The role of human resource practices in petro-chemical refinery performance

Abstract

This study examined the impact of human resource (HR) practices (selection, training, compensation and appraisal) and participation on the financial performance of US petro-chemical refineries. Survey results from HR and operations respondents indicated that appraisal and training were significantly related to workforce skills and that training and compensation were marginally related to workforce motivation. In addition, only training was significantly related to refinery performance, although the relationship was negative. However, selection, compensation and appraisal interacted with participation in determining refinery financial performance such that each of these practices was strongly positively related to financial performance only under highly participative systems. Implications are discussed.