Abstract
The common agreement in human resource management (HRM) literature suggests that organizations willing to attract and retain human resources for running business in the future must change the prevailing situation where human resources are rather consumed than developed. In doing this, sustainable HRM has been introduced recently as a response to changes on societal level, labor market, and employment relations. Sustainable HRM is seen as an extension of strategic HRM and presents a new approach to people management with the focus on long-term human resource development, regeneration, and renewal. However, the attributes of sustainable HRM, as compared to mainstream HRM, are not clear. The paper aims at closing this gap by proposing and revealing the characteristics of sustainable HRM, namely: Long-term orientation, care of employees, care of environment, profitability, employee participation and social dialogue, employee development, external partnership, flexibility, compliance beyond labour regulations, employee cooperation, fairness, and equality. This is a theoretical paper.
Highlights
Beginning in the 1980s, theory and research on human resource management (HRM) has started developing rapidly [1,2,3,4]
According to the sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), 21% of workers are too exhausted after work to carry out the necessary home tasks, whereas 12% of workers think that their job prevents them from giving the desired amount of time to their family
This section focuses on sustainable HRM as the emerging research area addressing the genesis of construct, different streams under the label of sustainable HRM, and what different scholars mean by sustainable HRM
Summary
Beginning in the 1980s, theory and research on HRM has started developing rapidly [1,2,3,4]. From the sustainability point of view, it is a survival strategy for organizations to deal with people in such way that the current and potential employees would have (a) the wish to work for a particular organization; (b) the ability to perform duties in a manner appropriate for business; and (c) the possibilities to work in terms of health, stress, or work-life balance [13]. The purpose of this paper is to deepen current analysis in the field of sustainable HRM by identifying the main characteristics of the construct. It seeks to answer the following: Why is linking sustainability and HRM so relevant for contemporary business? The paper offers some general conclusions before indicating some future research avenues
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