, contingency, and configurationally performance predictions. Academy of Management Journal 39: 802–835.

27.

Delery

Roumpi

(2017) Strategic human resource management, human capital and competitive advantage: Is the field going in circles? Human Resource Management Journal 27(1): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12137

28.

Edralin

(2004) Training : A strategic HRM function. Notes on Business Education 7(4): 1–5.

29.

Demo

Neiva

Nunes

, et al. (2012) Human resources management policies and practices scale (HRMPPS): Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Brazilian Administration Review 9(4): 395–420.

30.

Donaldson

(2006) The contingency theory of organizational design: Challenges and opportunities. In: Burton

Håkonsson

Eriksen

, et al. (eds) Organization Design. Information and Organization Design Series, vol 6. Boston, MA: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-34173-0_2

31.

Faizan

Zehra

(2016) Quality work-life as predictor to organisational commitment under contrasting leadership styles: IT responses from Pakistan's private software houses. Global Journal of Management and Administration 16(6): 9–23.

32.

Falola

Osibanjo

Ojo

(2014) Effectiveness of training and development on employees ‘ performance and organisation competitiveness in the Nigerian banking industry. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov Series V: Economic Sciences 7(56): 161–170.

33.

Fareo

(2013) Professional development of teachers in Africa: A case study of Nigeria. In the African symposium. An Online Journal of the African Educational Research Network 13(1): 63–68.

34.

French

Rumbles

(2010) Recruitment and selection. In Leading, Managing and Developing People (pp. 169–190). CIPD Publications.

35.

Gittell

Seidner

Wimbush

(2010) A relational model of how high-performance work systems work. Organization Science 21(2): 490–506.

36.

Goldsby

Knemeyer

Miller

, et al. (2013) Measurement and moderation: Finding the boundary conditions in logistics and supply chain research. Journal of Business Logistics 34(2): 106–116.

37.

Gyensare

Asare

(2012) Relationship between human resource (HR) practices and perceived performance of psychiatry nurses in Ghana. African Journal of Business Management 6: 2137–2142.

38.

Hafeez

Akbar

(2015) “Impact of training on employees performance” (evidence from pharmaceutical companies in Karachi, Pakistan). Business Management and Strategy 6(1): 49.

39.

Hair

Anderson

Tatham

, et al. (2010) Multivariate Data Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall International.

40.

Hair

Ringle

Sarstedt

(2011) PLS-SEM: Indeed a silver bullet. The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice 19(2): 139–152.

41.

Hair

Hult

GTM

Ringle

, et al. (2014) Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). European Business Review 26(2): 106–121.

42.

Hair

Hult

GTM

Ringle

, et al. (2017) A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage Publications.

43.

Hassan

(2016) Impact of HRM practices on perceived organizational performance. International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences 6(1): 15–22. https://doi.org/10.7813/2075-4124.2014/6-5/B.3

44.

Heffernan

Harney

Cafferkey

, et al. (2016) Exploring the HRM-performance relationship: The role of creativity climate and strategy. Employee Relation 38(3): 438–462.

45.

Helm

Eggert

Garnefeld

(2010) Modelling the impact of corporate reputation on customer satisfaction and loyalty using partial least squares. In: Esposito Vinzi

Chin

Henseler

Wang

(eds) Handbook of Partial Least Squares. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 515–534.

46.

Henseler

Chin

(2010) A comparison of approaches for the analysis of interaction effects between latent variables using partial least squares path modelling. Structural Equation Modelling: A Multidisciplinary Journal 17(1): 82–109.

47.

Henseler

Fassott

(2010) Testing moderating effects in PLS path models: An illustration of available procedures. In: Esposito Vinzi

Chin

Henseler

Wang

(eds) Handbook of Partial Least Squares. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 713–735.

48.

Imran

Tanveer

(2015) Impact of training & development on employee performance: Performance in banks in Pakistan. European Journal of Training and Development Studies 3(1): 23–33.

49.

Ismail

Abdul-Halim

Joarder

MHR

(2015) Mediating role of distributive justice in the relationship between career incentives and employee performance. Journal of Economics, Business and Management 3(10): 929–935.

50.

Ismail

Abdul-Majid

A-H

Joarder

M-H

(2017) Filling up the HRM ‘black box’; Do creativity and management philosophy matter? Management Science Letters 7: 163–176.

51.

Ismail

Awawdeh

Al-Hiyari

, et al. (2020) Moderating effects of management philosophy on high-performance work practices–firm performance relationship. Journal of African Business 22(3): 379–393.

52.

Ismail

Majid

AHA

Jibrin-Bida

, et al. (2021) Moderating effect of management support on the relationship between HR practices and employee performance in Nigeria. Global Business Review 22(1): 132–150.

53.

Jiang

Lepak

, et al. (2012) How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of Management Journal 55(6): 1264–1294.

54.

Jibrin-Bida

Abdul-Majid

A-H

(2017) Management support as a moderator in the Hr practices- employee performance relationship. International Journal of Management Research & Review 7(1): 13–27. 10.1111/all.12994

55.

Karatepe

(2013) High-performance work practices and hotel employee performance: The mediation of work engagement. International Journal of Hospitality Management 32(1): 132–140.

56.

Kepha

Mukulu

Waititu

(2014) The influence of recruitment and selection on the performance of employees in research institutes in Kenya. International Journal of Science and Research, 3(5): 132–138.

57.

Koshy

Suguna

(2014) Performance appraisal in the contemporary world. International Journal of Advance Research in Computer Science and Management Studies 2(9): 80–83.

58.

Krejcie

Morgan

(1970) Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement 30: 607–610.

59.

Martin-Alcazar

Romero-Fernandez

Sanchez-Gardey

(2005) Strategic human resource management: Integrating the universalistic, contingent, configurational and contextual perspectives. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 16(5): 633–659.

60.

Mazzei

Flynn

Haynie

(2016) Moving beyond initial success: Promoting innovation in small businesses through high-performance work practices. Business Horizons 59(1): 51–60.

61.

Meddour

Majid

AHA

Abdussalaam

(2019) Mediating effect of employee creativity on the relationship between HPWS and firm performance. In: E-proceeding of the international conference on economics, entrepreneurship and management. Langkawi Malaysia, July 6, 2019, pp. 1–13.

62.

Meddour

Iyanda

Abdul Majid

(2020) Withstanding the effect of industry 4.0: The role of high performance work system and management philosophy. International Journal of Supply Chain Management 9(1): 511–519.

63.

Motowidlo

(2003) Job performance. Handbook of psychology: Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 12: 39–53.

64.

Nadarasa

(2013) The impact of perceived human resource practices on performance of the employees’ special reference to the telecommunication industry in Jaffna district. Global Journal of Commerce & Management Perspectives 2(6): 72–77.

65.

Onoyase

(2017) Motivation and job performance of lecturers of tertiary institutions in Nigeria : Implication for counseling. World Journal of Educational Research 4(2): 280–289.

66.

Oseni

(2011) The Fallen Standard of Education in Nigeria Lecturers Contributed. Available at: http://www.articlesbase.com/college-and-university-articles/the-fallen-standard-of-education-in-nigeria-lecturerscontributed-5147998.html.

67.

Pak

Kim

(2018) Team manager’s implementation, high performance work systems intensity, and performance: a multilevel investigation. Journal of Management 44(7): 2690–2715.

68.

Pihie

ZAL

Elias

(2004) Improving the teaching profession through understanding educators’ self motivation. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research 19(1–2): 25–35.

69.

Posthuma

Campion

Masimova

, et al. (2013) A high performance work practices taxonomy: Integrating the literature and directing future research. Journal of Management 39(5): 1184–1220.

70.

Wang

(2018) Employee involvement, public service motivation, and perceived organizational performance: Testing a new model. International Review of Administrative Sciences 84(4): 746–764.

71.

Rahman

Ferdausy

Karan

(2012) Relationship among emotional intelligence, deviant workplace behavior and job performance: An empirical study. Portuguese Journal of Management 17(1): 39–62.

72.

Rahman

Ferdausy

Karan

(2015) Determining the relationships between the components of organizational commitment and job performance: An empirical study. ABAC Journal 35(1): 30–45.

73.

Saleem

Khurshid

(2014) Do human resource practices affect employee performance? Pakistan Business Review 15(4): 669–688.

74.

Saunders

Lewis

Thornhill

(2009) Research Methods for Business Students. 5th ed. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education.

75.

Sekaran

(2003) Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approaches. 4th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

76.

Sekaran

Bougie

(2010) Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. 5th ed. Chichester: John Willey and Sons Ltd.

77.

Sen

Dulara

(2017) Job characteristics and performance: The mediating role of job crafting. The International Journal of Indian Psychology 5(1): 66–74.

78.

Shin

Konrad

(2017) Causality between high-performance work systems and organizational performance. Journal of Management 43(4): 973–997.

79.

Sivapragasam

Raya

(2018) HRM and employee engagement link: Mediating role of employee well-being. Global Business Review 19(1): 147–161.

80.

Tabiu

Nura

(2013) Assessing the effects of human resource management (HRM) practices on employee job performance: A study of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly 5(2): 247–259.

81.

Tabiu

Pangil

Othman

(2016) Examining the link between HRM practices and employees’ performance in Nigerian public sector. Management Science Letters 6: 395–408.

82.

Teo

STT

Le Clerc

Galang

(2011) Human capital enhancing HRM systems and frontline employees in Australian manufacturing SMEs. International Journal of Human Resource Management 22(12): 2522–2538.

83.

Tsui

Pearce

Tripoli

(1997) Alternative approaches to the employee–organization relationship: Does investment in employees pay off ? Academy of Management Journal 40(5): 1089–1121.

84.

Uline

Tschannen-Moran

(2008) The walls speak: The interplay of quality facilities, school climate, and student achievement. Journal of Educational Administration 46(1): 55–73.

85.

Ulrich

(1997) Measuring human resource: An overview of practice and prescription for results. Human Resource Management 36(3): 303–320.

86.

UNDP (2013) United Nation Development Program African Economic Outlook 2013-Structural Transformation and Natural Resources.

87.

Utomi

J-M

(2018) 2018 Budgetary Allocation to Education. Nigerian Thisday Newspaper. Available at: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/07/02/2018-budgetary-allocation-to-education/.

88.

Victor

Babatunde

(2014) Motivation and effective performance of academic staff in higher education (case study of Adekunle Ajasin. International Journal of Innovation and Research in Educational Sciences 1(2): 157–163.

89.

Wang

Qin

(2014) Do people with traditional values suffer more from job insecurity? The moderating effects of traditionality. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 23(1): 107–117.

90.

Yang

Johnson

Bauer

, et al. (2014) Physiological mechanisms that underlie the effects of interactional unfairness on deviant behavior: The role of cortisol activity. Journal of Applied Psychology 99(2): 310–321.

91.

Yaro

(2014) Recruitment and selection in the Nigerian public service: Nature, challenges and way forward. British Journal of Economics, Management and Trade 4: 1005–1017.

92.

Yusuf

Ogbudinkpa

(2017) Relationship between performance appraisal criteria and lecturers’ productivity in universities in south-west geo-political zone. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences 4(2): 79–86.