Untangling human resource management and employee wellbeing relationships: Differentiating job resource HR practices from challenge demand HR practices

In the strategic HR literature, current empirical results on relationship between practices and employee wellbeing are mixed contradictory. Based job resources demands model fine-tuned challenge-hindrance framework, we propose that an important reason lies in lack of attention paid to different characteristics practices. can serve as either or challenge employees, thereby having differential effects psychological, physical, social dimensions wellbeing. We integrate a measure demand (including time pressure workload) mediator further reveal how these categories influence Using structural equation modeling dataset 4823 individual workers from National Workplace Survey Employees conducted Ireland, find resource positively associated with all three both directly indirectly, while psychological but negatively physical primarily through mediating effect workload. These findings point variable relationships, reinforcing need untangle HRM beyond aggregated uniform HRM-wellbeing assertions.