Human resources control systems and performance: the role of uncertainty and risk propensity

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to study the relationship between the HR control system and organizational results, examining the moderating effect of uncertainty and HR risk behavior. Design/methodology/approach – The study analyzes the relationship between HR control systems and organizational results introducing two major moderating variables as, uncertainty and risk behavior. The data used for this study comes from questionnaire responses by sales and human resource managers of 108 Spanish firms. Findings – The empirical results show that these moderating variables have an influence on the success of the control system, but it can be stated that the control system has an independent impact on the organizational and sales force performance. Research limitations/implications – Small sample size and cross sectional study, and the use of subjective measures of company and HR performance are the main limitations of the work. Practical implications – To make correct decisions about HR control systems, managers should assess their environment and the composition of the workforce. There is not a control system that is good for all situations. Originality/value of paper – An analysis was made of an important non‐executive employee group, as the sales force is, and addressed the important issue of control and performance while the literature is focused on management control systems. The study does not limit the performance measures only to company variables, displaying customer satisfaction and human resource performance factors.