HRM systems & employee well-being: Toward a eudaimonic perspective

Organizations continue to face performance pressure while also seeking to develop systems and organizational contexts that are conducive to employee well-being. As a result, the strategic HRM literature has recently grown more interested in understanding how HR systems affect employee outcomes. Yet, evidence in the field suggests that many employees continue to experience mental health challenges, poor engagement, and a crisis of purpose. This paper seeks to address this gap between research and practice by first arguing that most models linking HR systems to well-being are largely predicated on social exchange mechanisms that may not be adequately equipped to properly address well-being. Moreover, many studies in the strategic HRM literature focus on more organization-centric conceptualizations of well-being like affective commitment and job satisfaction. To help address these concerns, this paper offers a conceptual model underpinned by self-determination theory and aimed at enhancing more eudaimonic forms of well-being. Specific practices are proposed and discussed with the aim of mapping a blueprint for a more eudaimonic approach to linking HR systems and employee well-being via the nutriments of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.