IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i17p11064-d906973.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Human Growth Perspective on Sustainable HRM Practices, Worker Well-Being and Organizational Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Ermanno C. Tortia

    (Department of Economics and Management, University of Trento, 38122 Trento, Italy)

  • Silvia Sacchetti

    (Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, 38122 Trento, Italy)

  • Francisco J. López-Arceiz

    (Department of Business Administration, Public University of Navarre, 31006 Pamplona, Spain)

Abstract

Care services pose new challenges and opportunities for the implementation of sustainable HRM practices related to worker involvement and well-being because of their relational nature. The article is framed in terms of the job demands and resources model and discusses the impact of sustainable HRM (SHRM) practices on organizational performance in terms of service quality and organizational innovation in social and care services. A possible mediating role of immaterial satisfaction between SHRM and performance is also considered. We use national survey data including 4134 workers in 310 matched nonprofit social enterprises in Italy. The results show that HRM practices linked to task autonomy, teamwork, and involvement positively influence immaterial satisfaction, while at the same time immaterial satisfaction and HRM features related to involvement and workload support performance. The mediating role of immaterial satisfaction is not confirmed, but its effect adds positively to involvement in improving performance. This work contributes to the literature on organizational performance and HRM sustainability, which are particularly important in the face of ongoing social change and organizational innovation in social and relational service delivery.

Suggested Citation

  • Ermanno C. Tortia & Silvia Sacchetti & Francisco J. López-Arceiz, 2022. "A Human Growth Perspective on Sustainable HRM Practices, Worker Well-Being and Organizational Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-22, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:17:p:11064-:d:906973
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/11064/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/11064/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Petri Böckerman & Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2012. "The Job Satisfaction-Productivity Nexus: A Study Using Matched Survey and Register Data," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(2), pages 244-262, April.
    2. Sylvia Maxfield, 2008. "Reconciling Corporate Citizenship and Competitive Strategy: Insights from Economic Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 80(2), pages 367-377, June.
    3. Hillman, Joanne & Axon, Stephen & Morrissey, John, 2018. "Social enterprise as a potential niche innovation breakout for low carbon transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 445-456.
    4. Ehnert, Ina & Harry, Wes, 2012. "Recent Developments and Future Prospects on Sustainable Human Resource Management: Introduction to the Special Issue," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 221-238.
    5. Poledrini Simone & Tortia Ermanno C., 2020. "Social Enterprises: Evolution of the Organizational Model and Application to the Italian Case," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 10(4), pages 1-26, October.
    6. Silvia Sacchetti & Roger Sugden, 2009. "The Organization of Production and its Publics: Mental Proximity, Market and Hierarchies," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 67(3), pages 289-311.
    7. Ermanno C. Tortia & Florence Degavre & Simone Poledrini, 2020. "Why are social enterprises good candidates for social innovation? Looking for personal and institutional drivers of innovation," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(3), pages 459-477, September.
    8. Silvia Sacchetti & Ermanno Tortia, 2013. "Satisfaction with Creativity: A Study of Organizational Characteristics and Individual Motivation," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(6), pages 1789-1811, December.
    9. Mariana Strenitzerová & Karol Achimský, 2019. "Employee Satisfaction and Loyalty as a Part of Sustainable Human Resource Management in Postal Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-30, August.
    10. Martin Hoegl & Hans Georg Gemuenden, 2001. "Teamwork Quality and the Success of Innovative Projects: A Theoretical Concept and Empirical Evidence," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 435-449, August.
    11. Clarke, Marilyn Alexandra & Hill, Sally Rao, 2012. "Promoting employee wellbeing and quality service outcomes: The role of HRM practices," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 702-713, September.
    12. Esther Villajos & Núria Tordera & José M. Peiró, 2019. "Human Resource Practices, Eudaimonic Well-Being, and Creative Performance: The Mediating Role of Idiosyncratic Deals for Sustainable Human Resource Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-20, December.
    13. Esther Pagán-Castaño & Javier Sánchez-García & Fernando J. Garrigos-Simon & María Guijarro-García, 2021. "The Influence of Management on Teacher Well-Being and the Development of Sustainable Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-23, March.
    14. Chung-Jen Wang & Kuan-Ju Tseng, 2019. "Effects of Selected Positive Resources on Hospitality Service Quality: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-17, April.
    15. Ermanno C. Tortia & Mónica Gago & Florence Degavre & Simone Poledrini, 2022. "Worker Involvement and Performance in Italian Social Enterprises: The Role of Motivations, Gender and Workload," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-20, January.
    16. Ehnert, Ina & Harry, Wes, 2012. "Recent Developments and Future Prospects on Sustainable Human Resource Management: Introduction to the Special Issue," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 23(3), pages 221-238.
    17. Silvia Sacchetti, 2015. "Inclusive and Exclusive Social Preferences: A Deweyan Framework to Explain Governance Heterogeneity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(3), pages 473-485, February.
    18. Ermanno C. Tortia & Silvia Sacchetti & Vladislav Valentinov, 2020. "The ‘protective function’ of social enterprises: understanding the renewal of multiple sets of motivations," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(3), pages 373-410, July.
    19. Chiara Pellegrini & Francesco Rizzi & Marco Frey, 2018. "The role of sustainable human resource practices in influencing employee behavior for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1221-1232, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gaitree Ramgolam & Needesh Ramphul & Hemant Chittoo, 2025. "Sustainable Human Resource Management—A Systematic Literature Review and Directions for Future Research," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(3), pages 11407-11444, September.
    2. Panteha Farmanesh & Alla Mostepaniuk & Parisa Gharibi Khoshkar & Riham Alhamdan, 2023. "Fostering Employees’ Job Performance through Sustainable Human Resources Management and Trust in Leaders—A Mediation Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Ruth Alexandra Bejarano-Chalá & Elizabeth Emperatriz García-Salirrosas & Miluska Villar-Guevara, 2025. "Toward a Deeper Understanding of Organizational Theory: An Organizational Performance Scale for Third-Sector Institutions in Latin America," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Darul Wiyono & Deshinta Arrova Dewi & Ema Ambiapuri & Nur Aini Parwitasari & Deni Supardi Hambali, 2025. "Strategic ESG-Driven Human Resource Practices: Transforming Employee Management for Sustainable Organizational Growth," Papers 2505.08201, arXiv.org.
    5. Yi Wang & Rakhshan Ummar & Tahir Masood Qureshi & Junaid Ul Haq & Mark A. Bonn, 2025. "Employee Sustainability: How Green Practices Drive Employee Well-Being and Citizenship Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-22, January.
    6. Muhammad Zeshan & Mariarosaria Morelli & Shahid Rasool & Piera Centobelli & Roberto Cerchione, 2025. "Empowering sustainable workplaces: A perspective on employee well‐being in the light of the job demand resource model," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 1861-1878, April.
    7. M. Usha & N. Ramkumar, 2025. "Happy Workers, Healthy Business: The Impact of Sustainable Human Resource Management and Workplace Happiness on Employee Engagement of Women Employees in Tea Plantations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-24, January.
    8. Ewa Chomać-Pierzecka & Stefan Dyrka & Andrzej Kokiel & Edward Urbańczyk, 2024. "Sustainable HR and Employee Psychological Well-Being in Shaping the Performance of a Business," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-17, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barbara Sypniewska & Małgorzata Baran & Monika Kłos, 2023. "Work engagement and employee satisfaction in the practice of sustainable human resource management – based on the study of Polish employees," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 1069-1100, September.
    2. Gaitree Ramgolam & Needesh Ramphul & Hemant Chittoo, 2025. "Sustainable Human Resource Management—A Systematic Literature Review and Directions for Future Research," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(3), pages 11407-11444, September.
    3. Shao-Long Li & Fang Sun & Mingze Li, 2019. "Sustainable Human Resource Management Nurtures Change-Oriented Employees: Relationship between High-Commitment Work Systems and Employees’ Taking Charge Behaviors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-15, June.
    4. Silvia Sacchetti & Ermanno Tortia, 2012. "The internal and external governance of cooperatives: the effective membership and consistency of value," AICCON Working Papers 111-2012, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    5. Mónica Santana & Rafael Morales-Sánchez & Susana Pasamar, 2020. "Mapping the Link between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Human Resource Management (HRM): How Is This Relationship Measured?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-28, February.
    6. Budi Harsanto & Asep Mulyana & Yudi Ahmad Faisal & Venny Mellandhia Shandy & Muntasir Alam, 2022. "A Systematic Review on Sustainability-Oriented Innovation in the Social Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.
    7. Silvia Sacchetti & Ermanno Tortia, 2016. "A needs theory of governance," Econometica Working Papers wp59, Econometica.
    8. Poledrini Simone & Searing Elizabeth A. M. & Montrone Alessandro, 2022. "A Model for Directing and Modulating Public Interventions in Social Enterprises," Nonprofit Policy Forum, De Gruyter, vol. 13(4), pages 307-332, October.
    9. Guosen Miao & Guoping Chen & Fan Wang & Anupam Kumar Das, 2023. "The Effect of Corporate Greenwashing on Employees’ Environmental Performance: Person–Organization Values Fit Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-19, February.
    10. Md. Nazmus Sakib & Md. Akmol Uddin & Towhida Akter Kona & Kanta Sharmin & Md. Mizanur Rahman & Mohammad Sahabuddin, 2025. "A twenty-two-year journey of sustainable human resource management research: bibliometric analysis," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Çiğdem VATANSEVER & Nevin KILIÇ & Gülesra DİNLER, 2018. "Yeşil Örgütsel Davranış Ölçeği: Bir Ölçek Geliştirme Çalışması," Istanbul Management Journal, Istanbul University Business School, vol. 29(85), pages 7-39, December.
    12. Astrid Kainzbauer & Parisa Rungruang & Philip Hallinger, 2021. "How Does Research on Sustainable Human Resource Management Contribute to Corporate Sustainability: A Document Co-Citation Analysis, 1982–2021," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, October.
    13. Adolfo Carballo‐Penela & Emilio Ruzo‐Sanmartín & Carlos M. P. Sousa, 2023. "Does business commitment to sustainability increase job seekers' perceptions of organisational attractiveness? The role of organisational prestige and cultural masculinity," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5521-5535, December.
    14. Nadia von Jacobi & Enrica Chiappero‐Martinetti & Lara Maestripieri & Toa Giroletti, 2024. "Creating social value by empowering people: a social innovation perspective," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 413-439, June.
    15. Ermanno C. Tortia & Florence Degavre & Simone Poledrini, 2020. "Why are social enterprises good candidates for social innovation? Looking for personal and institutional drivers of innovation," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(3), pages 459-477, September.
    16. Anna-Maija Lämsä & Suvi Heikkinen & Raminta PuÄ Ä—taitÄ—, 2023. "Social Sustainability, Leadership and Human Resource Management," South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases, , vol. 12(1), pages 7-13, April.
    17. Aslanertik Banu Esra & Çolak Murat, 2021. "The Link Between Sustainability Reporting and the Core Characteristics of Sustainable Human Resource Management," International Journal of Contemporary Management, Sciendo, vol. 57(4), pages 15-24, December.
    18. Astrid Kainzbauer & Parisa Rungruang, 2019. "Science Mapping the Knowledge Base on Sustainable Human Resource Management, 1982–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-22, July.
    19. Shaha Faisal, 2023. "Twenty-Years Journey of Sustainable Human Resource Management Research: A Bibliometric Analysis," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, May.
    20. Beatrice I.J.M. Van der Heijden & Ans De Vos, 2015. "Sustainable careers: introductory chapter," Chapters, in: Handbook of Research on Sustainable Careers, chapter 1, pages 1-19, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:17:p:11064-:d:906973. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.