Abstract The field of HRM, historically more focused on the managerial rather than the employee side of the employment relationship, has been changing over the last 30 years as researchers have investigated the opaque and troublesome links inside the ‘black box’ of the firm. A strong interest in employee motivation as a mediating variable between HRM and performance has provided the entrée for a range of theories that are relevant to an understanding of job quality. Researchers in HRM are increasingly assessing the impacts of HRM on employee well-being. Important lines of enquiry include research that targets the equity or fairness of employment relationships and assesses the balances between job demands and resources, between efforts and rewards, and between work and the rest of life. Studies of the interactions among these variables are critical to an assessment of job quality. When we look at the range of employer behaviour in reality, it is apparent that many types of jobs and organizations offer unattractive conditions. However, even in challenging circumstances, such as those that characterize low-paid work in the retail sector, studies suggest that it should be possible to find ways of enhancing the quality of working life.
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