Edinburgh Napier University

  The aim of this paper is to compare line manager and employee perceptions on high performance work practices (HPWPs) linked to employee skills utilisation in their workplace. The empirical study comprises questionnaires sent to line managers and employees in organisations in Scotland. From the 161 usable responses from line managers it is found that four groupings of HPWPs are perceived to be linked to employee skills utilisation. These are autonomy and empowerment, work organisation and job design, leadership and management, and the learning environment. The perceptions of the 184 respondent employees also reveal these four groupings of HPWPs are perceived to be linked to employee skills utilisation, however a fifth grouping, teamwork and collaboration, is also deemed important to employees. Most similarity in manager and employee perceptions lies in autonomy and empowerment, where ten aspects are either significant or highly significant to the respondent managers and/or employees, as identified in Mann Witney U testing. In total, in the employee findings, highly significant differences are found in 33 aspects across five groupings of HPWPs; in the line manager findings, there are 11 highly significant differences across three groupings. Thus more aspects of the identified groupings of HPWPs appear of greater relevance and importance to employees than the line managers. Not only do the findings add to understanding of the significance of HPWPs linked to employee skills utilisation. In addition, the exposed differences in line manager and employee perceptions among the respondents from organisations in Scotland highlight the importance of appreciation of both of these two viewpoints in organisations seeking to increase utilisation of their employees’ skills.