The literature on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Human Resource Management (HRM) highlights that socially responsible practices constitute a strategic lever for strengthening organisational legitimacy, increasing employee engagement, and stabilising the workforce. However, the operationalisation of CSR within HRM systems remains insufficiently examined in emerging African economies, where institutional and sociocultural environments differ markedly from Western contexts. This study investigates how organisations in Cameroon and Chad translate their CSR orientations into internal HRM mechanisms, and how these mechanisms shape employees’ perceptions of fairness, organisational identification, and meaningful work.
Drawing on 37 interviews and 374 survey responses, the study reveals that CSR orientation strongly predicts operational HRM mechanisms (β = 0.48, p < 0.001). These mechanisms subsequently influence employees’ cognitions: perceived fairness (β = 0.52), organisational identification (β = 0.44), and work meaningfulness (β = 0.39). These cognitions play a robust mediating role by reducing turnover intentions (fairness → turnover: β = –0.36), strengthening engagement (identification → engagement: β = 0.41), and decreasing job-search behaviour (meaningfulness → job search: β = –0.28).
Multigroup analysis reveals significant institutional contrasts. In Cameroon, the CSR → HRM relationship is stronger (β = 0.55), reflecting a more institutionalised environment: “Here, employees expect CSR commitments to translate into actual HR practices” (HR Director Cameroon). In Chad, work meaningfulness exerts a more pronounced effect (β = 0.46): “Work gives dignity; that is what matters most.” (Employee, N’Djamena).
This research proposes an integrated, contextualised, and empirically validated model of CSR–HRM operationalisation in Central Africa. It demonstrates that the effectiveness of CSR depends on its credible translation into HRM systems and on the ways employees, according to their national context -assign meaning and legitimacy to these practices.
