Human resource practices and employee wellbeing from a gender perspective: The role of organizational justice

Abstract

Introduction/objective: HR practices have been widely studied in the literature. However, critical research gaps remain unexplored. Little attention has been paid to the relationship between HR practices and well-being, or the mechanisms that explain the effect of HR on employees’ wellbeing, and the role of gender in this relationship. Hence, this study aims to examine the relationship between HR practices and well-being (eudemonic and hedonic) through organizational justice, taking into account gender. Method: A convenience sampling technique was used in a correlational design. The sample was composed of 1647 employees from 42 Spanish organizations. Our measures were HR practices, organizational justice, and hedonic and eudemonic wellbeing. Multi-group structural equation models were computed. Results: The results supported our hypothesis, which mainly stated that (1) organizational justice (distributive, procedural and interactional justice) mediated the relationship between HR practices and eudemonic and hedonic well-being; (2) there were differences between men and women in this mediation. Conclusions: Human resource practices and organizational justice offer tools to HR managers in order to maintain and improve employees’ well-being levels within their organizations.