Beyond Mediation: Uncovering Negative Employee Outcomes in e-HRM Implementations

Nyathi & Kekwaletswe (2023) demonstrate that employee performance and job satisfaction mediate the positive effects of electronic HRM (e-HRM) on organizational outcomes. But what happens when e-HRM adoption leads to the opposite—drops in satisfaction, resistance, or even performance declines? This research flips the lens, deliberately searching for and analyzing cases where e-HRM implementation yields unexpected or negative employee outcomes (e.g., technostress, perceived surveillance, loss of autonomy). By using qualitative case studies and anomaly detection in survey data, the study will map the conditions and configurations under which e-HRM “backfires.” This approach uncovers the dark side of digitization in HR, which is often overlooked, and provides practical guidance for organizations to anticipate and mitigate such risks. The novelty lies in its focus on negative deviations rather than positive mediations, filling a crucial gap in the current literature and offering a more balanced understanding of e-HRM’s impact.

References:

1. Electronic human resource management (e-HRM) configuration for organizational success: inclusion of employee outcomes as contextual variables. M. Nyathi, R. Kekwaletswe (2023). Journal of Organizational Effectiveness.