Linking Strategic HR Practices to Organizational Change Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Leadership Mechanisms

Abstract

Background. Strategic human-resource (HR) practices and leadership are both regarded as enabling change; however, the literature is scattered, and the differential explanatory power of each is unclear.
Methods. In accordance with PRISMA 2020, systematic review with meta-analysis was performed on a validated search corpus of 19 files (15 unique records), screened on a 2020-2025 publication window, to include 11 publications; and on five cross-sectional studies which were meta-analytically combined with random-effects models on Fisher's z with Hartung-Knapp 95% CIs. Risk of bias was evaluated through a domain-based tool adapted from Joanna Briggs Institute checklists.
Results. The combined association between strategic HR or leadership mechanisms and change-related outcome was r = 0.30 (0.10 to 0.47, 95% CI; -0.24 to 0.70, 95% PI), with heterogeneity (I2) = 91.5%, r = 0.32 (0.01 to 0.57), leadership, r = 0.24 (0.11 to 0.35), strategic HR; between-group difference p =.37. Funnel-plot asymmetry tests found no small-study effect (Egger p =.58) but the statistical power was limited; leave-one-out estimates range from 0.23 to 0.32.
Conclusions. Strategic HR and leadership mechanisms seem to be positively and moderately associated with change-relevant outcomes; certainty is reduced due to heterogeneity, cross-sectional data, and indirect outcome estimates. While transformational leadership is well accepted, if transforming beyond optimal levels, it could have a paradoxical demand-increasing effect on workers unless a well-composed HR system is present.