Previous literature has explored the positive effects of socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) on employees, leaving potential dark sides largely ignored. By integrating situational-strength theory and motivation literature, this study investigates the double-edged effects of SRHRM on employee performance. Based on a sample of 314 employee–supervisor dyads from three companies, we found that SRHRM could increase employees’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) while decreasing their task performance through role-ambiguity mediation. Interestingly, prosocial motivation serves as a significant moderator in strengthening the positive relationship between SRHRM and OCB and the negative association between SRHRM and task performance. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of how managers should conduct SRHRM practices among employees.

While previous research has already revealed the positive influence of socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) on organizations, little is known about whether employees’ perceived SRHRM can lead to a win–win situation between organization and society. We address this void by examining whether employees’ perceived SRHRM can contribute to organizational performance (operationalized as task performance and organizational citizenship behavior, OCB), and social performance (operationalized as volunteering). Using a sample of 314 employee–supervisor dyads from three large manufacturing enterprises in Southeast China, we found that perceived SRHRM could increase employees’ OCB and volunteering, but not task performance, through both cognitive (i.e., prosocial identity) and affective (i.e., affective empathy) paths. Furthermore, perceived SRHRM was more positively related to prosocial identity and affective empathy when distributive justice was high. We finally discuss the implications of our findings for both theory and practice.