Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources最新文献

The insufficient exploration of the effects of HRM digitalization has led to a concern that digitalization costs employees' growth and development to improve their performance. To address this concern, this study, based on signaling theory, discloses the positive mechanism underlying the relationship between HRM digitalization and employee thriving at work. Specifically, we explored how HRM digitalization enhances HRM system strength, which in turn plays the role of a positive HRM process signal promoting employee thriving at work. Besides, we propose employee participation in goal setting, as an HRM content factor, could amplify the positive influence of the HRM process signal on employee thriving at work. Through multi-wave and multi-source data across 2077 employees and 128 HR directors from 128 organizations, results showed that HRM system strength plays a positive mediating effect in the relationship between HRM digitalization and employee thriving at work; employee participation in goal setting could augment the positive effect of HRM system strength on employee thriving at work as well as its mediating effect. Based on these findings, we discuss underlying theoretical and practical implications and outline future research directions.

Remote work arrangements are compelling examples of an organization's ability to utilize digital technology. This study analyzes data from a representative survey of Atlantic Canadian employers to evaluate three phenomena: how remote work evolved during the recent COVID-19 pandemic; the factors influencing these changes; and the impact of these changes on business outcomes. Our findings suggest that urban firms, technologically advanced companies in certain highly skilled industries, and firms offering greater flexibility for remote work were most likely to enhance remote work practices during the pandemic. For the average firm, an increase in the share of remote work correlated with higher organizational productivity, improved employee performance, and greater new product/service innovation. The primary downside was heightened management complexity. Variations were observed along industry and provincial lines.

In focusing on the contextual aspects of human resource management (HRM), this special issue provides the opportunity to explore HRM in a more nuanced and layered way, as a lived experience that is often overlooked in the academic field of HRM. The paper examines the moral role and responsibility of HRM within organisations. Traditionally, the role of HRM has been on balancing the expectations of the organisation and the well-being of the employee. However, with the strategic shift of HRM to a more managerialist or strategic partner focus, this has created a subtle but important divergence in how the organisation balances these issues, through its principles, policies and practices. We argue that this shift has the potential to create a lack of checks and balances in the system that becomes apparent when issues or incidents are not addressed but gain momentum due to a lack of (HRM) safeguards. We have titled this ‘HRM missing in action’ as a term exposing HR's lack of input into encouraging management to act in the best interests of all stakeholders and stop negating the responsibility to be the moral compass of the organisation. Using the taxonomy of rhetoric and deceit as a frame, we examine the contemporary issue of sexual harassment in the mining industry. We identify that there is a clear argument to be made that at times HRM is missing in its responsibilities to support employees.

Grounded in socio-technical systems (STS) theory, this paper investigates how HRM decision-making balances technological integration with people-centric concerns, including employee well-being, skills development, and workforce resilience. Using a qualitative study design, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with 23 senior council officers and document analysis of over 50 council reports and workforce strategies. The findings highlight complex layers of context, such as the specific characteristics of local councils (descriptive), the broader systems and structures they operate within (analytical), and the formal institutions and regulations they must follow (institutional), all of which influence HRM adaptation to technological changes. The study highlights how sector-specific contextual conditions, such as public sector constraints, state-level regulatory controls, complex governance systems, financial limitations, and urban–rural disparities, influence HRM responses. While these contextual factors often restrict organisational flexibility, they also function as catalysts for innovative HR practices focused on attraction, upskilling, and retention. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of how local governments (LGs) in Australia navigate workforce transformation amid technological change. It provides actionable insights for HR professionals seeking to align human capital development with emerging digital demands.

Academics' mental health in Australian universities has deteriorated, yet evidence on how perceived HR practices shape outcomes is fragmented. This conceptual article develops a framework linking perceived HR practices to academics' mental health in a post-pandemic sector facing caps on international enrolments. Synthesising job demands–resources, social exchange and psychosocial safety climate theories with an integrative review, we argue perceived HR practices act through two pathways: an enabling route—fair rewards, transparent promotion and development and credible appraisal, that builds capability and engagement; and a depleting route—workload pressure and job insecurity, that erodes capacity. Collegiality and trust (relational context) and job security (employment context) condition these effects, helping reconcile mixed findings. Theoretically, the framework extends perceived HR research to higher education; practically, it guides institutions in designing HR systems that protect mental health. We outline directions for empirical testing and interventions that strengthen collegiality, trust and job security.

The human resource management literature has investigated the impact of workforce mobility, including cross-country HR practices, finding evidence about the nuances of HR practices in cross-country contexts. However, the impact of within-country contexts on HR practices has not been studied to the same extent. This qualitative study explored the impact of place, an element of context, within regional northern Australia. The study investigated the experiences of HR practitioners to identify if, and how, HR practices are influenced by place, thus contributing to the broader literature about HR and context. A purposive non-probability sampling approach was adopted, with 24 interviews conducted with HR practitioners. The study identified 16 aspects of place that influence HR practices. Overall, the findings suggest that while HR practices are generic, place influenced the localised implementation. Future research should focus on the intersection of context and identity.

With the rise of digital platforms, gig workers face engagement challenges under algorithmic management. This study examines how algorithmic control impacts gig workers' engagement, focusing on psychological contracts and algorithmic fairness. A three-wave survey of 328 gig workers in China examined the effects of algorithmic control dimensions on psychological contracts and engagement. The findings demonstrate that perceived algorithmic control shapes gig workers' engagement through psychological contracts. Standardized guidance fosters relational contracts, thereby enhancing engagement, whereas tracking evaluation and behavioral constraints undermine relational contracts, diminishing engagement. Conversely, all dimensions of algorithmic control strengthen transactional contracts, thereby promoting engagement. Moreover, perceived algorithmic fairness moderates these relationships by amplifying the positive effects of standardized guidance and attenuating the negative impacts of tracking evaluation and behavioral constraints on engagement. The findings offer insights for balancing algorithmic management and humanization, providing strategies to improve gig workers' engagement through effective algorithmic practices.

This article reports a scoping study that identifies how longitudinal qualitative interviews (LQI) have been used as a data collection method in human resource management (HRM) research (2001–2023). Although growing in frequency, LQI usage remains rare. Studies documenting how different groups of employees experience or respond to external events, career transition points, or organization-driven changes are most common. Researchers have taken advantage of LQIs' flexibility by incorporating emergent themes and extraneous events into their analysis, and by adding longitudinal perspectives to prior cross-sectional studies. Phenomena that can benefit from LQI studies include HRM-related changes that evolve unpredictably or impact groups of stakeholders differently, such as AI-based hiring, diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and remote/virtual work. We also distil ‘good practice’ principles for LQI studies for recruiting, managing, and retaining research participants, maintaining interviewer–interviewee relationships, ensuring ethical practices, and reporting results.

Diversity and inclusion in contemporary workplaces have gained momentum as being a critical mechanism of management and human resource management practice. Whilst diversity and inclusion management have become commonplace in many organisations, little is known about what managers and human resource managers understand about the complexities of diversity management and how they action diversity and inclusion practices. Our study was underpinned by organisational theory to unpack the structures and work practices that inform diversity at the workplace. A total of 23 Australian organisations, in the state of Victoria, participated in a qualitative study to examine the perspectives of managers and human resource managers on their understandings of diversity management and practices within their respective organisations. Findings within the organisations indicate there is no collective strategic approach to diversity, mostly due to different hierarchical pressures and challenges. In most organisations, there are siloed, industry-specific practices and a deficiency of common understandings of what and how to manage the complexities of diversity management. More needs to be known about diversity management for managers and HR managers to build and maintain diverse and inclusive workplaces.