Influence of human resource management practices on healthcare workers' job involvement: the role of internal marketing in hospital centers

Abstract

Human resource management in hospital centers in Côte d’Ivoire faces structural challenges related to staff shortages, absenteeism, and budget constraints. In this context, healthcare workers’ job involvement constitutes a key driver of care quality and healthcare facility performance. This study examines the influence of HRM practices on healthcare workers’ job involvement, as well as the moderating role of internal marketing in this relationship. While the literature has established the link between HRM practices and work involvement, it rarely distinguishes intrinsic motivation from effective involvement as two dimensions that may respond differently to the same organizational levers. This study contributes to the literature by testing this distinction and by positioning internal marketing as a differentiated activation condition for each dimension. A quantitative approach was adopted, combining principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling, complemented by a moderation test. Data were collected from 314 healthcare workers in various hospital centers in Abidjan using a structured questionnaire. The results show that HRM practices positively influence healthcare workers’ intrinsic motivation (β = 0.453; p < 0.01). However, they have no significant effect on effective involvement (β = -0.009; p = 0.891). Internal marketing does not moderate the relationship between HRM practices and intrinsic motivation (β = -0.069; p = 0.284). Conversely, it positively moderates the relationship between HRM practices and effective involvement (β = 0.121; p = 0.026). These findings reveal an important distinction between the two dimensions of job involvement. Intrinsic motivation primarily relies on the quality of HRM practices. Effective involvement depends more on the interaction between HRM practices and internal marketing. These findings suggest that HRM practices and internal marketing should be articulated in a differentiated manner depending on the targeted dimension of involvement, rather than being treated as interchangeable levers.

Classification JEL: I19, M12, M54.

Paper type: Empirical Research