Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the emotional intelligence (EI) of the person in charge of making human resource management (HRM) decisions on the adoption of high-performance human resource (HR) practices in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approach: This study takes evidences from 157 HR decision makers in SMEs who autonomously make the decisions in the HR area and were responsible for the HR practices in their firm. The authors used multiple linear regression analysis to test the hypotheses.Findings: Results show that both the EI and the different EI competencies of which it is comprised affect the adoption of various HR practices. Thus, the main theoretical contribution of this work stems from the incorporation of a psychological variable (EI) as an antecedent of HRM. Managers of the SME will find guidance about which emotional competencies are the most important for them to be more successful in their roles and for improving HRM.Research limitations/implications: First, the sample of firms the authors studied is limited to a specific geographic area in one country – Spain (Canary Islands) – that will necessarily limit generalisation of the results obtained to other populations of SMEs. Researchers should replicate the current model in other geographic areas. Second, and with regard the methodology, researchers could explore other tools to measure EI and emotional competencies. It would be interesting to measure this construct using qualitative analytical techniques, with 360 – or 180 – degree tools. Finally, the current study is cross-sectional in nature, which limits our ability to draw causal inferences from the data. This cross-sectional design prevents us, for example, from analysing EI’s influence on the continued development of high-performance HR practices over time. Future research using longitudinal methodologies to study these variables could provide additional advances in this area. This work makes important contributions to both the literature and the business world. With regard to the theoretical implications, results confirm that EI as a whole, as well as in terms of its specific emotional competencies, affects the decision making related to the adoption of high-performance HR practices, which is known to contribute to the organisational performance.Practical implications: With regard its practical implications, SMEs’ owners-managers and HR practitioners may find our results and conclusions interesting. Indeed, recommendations in business management have often been accompanied by new approaches in HRM (Kent, 2005), as this study proposes. In particular, managers will find evidence of how a decision-maker’s higher EI propitiates the adoption of high-performance HR practices, thus being able to improve HRM in their SMEs. Moreover, managers will obtain guidance on which emotional competencies are the most important for adopting each HR practice, and so find greater success in their HRM roles. SMEs could organise programmes to develop the HR decision-maker’s emotional competencies, as large firms do for their executives.Originality/value: Thus, the main theoretical contribution of this work stems from the incorporation of a psychological variable (EI) as an antecedent of HRM. Managers of the SME will find guidance about which emotional competencies are the most important for them to be more successful in their roles and for improving HRM.

Parents returning to work after the arrival of a new son or daughter is an important question for understanding the trajectory of people's lives and professional careers amid current debates about gender equality and work-life balance (WLB). Interestingly, current research concludes that general WLB practices at the workplace may be necessary in the specific case of women returning to work after childbirth because of the particular maternal and infant factors involved. However, WLB practices as a flexible arrangement may work against women because they may be viewed as a lack of organizational commitment. Therefore, research on this topic could benefit from considering supervisor support as a complement of such practices, but previous research has analyzed WLB and supervisor support separately and scarcely. To fill this gap in the literature, we use two sub-samples of 664 female employees and 749 male employees with children under the age of one from 27 European countries participating in the 6th European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS-2015) to study the impact of perceived WLB on European women's perceived well-being after childbirth, in contrast with previous literature. We also analyze the impact of perceived supervisor support (SS) and its interaction with perceived WLB on women's well-being after childbirth, and explore differences with men after childbirth, a collective underexplored by the literature. We find significant gender differences on the relative impact of WLB, SS, and their interaction on perceived job well-being. Our results have important implications for human resource practices in organizations. In particular, they suggest that gendered WLB practices should be encouraged, and stress the relevance of the human factor over human resource practices in addressing the difficulties that women returning to work face after childbirth.

Purpose: Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study analyses how servant leadership and high-performance work systems (HPWS) provide employees with valuable resources that help them cope with work demands and preserve or increase personal and job resources, which in turn enhances their work-life balance (WLB) and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of 253 hotel workers from Gran Canaria was surveyed. The study used partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypotheses. Findings: Both servant leadership and HPWS positively affect employees’ job satisfaction. Additionally, WLB plays a mediating role in explaining how servant leadership and HPWS can increase employees’ job satisfaction. Practical implications: Our findings offer practical guidance for hotel managers on implementing strategies that foster employee well-being and enhance performance through a combination of servant leadership and HPWS. Originality/value: This study is among the first to investigate the mediating role of WLB between servant leadership, HPWS and job satisfaction in the hospitality sector. By applying COR theory, it offers new insights into the interaction between personal and job-related resources and their impact on employee outcomes.

The advancement of women to top management positions positively affects firm competitiveness. However, this advancement may also negatively affect individuals as women find themselves forced to overwork to match their male counterparts in organisations, which can cause a decrease in their professional well-being. Although the literature highlights that human resource practices (HRPs) have a positive impact on well-being, it also warns that national institutions may condition the adoption of HRPs by organisations. If that is true, institutions may become either a challenge to—or trigger for—female managers’ well-being. Accordingly, this study analyses the effects of institutions and the mediating effects of HRPs on the influence that is exerted by institutions on well-being. The empirical analysis, which was carried out on a sample of 575 female managers located in 27 European countries, confirms the direct and indirect effects (through HRPs for work–life balance and role clarity) of institutions on female managers’ well-being at work.

Purpose: Organisational change is increasingly important and interesting to study. Change may affect employees’ attitudes and impact on their well-being. In this regard, it is important to examine how organisations enhance employees’ well-being when the competitive environment requires organisational changes whose implementation could cause well-being to deteriorate. Research suggests that human resource management practices (HRMPs) may have a positive impact on well-being. However, there is little research that analyses how the internal and external contexts of changing organisations may influence the outcome of HRMPs as regards well-being, which is of interest as it pertains to the application of suitable HRMPs in every setting. Thus, to address this research gap, the purpose of this paper is to analyse how employees’ perceptions of HRMPs and support from supervisors enhance well-being, taking into account the national cultural context of organisations. Design/methodology/approach: Linear regression models tested the proposed hypotheses on a sample of 10,866 employees from 18 European countries who participated in the Fifth European Working Conditions Survey. Of the total sample, 5,646 respondents were involved in substantial restructuring and organisational change. Findings: Results confirm the importance of national “uncertainty avoidance” values in the choice of the proper HRMPs to enhance employees’ well-being. Originality/value: The literature highlights that HRMPs and supervisor support have a positive impact on well-being, and it also warns that national culture may condition the outcomes of human resource (HR) interventions. Based on this, the current study analyses how such HR interventions enhance well-being, taking into account national cultural context of organisations in both stable contexts and those involving change.