The Role of employees’ perceptions of HPWS in the HPWS-performance relationship: A multilevel perspective

Abstract

Building on HR system strength and signaling theories, we proposed and tested the mediating roles of employees’ individual and collective perceptions of high performance work systems (HPWS) in influencing HPWS-outcome relationships. The data were collected from 286 HR managers, 286 vice presidents, and 1916 employees of 286 companies in China. The results of this study revealed that firm HPWS influenced both individual and collective employee perceptions of HPWS, which, in turn, resulted in individual- and organizational-level employee outcomes, respectively, including affective commitment and turnover intention, and ultimately impacted organizational performance. Moreover, the findings of this study revealed that high levels of employee-oriented organizational culture and CEOs’ benevolent leadership behavior strengthened the positive relationship or promoted the consensus between firm HPWS and employees’ collective perceptions of HPWS. The theoretical contributions and practical implications of these findings are discussed.