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Employee advocacy in Africa: the role of HR practitioners in Malawi

Aminu Mamman (Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK)
Christopher J. Rees (Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK)
Rhoda Bakuwa (The Malawi Polytechnic, University of Malawi, Zomba, Malawi)
Mohamed Branine (Dundee Business School, Abertay University, Dundee, UK)
Ken Kamoche (Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK)

Employee Relations

ISSN: 0142-5455

Article publication date: 26 November 2018

Issue publication date: 7 January 2019

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Abstract

Purpose

In recognising the weakness of trade unions and the lack of an institutional framework designed to enforce employee rights in an African context, the purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which human resource (HR) practitioners are perceived to play the role of employee advocate.

Design/methodology/approach

The quantitative data set is derived from a sample of 305 respondents (95 HR practitioners, 121 line managers and 89 employees) from Malawi.

Findings

Despite the challenges of the context, HR practitioners are perceived by key stakeholders (including line managers and employees) to be playing the role of employee advocate. Standard multiple regression results indicate that the main factor contributing to the perception that HR practitioners are playing this role is their contribution to “motivating employees”.

Research limitations/implications

The study was conducted in Malawi. Further research is necessary to explore the generalisability of the findings to other contexts.

Originality/value

The findings provide an empirical base for future studies which explore perceptions of the employee advocacy role undertaken by HR practitioners in Africa.

Keywords

Citation

Mamman, A., Rees, C.J., Bakuwa, R., Branine, M. and Kamoche, K. (2019), "Employee advocacy in Africa: the role of HR practitioners in Malawi", Employee Relations, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 2-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-12-2017-0296

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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