Sustainable Human Resource Management: A Practice-Based Framework

 Driven by a dual sense of social responsibility and economic reasoning, the Sustainable HRM approach aims to attain and leverage a competitive edge by utilising economically and socially advantageous hire-develop-retain-retire strategies over an extended period. This can potentially enhance workers' employability, wellness, and working ailments (Ehnert, 2009).

In response to the increasing global needs and difficulties associated with sustainable development, such as climate change, overpopulation, environmental concerns, and social injustices, an increasing number of corporations are pledging to incorporate sustainability into their operations. Companies and their management structures also need to pay attention to these. Business sustainability is defined as "the practice of managing an organization's resources in a way that minimises negative impacts on the environment, society, and the bottom line" (Elkington, 1997).

Sustainable HRM is:

“Implementing human resource management methods and practices that facilitate the attainment of monetary, social, and environmental objectives; doing so in a way that is both internally and externally impactful; doing so over an extended period of time; and doing so while mitigating any unanticipated consequences or negative feedback” as defined by Ehnert et al. (2016, p.90).

Human resource management strategies, policies, and practices can either influence employees to think and act in a way that contributes to the company's sustainability goals, or incorporate sustainability into HRM in a way that promotes the employees' physical, social, and financial health in the long run (e.g., Ehnert, 2009). In this context, we take a larger perspective and see sustainable HRM as a natural outgrowth of strategic HRM, particularly the soft Harvard model (Beer et al., 1984, 2015).

Framework of Sustainable HRM

Many models and frameworks have been proposed to define sustainable human resource management (for examples, see De Prins et al., 2014; Ehnert, 2009, p. 172; Ehnert et al., 2014; Kramar, 2014). These models primarily connect HRM practices to the larger context of business sustainability. The stakeholders, components, behaviours, and results—as well as any possible contradictions or conflicts—among the outcomes are usually detailed in sustainable HRM models. Figure 1 shows that our theoretical framework is built on the sustainable HRM model that is founded on experience (Ehnert, 2009, p. 228).

Figure 1. Practice-Based Model of Sustainable Human Resource Management (HRM)

Source: Ehnert (2009, p. 228)

Organisational sustainability in human resource management (HRM) may be enhanced with the use of the practice-based paradigm. The model predicts that due to both internal and external factors, every company will develop its own unique approach to sustainability (Ehnert, 2009, p. 228). The sustainability strategy is carried out by HRM-related activities and contains corporate-level objectives that serve as a roadmap for HRM-level sustainability goals. Sustainable HRM is the goal of the model, which aims to provide actionable recommendations on how to achieve it.

The empirical data regarding sustainable HRM that can be found on the websites of the firms is the source of the practice-based model (Ehnert, 2009). The model gives examples of sustainability goals at:

• The corporate level, such as attaining long-term success, boosting the company's reputation, and improving the quality of life for employees;
• The HRM level, such as drawing and keeping talent and being known as an employer of choice, keeping a healthy and productive workforce, and investing in the skills of the present and future workforce); and
• The HR activities and practices, such as work-life balance, good employee relations, and lifelong learning and career development.

Yet, the results of HR activities, on the other hand, are overlooked by this model and are crucial for assessing the HRM system and its relationship to sustainability.

Sustainable HRM Practices

Recently, a conceptualization of sustainable HRM was given by Esen and Süral Özer (2020). According to their concept, human rights, workplace safety and health, evaluation of performance and reward, development and training, and selection and recruiting are all included in sustainable HRM. Additionally, the model displays the results of sustainable HRM in four cohesive classifications:

• Individual results (such as life happiness, employability, motivation, and well-being of HR),
• Economic and organisational results (such as profitability, output, customer happiness, and long-term competitive advantage),
• Social outcomes (such as long-term employability, voluntary work, quality of life, public health, social justice and equality) and
• Ecological outcomes (such as energy and paper consumption, green products and services, reduced travel for work).

The social dimension of sustainable HRM, in the words of Stahl et al. (2020), encompasses both internal (how individuals are seen as a group of internal stakeholders) and external components (how the requirements of external stakeholders are taken into account). Additionally, social programmes in the nation of origin and people-friendly business practices in joint ventures overseas might be included in the social dimension. According to Järlström et al. (2018), openness in HRM practices has also been emphasised as a fundamental component of sustainability, which may aid staff members in assessing the equity of HRM procedures and organisational justice. 

Both internal and external components are included in the economic and environmental aspects of sustainable HRM. Because HRM strategies primarily target workers, they are seen as an important stakeholder group with regard to the internal aspect. On the other hand, the external component consists of the laws and other rules that external parties, such tax authorities or labour unions, adhere to (Järlström et al., 2018). A management may include long-term value creation that recognises and values the company, its workers, and the community into their rewards system.

By implementing sustainable HR practices in international business, organisations can demonstrate their commitment to social and environmental responsibility on a global scale. 

Reference

De Prins, P., Beirenbrock, L. van., De Vos, A., & Segers, J. (2014). Sustainable HRM: Bridging theory and practice through the ‘Respect Openness Continuity (ROC)’ model. Management Revue, 25(4), 263–284.

Ehnert, I. (2009). Sustainable human resource management: A conceptual and exploratory analysis from a paradox perspective. In Contributions to Management Science. Physica/Springer.

Ehnert, I., Harry, W., & Zink, K. (2014). Sustainability and HRM. In I. Ehnert, W. Harry & K. Zing (Eds), Sustainability and human resource management: Developing sustainable business organizations (pp. 3–32). Springer

Ehnert, I., Parsa, S., Roper, I., Wagner, M., & Muller-Camen, M. (2016). Reporting on sustainability and HRM: A comparative study of sustainability reporting practices by the world’s largest companies. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(1), 88–108.

Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st-century business. Capstone Press.

Esen, D., & Süral Özer, P. (2020). Sustainable human resource management (HRM): A study in Turkey context and developing a sustainable HRM questionnaire. International Journal of Management Economics and Business, 16(3), 550–580.

Järlström, M., Saru, E., & Vanhala, S. (2018). Sustainable human resource management with salience of stakeholders: A top management perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 152(3), 703–724.

Stahl, G. K., Brewster, C. J., Collings, D. G., & Hajro, A. (2020). Enhancing the role of human resource management in corporate sustainability and social responsibility: A multi-stakeholder, multidimensional approach to HRM. Human Resource Management Review, 30(3), 100708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2019.100708