Can HR managers as ethical leaders cure the menace of precarious work? Important roles of sustainable HRM and HR manager political skill

Abstract

While extensive research has explored the relationship between HRM and various organizational and employee outcomes, there remains a significant gap in the literature regarding the role of HRM in discouraging extreme work. To address this gap, building mainly on stakeholder theory, we specifically propose that HR managers’ ethical leadership negatively influences precarious work, which serves as a catalyst for extreme work cultures by exacerbating workloads, prolonging working hours, and intensifying physical and mental stress. Importantly, we propose that sustainable HRM mediates the association between HR managers’ ethical leadership and precarious work. Finally, the present study hypothesizes that HR managers’ political skill acts as a boundary condition for the effects of HR managers’ ethical leadership on sustainable HRM and precarious work. Data collected from two sources (260 employees and the same number of HR managers) employing a time-lagged design supported our hypotheses. Other than theoretical contributions to different important knowledge areas, such as ethical leadership, HRM, and precarious work, we offer a number of practical implications that could help organizations counter extreme work and its negative repercussions mainly for employees.