Interactive effects of sustainable HRM, career adaptability and career sustainability on employee well-being
| Date | 17 October 2024 |
| Pages | 1706-1722 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-01-2024-0021 |
| Published date | 17 October 2024 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Neelam Nakra,Vaneet Kashyap,Ridhi Arora |
Interactive effects of sustainable
HRM, career adaptability and
career sustainability on employee
well-being
Neelam Nakra
IFMR Graduate School of Business, Krea University, Sri City, India
Vaneet Kashyap
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Tirupati, Tirupati, India, and
Ridhi Arora
Jindal Global Business School, OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India
Abstract
Purpose –Past research has well-demonstrated the importance of sustainable human resource management
practices in augmenting sustainability in careers of individuals and their overall growth and well-being. In
this regard, role of career adaptability as a potential resource in harnessing sustainable HRM and career
sustainability relationship requires attention. Considering this, the purpose of the current research is to
analyze how sustainable HRM practices influence career sustainability, that eventually predicts employee
well-being. Besides this, we also examined the role of career adaptability as a potential moderator in governing
the linkage between sustainable HR practices and career sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach –Our study adopted a cross-sectional research design. Data were
collected through administration of survey among 620 working professionals. Analysis was conducted
deploying statistical techniques such as confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to confirm the factors, and the
hypotheses were tested using model 4 and model 7 in PROCESS macro by SPSS 20.0.
Findings –Results showed that in the Indian context, career sustainability acts as a potential mediator
between the sustainable HRM practices and employee well-being relationship. In addition, we also found the
significant moderating role of career adaptability in strengthening the impact of sustainable HRM practices on
career sustainability among employees.
Practical implications –The study offers potential implications for scholars and management practitioners
in terms of implementing sustainable HRM practices emphasizing on good values at various levels in
organizations. Also, it encourages organizational policymakers and leaders for conducting training programs
and workshops on developing career adaptability resources.
Originality/value –It is among one of the few studies that help in advancing the scholarship on sustainable
HRM and sustainable careers and their key role in strengthening individuals’ well-being. The findings also
extend the application of conservation of resources theory at the intersection of sustainable HRM and
vocational psychology literature in the South-east Asian context.
Keywords Sustainable HRM, Employee well-being, Career adaptability, Career sustainability
Paper type Research paper
Recent years have witnessed an enhanced focus of individuals towards seeking
employability security through multiple career experiences, creating an impact on their
sense of well-being (Chin et al., 2019;Donald et al., 2019). Simultaneously, the massive
transformations in employment relationships, in addition to increased volatility, uncertainty,
complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) in careers, have resulted in increased challenges to stay
happy and productive at the workplace (Akkermans, 2019;De Vos et al., 2020). Having said
this, there has been a major call among organizational practitioners to build sustainable
careers for employees by enhancing their flexibility, resourcefulness and opportunities (Chin
et al., 2019,2021). Sustainable careers have been found to be a key factor in past studies that
ER
46,8
1706
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 9 January 2024
Revised 20 May 2024
11 September 2024
18 September 2024
Accepted23 September 2024
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 46 No. 8, 2024
pp. 1706-1722
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-01-2024-0021
guide employees to stay happy, healthy and productive in their employment across various
organizational contexts (De Vos et al., 2020). According to De Vos and Van der Heijden (2017),
career sustainability represents a pattern of employee’s career experiences over a period
across different social spaces; owing to which it is strongly governed by individual’s agency
and also provides meaning to an individual. The paradigm of career sustainability involves a
dynamic interplay of individual, contextual and temporal factors (De Vos et al., 2020;Chin
et al., 2019).
Henceforth, the current study considers the conceptualization of career sustainability
which views individuals as ‘in-charge’ of their respective careers, and organizations assist
them through the provision of resources essential for fulfilling their career aspirations as well
as fostering career sustainability. The present study proposes to investigate how the
development of sustainability in careers results from the resource caravan/spiral effect of
organizational resources, that is sustainable HRM practices and individual resources (i.e.
career adaptability). Drawing based on the theory of conservation of resources (COR)
(Hobfoll, 2001); we postulate that as individuals have evolutionary need to conserve all those
resources which can help them in their long-term survival, the availability of sustainable
HRM practices and personal career adaptability resources is likely to enhance well-being of
individuals. Sustainable HRM practices adopt a long-term orientation aiming at
organization’s sustainability goals as well as reducing harm to the employees (De Prins
et al., 2020). Sustainable HRM practices are believed to be the vehicle to form sustainable
careers by enhancing employees’ employability and career growth (Cheng et al., 2023;De Vos
and Van Der Heijden, 2017;Ybema et al., 2020). At present, not many studies utilizing COR
theory as foundation have established link between sustainable HRM practices and
vocational psychology constructs such as career adaptability and career sustainability of
employees to foster an increased overall well-being (Cheng et al., 2023). As individuals with
strong career adaptability resources acclimatize to career-related tasks, transitions and
shocks quite well (Savickas and Porfeli, 2012); consequently, such individuals display high
job performance, and well-being. Also, career adaptability resources guide individuals in
managing dynamic and uncertain employment circumstances (Guan et al., 2015) and career
transitions (Savickas, 2005;De Vos et al., 2020). Following this, our study proposes that
sustainable HRM practices would help in building career sustainability in such a way that
the relationship would be stronger among individuals who show high career adaptability
levels. Further, we also emphasize that the sustainable HRM practices, via the mediating role
of career sustainability, would help in improving employees’ well-being. In this regard,
earlier research has also demonstrated the impact of career experiences on the various
aspects of employees’ well-being (Chin et al., 2021;Li, 2018). Another significant research gap
is that the sustainable HRM and career sustainability represent emerging cross-cutting
themes which have steadily gained momentum for their contribution towards organizational
outcomes (Chin et al., 2019;De Vos and Van Der Heijden, 2017;Lu et al., 2023;Macke and
Genari, 2019). Because of which it provides a major calling for undertaking studies on
mapping impact of sustainable HRM on individual-level outcomes.
Overall, our study contributes to the existing literature on careers and sustainable HRM
practices in various ways. First, it adds to the existing body of research on careers that
highlights how the interaction of individual and contextual resources such as sustainable
HRM practices foster sustainable career development and well-being of employees using the
lens of conservation of resources. It thus, provides a way forward and value-addition to COR
theory framework in terms of how career adaptability resources can be viewed as inherent
career resources for strengthening sustainability in careers as well as overall well-being
while managing stressful situations arising from the uncertainty and novel crisis situations.
Second, it addresses the sustainable career perspectives as given by Akkermans (2019)
which highlights the need for understanding how employers can support employees in
Employee
Relations: The
International
Journal
1707
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
