The mediating role of organizational justice in the relationship between cost consciousness and resource efficiency among human service professionals.

BACKGROUND

Organizational psychology research suggests that employees' perceptions of workplace practices play an important role in shaping organizational outcomes. In resource-constrained Human Service Organizations (HSOs), organizational justice may represent a key psychological mechanism linking cost-conscious practices to resource-efficient behaviors.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined whether organizational justice explains the association between cost consciousness and resource efficiency among professionals working in Human Service Organizations (HSOs).

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey design was employed with 246 professionals working in public and municipal human service institutions in Türkiye, including social workers, nurses, and administrative personnel. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and regression-based mediation analysis with Hayes' PROCESS Macro (Model 4) and 5,000 bootstrap resamples.

RESULTS

Cost consciousness was positively associated with both organizational justice perception (β = 0.500, p < 0.001) and resource efficiency (β = 0.466, p < 0.001). Organizational justice was also positively associated with resource efficiency (β = 0.207, p = 0.001). Mediation analysis indicated that organizational justice partially explained the association between cost consciousness and resource efficiency (indirect effect = 0.104, 95% CI [0.047-0.160]). The final model explained 37.7% of the variance in resource efficiency.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that cost-conscious practices in human service settings may contribute more effectively to sustainable resource use when employees perceive organizational processes as fair and transparent. Strengthening organizational justice may therefore support workforce-related efficiency and sustainable service delivery in public and social care systems.