The joint impact of HRM attributions and HRM system consistency on employee well-being: a two-wave study
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-07-2021-0333 |
| Published date | 16 February 2022 |
| Date | 16 February 2022 |
| Pages | 926-947 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Qijie Xiao,Fang Lee Cooke |
The joint impact of HRM
attributions and HRM system
consistency on employee
well-being: a two-wave study
Qijie Xiao
Suzhou Industrial Park Monash Research Institute of Science and Technology,
Suzhou, China and
Department of Management, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, and
Fang Lee Cooke
Department of Management, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –This study extends extant literature by establishing an integrative framework connecting different
forms of HRM attributions (internal HRM well-being attributions and exploiting attributions, and external
Labor Law attributions) and a specific single meta-feature of HRM system strength (consistency) to employee
well-being.
Design/methodology/approach –In total, 279 paired and valid responses from eight manufacturing firms
located in three cities in China were analyzed in this two-wave study. PROCESS macro tool was used to
examine the mediating role of thriving at work and the moderating role of HRM system consistency in the
relationship between HRM attributions and thriving at work.
Findings –Thriving at work mediated the relationship between internal HRM exploiting attributions,
external Labor Law attributions and employee well-being. On the other hand, internal HRM well-being
attributions did not indirectly influence employee well-being through thriving at work. HRM system
consistency moderates the association between internal HRM attributions (rather than external Labor Law
attributions) and thriving at work.
Research limitations/implications –This research is only concerned with a particular form of external
attributions in one country. In fact, there is a wide range of other external HRM attributions (e.g. organizational
intention to imitate their competitors in today’s global economy).
Practical implications –Managers should understand that managing the well-being of the workforce is an
important part of HRM for responsible organizations and make efforts to improve employees’affective-
motivational states.
Originality/value –The authors offer insights into HRM attributions research by differentiating internal
attributionsfrom external LaborLaw attributions basedon their disparate implicationsfor employee well-being.
Keywords China, Employee well-being, HRM attributions, HRM system consistency, Perceived HRM,
Thriving at work
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Recent interest in perceived human resource management (HRM) has cast light on two main
streams of research, namely HRM attributions (Nishii et al., 2008) and HRM system strength
(Bowen and Ostroff, 2004), to elucidate the relationship between perceived HRM and
employee well-being (e.g. Alfes et al., 2012;Frenkel et al., 2012).
Nishii et al.’s (2008) seminal work laid the foundation of HRM attributions research by
differentiating internal from external HRM attributions. Internal HRM attributions (e.g. well-
being attributions and exploiting attributions) are defined as employees’perceptions that HR
practices are adopted as a function of management’s voluntary intentions. In contrast,
external HRM attributions (e.g. union compliance attributions) refer to employees’
interpretations that HR practices are implemented in order to conform to the external
ER
44,4
926
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 28 July 2021
Revised 22 November 2021
Accepted 28 January 2022
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 44 No. 4, 2022
pp. 926-947
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-07-2021-0333
pressures, which are beyond managerial control. Despite Nishii et al.’s (2008) call for
identifying external attributions beyond union compliance, subsequent research focused
mainly on internal HRM attributions rather than external attributions (Hewett et al., 2018).
In addition to HRM attributions, another stream of perceived HRM research, HRM system
strength, also pays close attention to employee well-being. HRM system strength theory
suggests that meta-features of HRM systems (distinctiveness, consistency and consensus)
can enable employees to develop shared perceptions of the signals delivered by the HRM
system, eliciting a strong climate (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004). Most prior works considered
HRM system strength as an overall construct. However, a specific single meta-feature of the
HRM system remains less explored. This is problematic as differential meta-features will not
be equally effective to form a strong climate (Ostroff and Bowen, 2016;Rosa-Navarro et al.,
2020). HRM system consistency represents an important meta-feature: a strong
organizational climate context will emerge when employees perceive the existence of
consistent messages delivered by the HRM system (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004). We chose HRM
consistency rather than other meta-features because consistency can be associated with both
thriving and well-being. In a consistent HRM system climate, employees tend to be more
motivated at work (Li et al., 2012). Conversely, inconsistent HRM systems represent weak
situations where employees may suffer from intense job-related stress because of cognitive
confusion (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004).
Responding to Hewett et al.’s (2018) call for combining these two distinct but interrelated
perceived HRM theories, this study establishes an integrative framework connecting diverse
forms of HRM attributions (both internal and external attributions) and a specific single meta-
feature of HRM system strength (consistency) to employee well-being. First, drawing on the
job demands-resources (JDR) model (Demerouti et al., 2001), we identify how distinct types of
HRM attributions relate to employee well-being. Specifically, we regard internal HRM well-
being attributions as employees’perceptions that sufficient job resources are available within
the organization, which promote employee well-being. In contrast, internal HRM exploiting
attributions are considered as employees’interpretations that there exist extensive job
demands, which make detrimental impacts on well-being. Moreover, we propose a novel form
of external HRM attributions, external Labor Law attributions, which refer to employees’
attributions that HR practices are implemented to comply with the Labor Law. We explore
Labor Law attributions because many non-state companies may not fully conform to the
Labor Law in China (Cooney et al., 2013). In this regard, when employees perceive that HR
practices are implemented to respond to the Labor Law, they will understand that the
management provides them with job resources to protect their labor rights andpromote their
well-being. By differentiating internal attributions from external Labor Law attributions
based on their distinct implications for employee well-being, this study extends existing
literature focusing mainly on internal HRM attributions.
Second, we propose that HRM attributions determine employee well-being because they
activate thriving at work, which is defined as a positive job-related mindset that evaluates
individuals’joint sense of vitality and learning (Porath et al., 2012). By evaluating whether
thriving at work acts as a potential mediator, we seek to identify the underlying mechanisms
through which HRM attributions influence well-being.
Third, we focus on an individual meta-feature (HRM system consistency), rather than the
overall HRM system strength, as a potential boundary condition for the relationship between
HRM attributions and employee outcomes. A consistent HRM system context can predict
employees’thriving at work by offering unambiguous, valid and stable HR messages. By
assessing whether HRM system consistency operates as an important contingency affecting
the impact of HRM attributions, we shed light on the context-driven nature of HRM
perceptions (Xiao and Cooke, 2020). More specifically, HRM attributions may exert divergent
influences on employees in different organizational contexts (a consistent HRM system
HRM
attributions and
HRM system
strength
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