The Impact of Human Resources Environment and Organizational Identification on Employees’ Psychological Well-Being

• DOI: 10.1177/00910260211001397
• Author: Imran Hameed,Meghna Sabharwal,Muhammad Umer Ijaz
• Published date: 01 March 2022
• Date: 01 March 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/00910260211001397

Public Personnel Management

2022, Vol. 51(1) 71 –96

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/00910260211001397

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Article

The Impact of Human

Resources Environment and

Organizational Identification

on Employees’ Psychological

Well-Being

Imran Hameed1, Muhammad Umer Ijaz2,

and Meghna Sabharwal3

Abstract

This study explores how Human Resources (HR) environment (i.e., job autonomy,

opportunities for advancement, involved communication, and decisive action)

promotes psychological well-being of public employees. We advance the literature by

identifying organizational identification (OID) as the underpinning mechanism through

which HR environment can foster employees’ well-being. OID is termed as a “social

cure,” owing to its strong link with employee health and well-being. The results of

structural equation modeling show a positive association among HR practices and

OID, which subsequently enhances well-being of public sector employees. Managerial

implications for public sector leaders are discussed in detail.

Keywords

psychological well-being, organizational identification, public personnel management,

HR environment

Introduction

Societies today are more concerned about healthy workplaces than ever before (Burton,

2010) and are taking keen interest in health issues not only to minimize health expen-

ditures but also for using well-being as a key indicator of national prosperity (e.g., as

1Lahore School of Economics, Pakistan

2Deakin Business School, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

3The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, USA

Corresponding Author:

Meghna Sabharwal Public and Nonprofit Management Program, School of Economic, Political and Policy

Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Rd, GR 31, Richardson, TX 75080, USA.

Email: meghna.sabharwal@utdallas.edu

1001397PPMXXX10.1177/00910260211001397Public Personnel ManagementHameed et al.

research-article2021

72 Public Personnel Management 51(1)

seen in national initiatives such as the UK’s Happiness Index and the EU’s Quality of

Life Survey and in global initiatives such as the Social Progress Index and the World

Happiness Report; Helliwell et al., 2013). One way to respond to this issue in the

workplace is to design Human Resource Management (HRM) practices that focus on

employee well-being (Sabharwal et al., 2019; Schulte et al., 2015). However, due to

the rise of New Public Management, most HRM research in public sector organiza-

tions mainly focuses on practices used to enhance organizational performance (e.g.,

Blackman et al., 2019; Vermeeren et al., 2014) while ignoring the well-being of public

personnel. Although important, the pursuit of performance-centric outcomes often

result at the cost of employee health and well-being (Guest, 2017).

Experts in public administration recognized several factors that improve an indi-

viduals’ well-being e.g., implying high-performance work practices (Fan et al., 2014),

and maintaining work-family balance (Ryu, 2016). More recently, studies have argued

that positive organizational environment and HR practices such as job autonomy,

opportunities for advancement, involved communication, and decisive action can play

an influential role in eliciting employees’ well-being (Fisher, 2010; Grawitch et al.,

2006; Guest, 2017; Kossek et al., 2014; Sonnentag, 2016). Kossek et al. (2014) argued

these HR practices serve as organizational strategies for enhancing employees’ well-

being and developing sustainable workforce. Despite its importance, very few studies

(e.g., Baptiste, 2008; Noblet et al., 2005) investigate the HRM-well-being link within

public sector organizations.

Furthermore, Chen and Cooper (2014) note that well-being research has primarily

focused on the direct impact of workplace characteristics and HR practices on

employee well-being, and largely omitted important psychological states as underly-

ing mechanisms of this relationship. Despite the recent calls for adopting psychologi-

cal mechanisms in public administration (Grimmelikhuijsen et al., 2017; Liu & Perry,

2016), little research has explored the mechanisms which intervene between HRM

practices and employee well-being. Therefore, there is a need to identify and theorize

the underpinning mechanism that account for the transformation of specific HR prac-

tices into employee well-being. Existing literature has suggested some mechanisms of

improving employee’s psychological well-being such as perceived control (Thompson

& Prottas, 2006), meaningful work (Arnold et al., 2007), and organizational commit-

ment (Meyer & Maltin, 2010).

Public administration literature has recently identified organizational identification

(OID) as a motivational base for public servants (Miao et al., 2019; Rho et al., 2015).

OID is defined as the “perception of oneness with or belongingness to an organiza-

tion” (Mael & Ashforth, 1992, p. 104). OID is explained with the help of social iden-

tity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). This theory states that individuals’ physical and

psychological health are significantly impacted by social factors that affect their social

identity. Following this notion, growing number of researchers are inquiring how

group membership (in our case organizational membership) affects employees’ health

and well-being. Jetten et al. (2017) argue that group membership provides individuals

with meaning, support, and a positive sense of social identity, thus positively impact-

ing their health. Owing to its strong association with health and well-being, in recent