When HRM meets politics: Interactive effects of high-performance work systems, organizational politics, and political skill on job performance

Recently, scholars in strategic human resource management have attended to internal dynamics that give rise to variability within organizations. Given that workplace politics is an inherent and inevitable part of organizational life, this study investigates the interplay of organizational politics (OP) and an individual's political skill (PS) in shaping the relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and employees' performance behaviors. Utilizing multilevel, multisource data collected in two phases from 187 employees nested within 47 workgroups, we explore cross-level three-way interaction effects involving group-level HPWS, OP, and individual-level PS on task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors. The results reveal that the positive impact of HPWS is more pronounced among individuals with strong PS when OP is low. Conversely, in high OP environments, the HPWS–performance relationship becomes negative for those with poor PS, while individuals with strong PS continue to exhibit positive outcomes. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the intricate and nuanced nature of the HPWS–performance relationship.