Can we have our cake and eat it too? Corporate social responsibility and employees’ eudaimonic well‐being and performance

Whereas extant studies on corporate social responsibility (CSR) have documented various favorable individual outcomes, potential social effects of CSR beyond mere economic influences, such as employees’ eudaimonic well‐being, are often overlooked. Drawing on a sensemaking perspective, our research examines how corporate social responsibility (CSR) leads to employees’ eudaimonic well‐being and enhances job performance. We used three‐source data covering senior managers and employees from 62 organizations to test our hypotheses. The results of the study show that CSR elicits employees’ perceived meaningfulness, which in turn contributes to employees’ eudaimonic well‐being as well as job performance. Furthermore, we found that when CEO’s humble leadership is high, CSR would function better on employees’ perceived meaningfulness. Overall, this study provides a nuanced understanding of CSR by examining when and how it can simultaneously facilitate employees’ eudaimonic well‐being and job performance. The findings also provide important suggestions and implications for organizational sustainability.