More Roads Lead to Rome. HR Configurations and Employee Sustainability Outcomes in Public Sector Organizations

Roel Schouteten,Sascha Kraus-Hoogeveen,Pascale Peters,Beatrice Van Der Heijden,Leonie Heres

doi:10.3390/su132111698

Abstract

In linking human resource management (HRM) to organizational sustainability, linear variance-based methods are not suited for addressing the complexity of how various HRM practices interact and have an impact on sustainability outcomes for multiple stakeholders. However, so far, empirical evidence for a configurational approach, acknowledging synergy and equifinality between various practices, is scant. Therefore, this study aims to provide empirical evidence for synergistic effects and equifinality in the link between sustainable HRM practices and employee sustainability outcomes. Building on the Ability Motivation Opportunity (AMO) model, this study adopts a configurational approach to unveil how sustainable HRM practices, in various combinations and in different ways, can impact employee sustainability outcomes (commitment and job satisfaction). The study applied a fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) on a secondary data set consisting of employee surveys in 30 Dutch public sector organizations. The findings reveal that combinations of various AMO-enhancing practices are especially conducive to commitment and job satisfaction. Moreover, aligning these practices with work context factors (transformational leadership style and low work pressure) can lead to relatively high levels of commitment and job satisfaction. This study indicates that configuration matters and that there is not one best way to achieve employee sustainability outcomes. This leaves ample leeway for human resource managers to design a suitable and integrative HRM system for their own organization.

Highlights

IntroductionWhereas Strategic HRM (SHRM) is mainly concerned with linking Human Resource Management (HRM) activities to organizational outcomes, such as financial or market performance, sustainable HRM emphasizes the relationship between HR practices and outcomes beyond the organizational financial outcomes, such as human and social outcomes and ecological/environmental outcomes [2,3]
We acknowledge that an optimal fit can never be reached, we argue that it is still important to have an integral perspective on Human Resource Management (HRM) by implementing mutually supportive HR practices [25], both in terms of aligning the distinguished HR practices and in terms of aligning the HR practices with the organizational strategy
Based on the Ability Motivation Opportunity (AMO) framework, which forms a fruitful lens for studies focusing on sustainable HRM [24,44,48], we found empirical support for our proposition that a configuration containing the presence of ability, motivation- and opportunity-enhancing HR practices can produce the highest levels of commitment and job satisfaction, two important employee outcomes that can contribute to employee and organization sustainability outcomes

Summary

Introduction

Whereas SHRM is mainly concerned with linking HRM activities to organizational outcomes, such as financial or market performance, sustainable HRM emphasizes the relationship between HR practices and outcomes beyond the organizational financial outcomes, such as human and social outcomes and ecological/environmental outcomes [2,3]. This alternative is relevant in response to achieve the Club of Rome’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG; [4]). The field is still relatively young, in the sustainable HRM

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