This study investigated the impact of employee perceptions of high-involvement work
practices (HIWPs) on employee burnout. It further tested the proposition that the recovery
experience of psychological detachment would moderate the HIWPs - burnout link. The
proposed model was tested among a sample of nurses and midwives (N=1,135) in Ireland. The
results showed that, as hypothesized, employees’ perceptions of HIWPs were associated with
lower levels of burnout. Furthermore, psychological detachment moderated the relationship
between HIWPs and burnout such that the negative HIWPs-burnout relationship was more
pronounced for participants with high compared to low levels of psychological detachment.
This study contributes to the HRM and occupational health psychology literature by taking a
contingency perspective to understand when the positive effects of HIWPs can be enhanced or
undermined.