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Perceptions of sustainable organizational support: mediating the effects of health supporting work environments on employer attractiveness

Gesundheitsförderung und Arbeitgeberattraktivität: Welche Rolle spielt die Wahrnehmung einer nachhaltigen Unterstützung durch den Arbeitgeber?

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Managementforschung

Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of a health supporting employer value proposition on employer attractiveness. The authors integrate conservation of resources theory, a salutogenesis approach, and organizational support theory to determine if human resource practices that help employees preserve their physical and mental health, such as health care management, regeneration time, and flextime, might increase employer attractiveness. A sample of 3016 employees report on their perceptions of sustainable organizational support (PSOS) and employer brand related constructs. The results support a full mediation model structure: The perceived availability of health supporting practices has no direct effect on employer attractiveness, but PSOS enhances an employer brand’s prestige, distinctiveness, and trust, such that it fully mediates the relationship between the availability of health supporting practices and employer attractiveness. Thus, PSOS offer a promising tactic in the competition for talent and in addition, a specific employer brand management is necessary to ensure long-term employer attractiveness.

Zusammenfassung

In Zeiten des Fachkräftemangels stellen sich Unternehmen die Frage, was sie als Arbeitgeber attraktiv macht, um einen dauerhaften Zugang zu einer produktiven und leistungsfähigen Belegschaft zu sichern. Im Fokus der vorliegenden Studie steht der Einfluss gesundheitsfördernder HR-Angebote des Arbeitgebers, die zur nachhaltigen Sicherung einer physisch und psychisch leistungsfähigen Belegschaft beitragen sollen, auf die Arbeitgeberattraktivität. Basierend auf der Theorie der Ressourcenerhaltung, dem salutogenetischen Ansatz und der Organizational Support Theorie wird ein Untersuchungsmodell entwickelt und anhand einer Stichprobe von 3016 Mitarbeitern deutscher Unternehmen überprüft. Die Ergebnisse der empirischen Analyse weisen auf einen totalen Mediationseffekt hin, welcher belegt, dass das alleinige Angebot gesundheitsfördernder HR-Instrumente die Arbeitgeberattraktivität nicht direkt beeinflusst, und untermauern damit die Bedeutung einer gezielten Arbeitgebermarkenführung. Vielmehr nehmen Mitarbeiter durch das Bereitstellen gesundheitsfördernder HR-Angebote eine nachhaltige Unterstützung durch den Arbeitgeber wahr, was sich positiv auf das Prestige, die Unterscheidungskraft sowie das Vertrauen in die Arbeitgebermarke auswirkt und somit die Attraktivität erhöht und die Kündigungsabsicht senkt. Der Erkenntnisgewinn der Studie liegt vor allem in der Tatsache, dass die wahrgenommene Verfügbarkeit gesundheitsfördernder HR-Angebote nicht ausreicht, um die Attraktivität eines Arbeitgebers zu steigern, sondern diese vielmehr von der Positionierung und Wahrnehmung seiner Arbeitgebermarke abhängt.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Marketing & Management, Lehrstuhl für Unternehmensführung (570 B), 70593, Stuttgart, Germany

    Janina Merk & Marion Büttgen

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  1. Janina Merk
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  2. Marion Büttgen
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Correspondence to Janina Merk.

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Table 3 Construct Measures, Factor Loadings and Intraclass Correlations Coeffitients
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Merk, J., Büttgen, M. Perceptions of sustainable organizational support: mediating the effects of health supporting work environments on employer attractiveness. Managementforschung 26, 97–119 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1365/s41113-016-0002-3

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