Shaping organizational image through strategic religious HR practices and work ethics in Indonesian higher education

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractIn today’s competitive landscape, faith-based institutions can gain advantages by leveraging strategic HR practices to build a strong religious image. This study examines the effects of religious HR practices comprising religious training and development, recruitment and selection, remuneration and compensation, and performance appraisal on religious organizational image. Religious work ethics was included as a moderator to assess its role in the relationship between religious training and development and religious organizational image. A survey was conducted in January 2025 in Jakarta, Indonesia, involving 418 academic staff from three universities representing three major religions: Yarsi University (Islam), Krida Wacana (Christianity), and Atma Jaya (Catholicism). The sample consisted of 274 Muslims, 70 Christians, and 74 Catholics, reflecting the national religious composition. Respondents were chosen for their direct experience with religious HR practices. Data were collected through face-to-face surveys and analyzed using PLS-SEM. Results show that religious training and development (β = 0.249), recruitment and selection (β = 0.103), remuneration and compensation (β = 0.129), and performance appraisal (β = 0.153) positively influence religious organizational image. Additionally, religious work ethics have a positive moderating effect on the relationship between religious training and development, as well as on the religious organizational image (β = 0.107). Multigroup analysis reveals the strongest combined effects among Catholic respondents (r² = 0.30), followed by Islam worshipers (r² = 0.252) and Christians (r² = 0.136), with no significant difference between groups (p > 0.1). These findings confirm that religious HR practices effectively enhance religious organizational image regardless of institutional religious affiliation.AcknowledgmentsThe authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Research Organization for Governance, Economy, and Community Welfare, Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency, which provided funding under Decree No. 6/III.12/HK/2024.