Discretionary HR practices and happiness at work (HAW): a sequential mediation model of perceived organizational support and meaning of work

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the mechanisms by which employees’ happiness at work (HAW) can be promoted. Drawing on the social exchange theory (SET), this study examined the relationships among discretionary human resource (HR) practices, perceived organizational support (POS), meaning of work (MOW) and HAW.Design/methodology/approachA three-path mediation model was developed to test the proposed relationships. The data were collected from Pakistani business professionals (n = 361), and hypotheses were tested using the PROCESS macro for SPSS .FindingsThe results suggest that POS mediates the relationship between discretionary HR practices and HAW. Also, MOW mediated the relationship between discretionary HR practices and HAW. Hence, both POS and MOW were found to be independent mediators. Further, the data provided support for the serial mediation of POS and MOW in the relationship between discretionary HR practices and HAW.Practical implicationsThis research provides insights to organizations and their management on how discretionary HR practices can enhance employees’ POS, MOW and HAW.Originality/valueThe findings show that discretionary HR practices are associated with employees’ HAW. In addition, two mediators (POS and MOW) were found to serially mediate the aforesaid relationships. These findings are novel, as no prior research has used this nascent methodological approach to deepen our understanding by examining the associations between discretionary HR practices, POS, MOW and employees’ HAW.