The joint impact of HRM attributions and HRM system consistency on employee well-being: a two-wave study

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 attributions from external Labor Law attributions based on their disparate implications for employee well-being.