How do HRM practices in matricultural organizations promote sustainability and influence organizational performance and employee well-being?

This thesis examines how Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, informed by a matricultural approach, contribute to sustainability, organizational performance, and employee well-being. In this context, matricultural refers not to a fixed social system but to an organizational logic that emphasizes care, reciprocity, solidarity, and shared responsibility. It is used here as an analytical lens, what may be described as a “Model B”, that contrasts with more conventional, hierarchical approaches (“Model A”). This framing underscores that the concept is not employed as an ideological or identity label, but rather as a cultural orientation that highlights how leadership and HRM practices can be enacted through empathy, presence, and mutual accountability, rather than control and competition. Drawing on sustainable HRM theory and cultural perspectives, the study investigates Xenion, a Berlin-based non-governmental organization (NGO) providing psychosocial support for refugees. A qualitative single-case design, consisting of six semi-structured interviews, was employed. The data were analysed using the Gioia methodology to capture both participants’ lived experiences and their theoretical implications. The findings suggest that HRM at Xenion is not primarily structured through formal policies, but instead emerges from relational practices, including mentoring, participatory collaboration, peer learning, and supportive supervision. These practices foster psychological safety, resilience, and inclusion, thereby enhancing employee well-being. They also improve performance by facilitating interdisciplinary problem-solving and ensuring service continuity through mutual attention. Sustainability, meanwhile, is primarily expressed in social terms: a long-term commitment to clients, staff cohesion, and care as a shared responsibility. Yet the case also reveals vulnerabilities: reliance on emergent practices risks inconsistency, inclusive decision-making slows processes, and dependence on external funding creates fragility. Theoretically, the study advances sustainable HRM by introducing a cultural lens, foregrounding social sustainability, and highlighting NGOs as relevant contexts for HRM research. Practically, the study illustrates how organizations can design HRM systems that combine attentiveness to people with light structural frameworks, thereby embedding social sustainability as a core principle rather than treating it as an afterthought. Overall, the findings suggest that an HRM approach grounded in mutual support, relational responsibility, and solidarity provides not only ethical significance but also practical strength in enabling organizations to endure and adapt under conditions of uncertainty.