Work-Related Flow: The Development of a Theoretical Framework Based on the High Involvement HRM Practices With Mediating Role of Affective Commitment and Moderating Effect of Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

The long-term success of organizations is mainly attributable to employees’ psychological health. Organizations focusing on promoting and managing the flow (an optimal experience and optimal functioning state) may enhance employees’ well-being and performance to an optimum level. Surprisingly, the literature representing the role of HRM practices for their effect on work-related flow (i.e., intrinsic motivation, absorption, and work enjoyment) is very sparse. Accordingly, by drawing primarily on the job demands-resources model and HRM specific attribution theory, this paper develops a theoretical framework that unravels the effectiveness of specific organizational level High Involvement HRM (HIHRM) practices (i.e., recognition, empowerment, information sharing, fair rewards, and competence development) in activating the individual level work-related flow with beneficial effect and mediating role of affective commitment. In addition to highlighting the underlying mechanisms that may cause HIHRM practices to be regarded as resources and sometimes as demands, this paper especially proposes that these practices implemented with a focus to promote employee well-being are perceived as job resources and may positively influence affective commitment and flow, whereas these practices used as a demand to increase performance are perceived as job demands and may hinder affective commitment and flow. It is further significant to understand the possible moderating effects of emotional intelligence on the relationships among HIHRM practices, affective commitment, and flow. The paper augments the knowledge and understanding of the impact process of HIHRM practices, in particular how the HIHRM effect is sensed by the workers and thus, influences their succeeding job attitude and work experience. Finally, this work, as the first paper to link HIHRM practices with work-related flow, promotes the concept of positive psychology in the workplace.

Leading Innovative Work-Behavior in Times of COVID-19: Relationship Between Leadership Style, Innovative Work-Behavior, Work-Related Flow, and IT-Enabled Presence Awareness During the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…When employees experience high degrees of IT-enabled presence awareness, they perceive their empowering leaders to be accessible and reachable through the provided technical channels ( Lim, 2018 ). In this case, they will experience higher degrees of access to their leaders’ encouragement and support while being able to rapidly ask for feedback and clarification on instructions they receive, which may enhance their work-related flow ( Peters et al, 2014 ; Lim, 2018 ; Wang and Shaheryar, 2020 ). Whilst empowering leadership can enhance employees’ work-related flow in remote work contexts ( Peters et al, 2014 ), once employees experience low IT-enabled presence awareness, they may feel a diminished accessibility to the encouragement and support of their leaders ( Malhotra and Majchrzak’s, 2014 ; Lim, 2018 ).…”

“…Subsequently, they may experience lower absorption and motivation in their work ( Peters et al, 2014 ). After all, prior studies on the relationship between empowerment of employees and their work-related flow have emphasized the importance of the relationship between the leader and the employee, as being one of mutual trust ( Peters et al, 2014 ; Wang and Shaheryar, 2020 ).…”

Pursuing Consultant Performance: The Roles of Sustainable Leadership Styles, Sustainable Human Resource Management Practices, and Consultant Job Satisfaction

“…High-involvement HRM relieves employees determine their destiny and encourages HR in developing societies. Researchers agree that high-involvement HRM concentrates on employee engagement through developing their knowledge, skills, and abilities directly on company problems [98][99][100]. Four HRM practices with high involvement as fundamental factors by companies are training, the autonomy of work methods, information, and participation in strategic decision making [101].…”

Emotional-based pedagogy and facilitating EFL learners' perceived flow in online education

“…As already noted, the flow experience is characterized by a condition in which the individual is completely immersed in actions with a high degree of intrinsic motivation and it has been found related to some positive experiences including well-being, enjoyment, affect, and satisfaction. It is now well-established from a variety of studies that EI and flow are linked (Culver and Yokomoto, 1999 ; Li and Dewaele, 2020 ; Wang and Shaheryar, 2020 ; Rakei et al, 2022 ). In this part of the study, we wish to discuss a number of flow-related studies dealing with a wide range of concepts associated with different components of emotional intelligence as proposed by Petrides et al ( 2006 ), including well-being, self-control, emotionality, and sociability.…”