The relationship between electronic human resource management and employee job satisfaction in organizational value-creation in Africa: the case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of employee job satisfaction on the relationship between electronic human resource management (e-HRM) use and e-HRM macro-level consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through a survey involving 32 organizations, using e-HRM applications. A purposive sampling technique was employed. A structural equation modeling technique with the use of the process macro approach was used to analyze collected data.

Findings

E-HRM use has a positive and significant effect on e-HRM macro-level consequences and constituent elements of e-HRM operational, relational and transactional consequences. Employee job satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between e-HRM use and e-HRM macro-level consequences.

Practical implications

The use of e-HRM, complemented by human resource best practices, enhances employee job satisfaction. At an indirect level, job satisfaction partially mediates the effect of e-HRM use on e-HRM macro-level consequences. Organizations should invest in job satisfaction-enhancing practices to ensure attainment of intended organization-wide consequences on a more consistent basis.

Originality/value

The study broadens the scope through which the association between e-HRM use, e-HRM macro-level consequences and employee job satisfaction are viewed. The study illustrates the limitations of the deterministic view of e-HRM use, while supporting the assumptions of the moderate determinism approach, which pin the success of e-HRM systems on the performance and satisfaction of e-HRM actors. The level of employee job satisfaction mediates the relationship between e-HRM use and e-HRM macro-level consequences. The study, to the authors' knowledge, is the first in establishing such an effect.

Citation

Nyathi, M. and Kekwaletswe, R. (2023), "The relationship between electronic human resource management and employee job satisfaction in organizational value-creation in Africa: the case of Zimbabwe", African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 524-538. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJEMS-06-2022-0244