In the model, „better‟ employee attitudes and behaviours then contribute to delivering improved internal
performance (such as through increased productivity and quality). It may however be the case that HRM
influences these organisational outcomes directly (the upper arrow in Figure 2), unmediated by any
HRM-related outcomes. For example, interventions in training, job design and performance management
may improve employees‟ effectiveness - whether through simply removing task-related obstacles to better
performanceviii or through enhancing employees‟ technical knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) - while
leaving their HRM-related attitudes and behaviours unchanged (such as motivation and intention to quit).
This illustrates the importance of a „black box‟ mediating stage. Indeed, the elegance of the „AMO‟
theoretical framework is that it encompasses mediating changes in employees‟ abilities (A), motivations
(M) and opportunities to participate (O). Motivation is the explicitly „HR-related‟ mediator here; the other
two may be considered „direct‟ influences on performance