Building an adaptable workforce for healthcare: The role of service oriented high-performance work systems, thriving at work and self-efficacy

In the healthcare sector, there is a limited understanding of how human resource management (HRM) practices foster employees’ adaptive performance in response to dynamic environmental changes. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, we propose a moderated mediation model linking employee perceived service-oriented high-performance work systems (SO-HPWS) to adaptive performance, with thriving at work (TAW) as a mediator and self-efficacy as a moderator. Using a two-wave survey design, we collected data from 393 frontline doctors in Chinese public hospitals. The results demonstrate that employee perceived SO-HPWS positively influences adaptive performance both directly and indirectly through TAW. Furthermore, the moderating effect of self-efficacy enhances the indirect relationship between SO-HPWS and adaptive performance via TAW, with stronger effects observed for doctors with higher self-efficacy. These findings contribute to the HRM-employee wellbeing-individual/organisational performance (HRM-WB-IOP) and adaptive performance literature, providing practical insights for optimising HRM practices to build a more adaptable workforce in healthcare.