DOI: 10.1108/md-08-2025-2365 ISSN: 0025-1747

AI-enabled HRM and job crafting: the role of intrinsic motivation and growth mindset

Peng Xie, Yi Yi Wei, Lu Ma

Purpose

Grounded in self-determination theory, this study investigates how AI-enabled human resource management (HRM) shapes employees’ AI job crafting, with intrinsic motivation for learning AI as a mediator and growth mindset as a boundary condition.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from 436 employees across seven organisations were collected via a three-wave design. Hypotheses were tested using bootstrapped regression via the PROCESS macro, with latent moderated structural equations (LMS) for robustness.

Findings

The results showed AI-enabled HRM positively predicted AI job crafting both directly and indirectly via intrinsic motivation for learning AI. Growth mindset moderated these pathways: effects were amplified under high growth mindset and became non-significant under low growth mindset.

Practical implications

Beyond investing in AI-enabled HRM systems, organisations must actively cultivate employees’ intrinsic motivation for AI learning and growth mindset. Technological deployment alone is insufficient; psychological readiness and learning orientation are equally essential for maximising AI job crafting.

Originality/value

This study advances the emerging literature on AI in the workplace by uncovering the motivational mechanisms linking AI-enabled HRM to proactive employee behaviour, and by establishing growth mindset as a critical individual-level boundary condition that determines when AI-enabled HRM effectively energises AI job crafting.

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