Integrating HRM Strategies to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals: The Mediating Roles of Employee Well-Being and Corporate Governance

This study examines the relationships between human resource management (HRM) strategies, corporate governance, employee well-being, and the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the private healthcare sector of Amman, Jordan. Using a quantitative research design and structural equation modeling, data were collected from 457 employees across 25 private hospitals. The findings reveal a counterintuitive and novel result: HRM strategies directly and negatively influence the attainment of SDGs, challenging the widely accepted assumption in prior literature that HRM practices inherently foster sustainability. At the same time, the study establishes that HRM strategies exert a positive influence on employee well-being and corporate governance and that both variables mediate the HRM–SDG relationship. The novelty of this research emerges on several fronts. First, it addresses a significant gap by contextualizing HRM–sustainability dynamics within the private healthcare sector of a lower-income country, a setting often overlooked in global sustainability debates. Second, it highlights the paradox of HRM’s dual impact, showing that, while poorly aligned short-term HR initiatives may undermine SDGs, strategically integrated HR practices, when combined with effective governance and a strong focus on employee well-being, can transform into powerful enablers of sustainable development. Third, it introduces employee well-being and corporate governance as dual mediating pathways that reframe how organizations can reconcile workforce management with sustainability objectives. By capturing these underexplored complexities, this study provides a unique theoretical contribution and offers actionable insights for policymakers, hospital administrators, and HR professionals seeking to embed sustainability within organizational strategies and governance systems.