Leader–Subordinate Human Resource Attribution (Dis)agreement and Its Impact on Employee Well‐Being: A Frame‐of‐Reference Perspective

ABSTRACT Existing human resource (HR) theory highlights that differences in perceptions of HR practices between leaders and subordinates have a critical impact on employee outcomes. We extend such literature by drawing on frame‐of‐reference theory to develop and test a model examining how different patterns of (dis)agreement in leader and subordinate employee HR attributions affect employee well‐being. Specifically, we conceptualize that leaders and subordinates form (dis)similar frames of reference based upon employee well‐being HR attribution, which impacts employee well‐being through organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE) in different ways. Using polynomial regression and response surface modeling, our results confirm our hypotheses to show that leader–subordinate agreement on employee well‐being HR attribution positively impacts OBSE, with a stronger effect when such attribution agreement is high rather than low. Furthermore, when subordinates have a higher level of employee well‐being HR attribution compared with the leader, there is a more pronounced positive impact on OBSE, which, in turn, enhances employee well‐being. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study to the HR literature.