Drawing on reinforcement theory and insights from two-market (monetary and social markets) research, this study investigates the complex relationships among employees’ perceived recognition, affective state, and task performance. Using multi-wave, multi-source data from 387 leader-employee dyads across eight Chinese high-tech companies, we found a U-shaped relationship between perceived recognition and negative affect, which subsequently impacts task performance. Furthermore, pay for individual performance (PFIP) significantly moderates this U-shaped relationship: at low to moderate recognition levels, high PFIP weakens the negative relationship between perceived recognition and negative affect by shifting employees’ focus from social to monetary rewards; at moderate to high recognition levels, high PFIP mitigates the positive relationship between perceived recognition and negative affect by alleviating the psychological pressure and compensating for the decreased motivational effectiveness from excessive perceived recognition. These findings advance total compensation literature by highlighting a potential ‘dark side’ of excessive perceived recognition and address the puzzle of why organizations adopt monetary and non-monetary rewards simultaneously, showing that PFIP dampens recognition’s effects that is counterproductive at low-to-moderate levels but protective at moderate-to-high levels. Our study also has practical implications for organizations seeking to optimize their reward strategies by calibrating recognition intensity and integrating it with performance-based pay.

The talent management (TM) literature generally highlights the importance of effective implementation and its benefits for individuals and organisations. However, limited attention has been given to how context shapes TM implementation in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In this study, we adopt an institutional logics lens to examine the antecedents of TM implementation and the role of SMEs in responding to institutional complexity. Drawing on qualitative research based on 25 semi-structured interviews in French SMEs, we identify state, union, and market logics as key antecedents to TM. We also show how SMEs exercise agency, adapting their TM approaches to the institutional environment while engaging in the balancing act between compliance and strategy. These agentic responses give rise to three distinct tensions: flexibility–security, effectiveness–legitimacy, and authenticity–conformity. We contribute to the TM literature by providing nuanced insights into how institutional context shapes implementation and how SME agency influences this process.

The adoption of new technologies is important for firm performance and competitive advantage. But what workforce strategies do firms deploy when they invest in new technologies? What strategies are most beneficial in the longer term? Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm and a longitudinal data set of all firms in the Swedish manufacturing industry between 2000 and 2020, this study quantifies the occurrence and outcomes of workforce strategies when firms invest in new technologies. Results show that investments are associated with labour growth and stabilizing workforce strategies, rather than labour-saving and radical reconfiguration strategies. Firms using a stabilizing strategy when making investments record better chances for survival. These findings contribute to debates in the field of strategic human resource management and the literature that discuss the contribution of human capital resources to sustained competitive advantage. The results also have important practical implications for HR managers responsible for formulating workforce strategies in times of technological change.

HRM and employment practices have mainly been studied in organizations performing relatively routine work, even if the work is only of a temporary nature and/or outsourced to external service providers. Although project-based work and employment have become commonplace, how modes of employment are formed and managed in more temporary, complex and dynamic organizational forms like project-based organizations (PBOs) is less well understood and addressed in HR architecture theory. This research examines how different temporal modes of employment have developed due to the structural characteristics of projects and the HR strategies of PBOs. Following a practice-based perspective, this research examines four PBOs in the Iranian and Scottish oil and gas industry drawing on primary data collected through semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation along with secondary data. The findings reveal a spectrum of modes of employment and related HRM practices in contemporary PBOs, which require high commitment to a project and/or the PBO, thus moving beyond the traditional dichotomy of temporary or permanent employment. We use the metaphor of project ‘guests’ to reflect the varying degrees of temporariness to project employment. While guests do not stay permanently, the duration of their stay may differ considerably. The findings enable contributions to the extension of HR architecture theory to PBOs and generate practice implications for a growing number of other dynamically configuring organizations.

Drawing on Affective Events Theory, this study examines the impact of the difference between employees’ expected and perceived high-performance work systems (HPWS difference) on their voice behavior, with subjective well-being at work as a mediating mechanism. Data were collected from 301 employees across diverse industries in China via a three-wave longitudinal survey. The results indicated that the HPWS difference significantly and negatively predicted both promotive and prohibitive voice behavior. Specifically, subjective well-being at work mediated this relationship, indicating that a larger HPWS difference undermined employees’ subjective well-being at work, which in turn reduced their willingness to engage in voice behavior. Additionally, the study found that both expected and perceived HPWS exert independent direct effects on voice outcomes. These findings highlight HPWS difference as a critical yet understudied antecedent influencing employee behavior through its impact on well-being. This research contributes to the strategic HRM literature by introducing and validating HPWS difference as a key antecedent of employee behavior and by illuminating the mediating role of subjective well-being at work, providing important practical insights for managing employees’ expectations and implementing HR systems more effectively.

A growing body of research is using attribution theory, which addresses why human resource (HR) practices are applied in a certain way, to explore the relationship between HR practices and employee attitudes and behaviour. This research has typically shown that when employees make internal attributions to management for HR policy and practice this affects employee outcomes but external attributions, for example to a union or to legislation, have no effect despite their apparent potential influence. The aims of this paper are threefold: to make the case for the role of external HR attributions; to present a theoretical framework within which to analyse external HR attributions; and to present a preliminary test of this framework using the example of HR attributions to the trade union in a large, unionised bank. Findings reveal that union membership per se has no impact on HR attributions or on attitudes but that higher commitment to the union is associated with lower work engagement and lower well-being. These findings are explained with respect to identity theory. The paper presents the case for a nuanced analysis of the circumstances under which external HR attributions are likely to affect employee outcomes.

Artificial intelligence (AI) interviews have been entering hiring practices widely and leading valid arguments. This research sheds light on the dark side of AI interviews from a more human-centric perspective. Combining social information processing theory with the dual-process model, we investigate how and when AI interviews restrain organizational attraction. We examine our model by conducting a laboratory experiment using FaceReader 8.0 and a scenario experiment. The results indicate that AI interviews will inhibit organizational attraction via job seekers’ emotional pathway (i.e., negative emotion) and cognitive pathway (i.e., organizational trust). Furthermore, our results show that job seekers’ prior AI experience can buffer the effects of AI interviews on their negative emotion and organizational trust. Their experience can also weaken the indirect effect of AI interviews on organizational attraction through the emotional pathway. Our findings provide theoretical and practical implications for scholars and managers in HRM.

Employees with family responsibilities often face challenges in balancing work and family demands. Family-friendly employment practices (FFEPs) are flexibility policies, arrangements, and services provided by an organization, employer, or supervisor to facilitate employees in fulfilling work and family responsibilities. Research linking FFEPs to employee well-being has yielded mixed results and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Drawing on the human resource management literature, it was hypothesized that FFEPs availability is associated with reduced levels of burnout and greater levels of flourishing through increased work engagement. A three-wave time-lagged study (baseline, T1; 3 months, T2; 9 months, T3) was conducted with 400 employees with family responsibilities in Hong Kong, China. Various clusters of FFEPs were systematically assessed: work arrangements, leave benefits, compensatory supports, and health/wellness services. Structural equation modeling showed that work engagement at T2 significantly mediated the associations between work arrangements (e.g. compressed work schedule, reduced work hours) at T1 and both burnout and flourishing at T3. Health/wellness services (e.g. critical incident support, employee assistance program) at T1 were positively associated with flourishing at T3. Findings suggest that availability of work arrangements elevates employees’ capabilities for engagement, such that employees would fully dedicate cognitive, affective, and physical resources at work.

Organizations increasingly compete for highly skilled workers in a labor market shaped by shifting employee expectations and heightened mobility. As traditional employer branding strategies centered on compensation and career growth face limitations, sustainability has started to emerge as a potential differentiator in talent attraction and retention. This study examines how sustainability-driven employer branding shapes job seeker perceptions, reinforces employee commitment, and fosters long-term engagement. Drawing on 52 semi-structured interviews with top talents, we develop a process model illustrating how sustainability operates across four interconnected phases: employer brand development, sustainability signaling, commitment reinforcement, and brand citizenship behavior. According to our model, sustainability enhances employer attractiveness when pre-hiring messages align with workplace realities, strengthening psychological contract fulfillment and organizational loyalty. This study also provides actionable insights for HR managers, emphasizing that firms integrating sustainability into HRM practices and workplace culture can foster employee-brand alignment and brand advocacy. By bridging sustainability and talent management, this research highlights sustainability’s role as both a dynamic employer brand signal and a driver of workforce stability in a values-driven labor market.

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) have garnered significant attention over the past four decades for promoting work-life integration. This paper extends theorisation of individualised flexible work arrangements (flexibility i-deals), which are bespoke agreements negotiated between employees and employers. While i-deals are associated with benefits such as increased productivity and job satisfaction, the role of human resource management (HRM) specialists and line managers in facilitating these arrangements remains underexplored. Drawing on interviews with 30 female lawyers in international law firms, this study examines the negotiation of flexibility i-deals in a traditionally rigid, gendered, and hyper-competitive professional context. The findings reveal that i-deals often supplement standardised FWAs, which fail to fully address employees’ diverse needs. Enablers such as technological advancements, the billable hour model, and post-pandemic workplace shifts were identified as critical to supporting i-deals. However, HRM is largely excluded from the negotiation process, perceived as obstructive and overly formalised, with line managers and partners taking control of decisions. This research contributes to the literature on HRM devolution and flexible work practices by highlighting negotiation dynamics, the importance of leader-member exchanges, and the need for HRM to adopt a more strategic and supportive role. Practical implications focus on empowering HRM to better facilitate flexibility i-deals, ultimately addressing barriers to female lawyers’ retention and career progression in professional service firms.