Knowledge-Based HRM Practices, Organizational Learning and Innovation Performance

This paper analyzes the mediating role of organizational learning (OL) in the relationship between knowledge based HRM practices and innovation in a set of Spanish firms with more than 100 employees. We argue that innovation is enabled and powered first and foremost by knowledge-based HRM practices (e.g. how recruitment is handled, to what extent the training and development systems focus on knowledge-related aspects, and how the performance assessment and compensation systems support knowledge-based behavior). In particular, we suggest that all these facets of HRM impact the learning capability of the firm, which will in turn affect the innovation performance of the company. A structured questionnaire was used to gather information about the relevant variables under study and structural equation modelling (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS) was then used to test the hypotheses put forward by the research. Our empirical findings demonstrate the relevance of knowledge-based HRM practices as predictors of innovation performance, and the role of organizational learning as a mediating factor between HRM and innovation. In particular, OL mediates this relationship in the case of training and development practices (partial mediation) and performance assessment (total mediation). Overall, the results extend existing understanding of the interrelationships between HRM, learning, and innovation in organizations and thereby contribute to the knowledge-based view of the firm as well as discussions on strategic HRM and innovation management.