Unpacking Social Economy: The Mediating Role of Eudaimonic Well-being in the Relationship between Employee Support HR Practices and Creative Performance across Social Economy Organizations

Abstract

The importance of human resource practices (HRP) for organizational success is well recognized in several studies. HRP have consistently positively affected employee performance and job satisfaction. More recently, attention has shifted toward integrating sustainability into human resource management, emphasizing the role of people management in supporting long-term organizational and societal goals. At the same time, there is a growing need to explore how sustainable HRP vary according to different organizational objectives, particularly in companies whose aims extend beyond purely economic outcomes. Therefore, this study focused on social economy (SE) organizations, an increasingly important sector with a social purpose and environmental vocation as its defining characteristics. When considering existing literature, there is an evident need for research incorporating less contextual measures of job satisfaction to promote an approach to business that considers the overall well-being of employees. Additionally, the commonly used performance measures tend to concentrate on a traditional view of task-related performance, neglecting the importance of creative performance, including contributing to novel ideas and solutions. Finally, limited insight exists about distinctions among social economy organizations. They have proven to be an option that meets the expectations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are an alternative to traditional capital-based enterprises. Given the rapid changes and unprecedented challenges of the current global landscape, understanding nuanced aspects of employee well-being and performance is crucial for effective HR management and organizational sustainability. This study investigated how employee-support HRP influence creative performance (CP), considering the mediating role of eudaimonic well-being (EWB). The study sought to explore whether the specific organizational type within the Social Economy acts as a boundary condition for our model. The study included 1.589 participants from various sectors of Spain's social economy who responded to anonymous, online, self-report questionnaires. Path analysis was performed, and it confirmed direct effects between all variables, as well as a partial mediating role of EWB, in the overall sample. However, multi-group analysis revealed that not all relationships are significant when examined within social economy organizations separately, and in some, EWB fully mediates the relationship between HRP and CP. We conclude that, although the model is robust when the entire sector is considered, there are underlying differences between SE organizations that should be further examined. Practical implications of these results are discussed, limitations addressed, and further research directions recommended.