Do SHRM and HPWS shape employees’ affective commitment and empowerment?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of affective commitment and empowerment as mediators in the relationship among high-performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance. Different inconsistencies found in the literature review shows the need to take into account certain mediating variables, such as employees’ behaviors and attitudes, to understand how human resource management (HRM) facilitates the achievement of organizational results. A sample of 200 medium-sized Spanish organizations was examined through partial least squares modeling methodology. As hypothesized, a proactive strategic HRM approach in an organization can be translated in a series of human resources practices systems of high-performance, which stimulate directly employees’ affective commitment and promote empowerment among them, getting to better results in employees’ performance and in organizational performance. This research shows that affective commitment and empowerment play a determinant role as mediators in HPWS and performance relationship, providing a deeper understanding of the alignment of strategy and HRM practices for organizational success.