Enhancing employee outcomes through common good human resource management: exploring the role of meaningfulness and thriving

In the evolving landscape of human resource management (HRM), common good HRM (CG-HRM) practices are increasingly recognized for their potential to align organizational goals with societal sustainability. Despite their importance, how CG-HRM influences employee outcomes remain underexplored. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this research explores the impact of CG-HRM practices, conceptualized as critical organizational-level resources, on employees' perception of meaningfulness of work. [Correction added on 20 December 2024, after first online publication: The definition of COR has been corrected in the preceding sentence.] This perception significantly affects employee thriving, which in turn fosters innovative behavior. Employing a multi-wave, multisource survey design, we collected data from 45 firms in China, involving 82 executives and 206 employees, to test our conceptual model. The findings from a multilevel path model reveal that organizational CG-HRM practices contribute to employees' perceived meaningfulness of work, which promotes employee thriving and subsequently innovative behavior at the organizational level, while meaningfulness also contributes to thriving and, thus, innovative behavior at the employee level. Our research enriches the COR theory and contributes to the HRM, thriving, and innovation literature, offering insights for future research and practical implications for organizations striving to align their goals with societal and environmental sustainability while nurturing a thriving workforce.