Integrating research on strategic human resource management (HRM) with work on impression management, the theoretical model presented in this work delineates how employees actively play a critical role in developing and influencing their own perceptions of HR practices (i.e., of high performance work practices; HPWPs). The model elaborates that employees do so by using different impression management tactics: ingratiation, self-promotion, and supplication. With the presented model, this work furthers the conceptual understanding of reasons for variance in employee perceptions of HPWPs as it (a) extends theory by introducing the role of impression management as an antecedent of employee perceptions of HPWPs (b) advances the current research by moving away from a management centric or top-down influence narrative prevalent in understanding employee perceptions. It does so by enriching and extending the research on employees as co-creators of HPWPs (c) broadens the understanding of how HPWPs as a resource or a demand can elicit different impression management behaviors in employees (d) enhances understanding of reasons that can lead to alignment of perceptions of HPWPs across different stakeholders. This work also contributes to research on impression management. I end by discussing that this work has implications for both research and practice.
