Abstract: With the rise of employee-centered human resource practices in the last two decades, the relationship between high-performance work systems and employee well-being has become an important topic in human resource management research. However, to date, research findings on the relationship between high-performing work systems and employee well-being remain divergent. The reasons are, firstly, the existing studies on the relationship between high-performance work systems and employee well-being mainly focus on some dimensions and indicators, ignoring the multidimensional nature of employee well-being; secondly, the conclusions on the specific strength and direction of the correlation between high-performance work systems and specific dimensions of employee well-being are inconsistent and require systematic and in-depth analysis; thirdly, the existing studies ignore the context in which high-performance work systems affect employee well-being variables, i.e., the boundary conditions of the relationship between the two, especially the role of cultural context and industry differences.
Based on 55 independent studies from 53 papers with a total study sample of 51,750, this paper conducted a meta-analysis of the relationship between high performance work systems and employee well-being (subjective well-being, psychological well-being, relational well-being, and health well-being) and examined the moderating effects of cultural differences (power distance, individual-collectivism, and short-term-long-term orientation) and industry differences on the relationship. The results indicate that: (1) there is a significant positive effect of high performance work systems on all dimensions of employee well-being. (2) Cultural contexts moderated the relationship between high performance work systems and employee well-being, and the positive correlations between employees' perceived high performance work systems and subjective well-being, psychological well-being, and health well-being were stronger in high power distance and collectivist-oriented cultural contexts. (3) Industry has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between high-performing work systems and employee well-being. Compared with the production service industry, the positive correlation between perceived high performance work system and subjective well-being was stronger for employees in the health care service industry; however, the positive correlation between perceived high performance work system and health well-being was lower for employees in the health care service industry than in the production service industry.
The theoretical contributions of this study lies in: First, the relationship between high performance work system and employee well-being dimensions was clarified and found to have a “consistent effect” rather than a “contradictory effect”. Secondly, it was found that high performance work system has a positive effect on health well-being rather than a negative effect. Finally, the research results on the boundary conditions of the relationship between high-performing work systems and employee well-being were expanded, and the cross-cultural and industry research results on the relationship between the two were enriched. The findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between high-performing work systems and employee well-being, and enlighten the academic community to re-conceptualize and re-examine the value of high-performing work systems.

Key words: high-performance work systems, employee well-being, cultural context, industry differences, meta-analysis