Discretionary HR practices and employee well-being

Abstract

Purpose The more HRM systems invest in employees’ work life and career growth beyond legal requirements, the happier employees are. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of discretionary HR practices in promoting employee well-being as well as mechanisms underlying this effect. Design/methodology/approach The participants for the study came from retail shops of a large information technology company in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The data set collected from these participants was analyzed through multilevel structural equation modeling and bootstrapping methods. Findings The results of this study provided empirical support for the relationships between discretionary HR practices and the psychological, physical and social dimensions of employee well-being. Job crafting was found to serve as a mediator for these relationships. Abusive supervision played a role in attenuating the effects of discretionary HR practices on the dimensions of employee well-being as well as job crafting. Originality/value This inquiry extends the research stream on the HRM-employee well-being relationship by examining the predictive role of discretionary HR practices.