Birds of a feather flock together: the relationship between managers’ and employees’ perceptions of HR practices

Human resource (HR) scholars argue that employees perform better when their perceptions of HR practices are consistent with those of their managers. However, few studies have examined the circumstances under which employees are likely to develop consistent perceptions of HR practices as their managers. Drawing on social information processing theory, we investigate the relationship between managers’ and employees’ perceptions of HR practices and explore the factors that moderate this relationship. Cross-level analyses of data from 380 employees matched to 32 department managers in 23 Chinese state-owned enterprises reveal a positive relationship between managers’ and employees’ perceptions of HR practices. This relationship is stronger when managers and employees report similar levels of power distance, long-term orientation, and collectivism. In addition, the moderating effect of long-term orientation similarity is stronger for employees with a high level of cognitive cultural intelligence.