The field of strategic human resource management (HRM) is shifting away from relying solely on managerial perspectives and towards taking employee perceptions of HRM practices into account. In this approach, employees are not passive recipients of HRM policies, but rather active interpreters whose perceptions are critical for creating high-performing workplaces. However, there are still unresolved issues regarding the psychological factors that influence how employees assess the effectiveness of HRM practices. Building on the affect infusion model, we examine the impact of employee engagement and burnout on perceived HRM practices. In two separate studies based on a vignette experiment and three-wave data, we show that engagement increases attentional focusing (i.e., the cognitive ability to focus one's attention on desired tasks and outcomes, while ignoring other distractions), leading to positive perceptions of HRM effectiveness. However, burnout has the opposite effect. Furthermore, we show that employee intention to stay serves as a buffer against the negative effects of burnout. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
