High-performance work systems and thriving at work: the role of cognitive appraisal and servant leadership

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a balanced and nuanced understanding of the relationship between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and employee thriving at work by aiming to consider the “dark-side” of HPWS and to uncover the “black box.” Design/methodology/approach This research draws from data from 377 employees nested in 77 work teams and tests a multilevel moderated mediation model using multilevel path analysis. Findings The findings indicate that employees appraise HPWS as both a challenge and a hindrance simultaneously. The challenge appraisal associated with HPWS positively influences employees' thriving at work whereas hindrance appraisal of HPWS negatively influences thriving experience. The results also support the hypothesized relationships in which servant leadership moderates the indirect effect of HPWS on employee thriving via challenge and hindrance appraisals accordingly. Originality/value This research demonstrates both positive and negative sides of HPWS as evaluated by employees in relation to an important employee outcome of thriving at work. It enriches the strategic HRM literature by identifying the “black box” of HPWS-employee outcomes and associated boundary condition from the theoretical perspective of cognitive appraisals.