Meta-analysis of Antecedents and Outcomes of Human Resource Flexibility

Today, flexibility has become one of the important subjects in management theories and policies, and flexible human resource is the most important factor in responding to changes in the external environment. Human resource flexibility patterns are one of the most important aspects of organizational flexibility, which focuses on the adaptation of employees in characteristics such as knowledge, skills, and behavior to changing environmental conditions. In this regard, this research seeks to re-identify the effective factors and results of the flexibility of human resources based on quantitative studies.

The current research is developmental in terms of purpose, applied regarding type of use, and quantitative in terms of the type of data. The research population included scientific-research articles and theses in internal and external databases in the field of human resource flexibility from 2011 to 2021, during which 38 cases were included in the meta-analysis using a non-random sampling method. The selected studies were analyzed using comprehensive meta-analysis software.

According to the findings of the research, two types of factors are effective in creating the flexibility of human resources: organizational and individual factors, and among the antecedents of human resource flexibility, leadership style variables, meaningful approach training, and commitment-oriented human resource management measures have the greatest effect size respectively, and among the outcomes of human resource flexibility, human resource development variables, employee well-being, and organizational ambidexterity have the largest effect size.

Based on the results of this research, a suitable framework of antecedents and approaches to the flexibility of human resources has been presented. Identifying and creating the flexibility of human resources, as the ability to respond appropriately to environmental changes, are effective in gaining competitive advantage and organizational success. Flexible human resources are realized through the tools available to managers, such as leadership style, training, and commitment-oriented actions, and it entails creative, innovative, perfectionist, and flexible employees.