David Sikora

Associate Professor | Georgia Southern University

Statesboro, GA, UNITED STATES

David Sikora is an expert in human resource management and employee management.

Biography

Before coming to Georgia Southern, David Sikora, associate professor of management, was an assistant professor of management at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, where he taught human resource management, employee training & development, and organizational behavior. His research interests include strategic human resource management and the business impact of employee management practices. He has published his research in such journals as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Leadership Quarterly, Human Resources Management Review, International Human Resource Management Journal Journal of Selection and Assessment, and Human Resource Management Journal. Prior to his academic career, David had extensive corporate experience in human resources and marketing including serving as human resources vice president at Cigna Corporation and director of human resources product management at Gevity HR, Incorporated

Areas of Expertise (3)

Organizational Behavior

Human Resource Management

Employee Management

Accomplishments (6)

Best Paper Award

Southwest Academy of Management - 2019

Bank of America Faculty Award

Georgia Southern University - 2017

Human Resources Division Scholarly Achievement Award

Academy of Management - Finalist, 2016

Human Resources Division Best Paper Award

Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, 2014

Outstanding Management Faculty Award

Cal Poly, 2013-2014

Academy of Management Dissertation Award

Society for Human Resource Management Foundation, 2011

Education (2)

Florida State University: Ph.D., Business Administration 2012

Cornell University: B.S., Industrial & Labor Relations

Links (1)

Faculty Profile

Articles (5)

Workforce churning, human capital disruption, and organisational performance in different technological contexts

Human Resource Management Journal

Edoardo Della Torre, Christopher D. Zatzick, David Sikora, Luca Solari

2018 We assess the influence of workforce churning on the relationship between organisational human capital and labour productivity. Building on collective turnover research and human capital theory, we examine how the components of workforce churning (i.e., voluntary turnover, involuntary turnover, and new hires) influence the relationship between existing human capital and labour productivity. Further, we examine how this influence varies according to a firm's technological intensity. Our data come from 1,911 Italian manufacturing firms and reveals that collective voluntary turnover negatively affects the relationship between organisational human capital and labour productivity regardless of an organisation's level of technological intensity. In contrast, collective involuntary turnover enhances the relationship between human capital and labour productivity, and its effect is even stronger for organisations with more technologically intensive operations. Finally, our results suggest that the integration of new hires disrupts the relationship between human capital and productivity, particularly for firms with technologically intensive operations.

Reimagining overqualified human resources to promote organizational effectiveness and competitive advantage

Journal of Organizational Effectiveness

David Sikora, Tina Williams Thompson, Zachary A. Russell, Gerald R. Ferris

2016 Many organizations hold the traditional view that due to the potential of higher job dissatisfaction and employee turnover rates, hiring overqualified job candidates is risky. The purpose of this paper is to take an alternative perspective, using Human Capital and Resource-based theories to propose that hiring overqualified job candidates adds to a firm’s human capital depth. This additional human capital depth, in turn, enables firms to improve near term organizational effectiveness, and ultimately, build long-term competitive advantage. However, the ability of the firm to sustain this competitive advantage is dependent upon the retention of the overqualified human capital. The authors propose that job and career development opportunities made available to the overqualified will increase commitment and reduce turnover intentions, resulting in a long-term competitive advantage. Thus, the conceptual framework makes reference to deployment of the overqualified as an under used source of human capital. Finally, the implications of the proposed conceptualization and directions for future research are discussed. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews theory and proposes a conceptual framework for reimaging overqualified human resources. Findings – There are powerful benefits to hiring overqualified job candidates, but by not hiring overqualified job candidates, organizations are missing out on a large, easily available, and potentially lower cost source of highly skilled human capital. Practical implications – The authors propose that job and career development opportunities made available to the overqualified will increase commitment and reduce turnover intentions, resulting in a long-term competitive advantage. Thus, the conceptual framework makes reference to deployment of the overqualified as an under used source of human capital. Originality/value – This paper uses Human Capital and Resource-Based theory to propose a conceptual framework which makes four key contributions. First, the authors propose that hiring overqualified job candidates increases an organization’s human capital depth.

Overqualified human resources, career development experiences, and work outcomes: Leveraging an underutilized resource with political skill

Human Resource Management Review

Zachary A. Russell, Gerald R. Ferris, Tina Williams Thompson, David Sikora

2015 We argue in this paper that overqualified employees represent an underutilized human resource that has the potential to be leveraged in impactful ways to enhance both personal and organizational effectiveness. Our proposed framework suggests that if organizations provide opportunities for employees to engage in career development experiences (i.e., job crafting, informal leadership, mentoring relationships), politically skilled overqualified employees will capitalize on these opportunities and utilize their additional knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience to make unique contributions, providing valued human resources to the organizations. Furthermore, the politically skilled overqualified employees' capitalization on opportunities to undertake career development opportunities will results in positive outcomes for both the employees (i.e., increased job satisfaction and reputation) and the organization (i.e., increased organizational commitment). Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Employment Qualifications, Person–Job Fit, Underemployment Attributions, and Hiring Recommendations: A three-study investigation

International Journal of Selection and Assessment

Tina Williams Thompson, David Sikora, Pamela L. Perrewé, Gerald R. Ferris

2015 Using an experimental design across three studies and four samples, we investigated the effects of employment qualification level (i.e., underqualified, adequately qualified, or overqualified) on hiring recommendations, and how the relationship was influenced by person–job (P-J) fit and underemployment attributions. In Study 1, we tested and found support for the strength and effectiveness of the employment qualification level manipulation. In Study 2, the results demonstrated that overqualified applicants received higher ratings on objective P-J fit, subjective P-J fit, and hiring recommendations than underqualified applicants. Also, overqualified applicants were rated higher on objective and subjective P-J fit than adequately qualified applicants. However, the results indicated no significant differences between adequately qualified and overqualified applicants on hiring recommendations. Finally, P-J fit was found to fully mediate the employment qualification level–hiring recommendation relationship, but only subjective P-J fit (i.e., and not objective P-J fit) was a significant mediator. In Study 3, we assessed the potential effects of underemployment attribution (i.e., internal-controllable vs. external-uncontrollable) on interviewer hiring recommendation. Results demonstrated that applicants who made an external-uncontrollable attribution for their overqualification were perceived negatively and received lower ratings on hiring recommendations than applicants who made an internal-controllable attribution for their underemployment. Furthermore, the underemployment attribution-hiring recommendation relationship was found to be fully mediated by subjective (but not objective) P-J fit. Contributions of these results to theory, research, and practice, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Line Manager Implementation Perceptions as a Mediator of Relations Between High-Performance Work Practices and Employee Outcomes

Journal of Applied Psychology

David Sikora, Gerald R. Ferris, Chad H Van Iddekinge

2015 Strategic human resources management (SHRM) scholars recently have suggested that high-performance work practices (HPWP) implementation might serve as a critical mediator between HPWP and workplace outcomes. This study proposes and tests a model that positions line managers' perceptions regarding the extent to which they implement their organization's HPWP as a mediator of relations between HPWP and employee attitudes (i.e., turnover intentions and participative decision-making perceptions) and behavior (i.e., job performance). Using data from 507 line managers and 109 matched line manager-subordinate response sets, the results suggest that line managers' HPWP implementation perceptions fully mediate relations between HPWP and employee outcomes. The authors also found that line managers' human resources competency and political skill affect their HPWP implementation perceptions. Overall, these findings contribute to a more informed understanding of relationships between HPWP and work outcomes and suggest that additional SHRM research is needed to better understand whether and how HPWP are implemented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).