Have companies arisen to the challenge of promoting sustainable work? The role of responsible business practices in the context of evolving employment and working conditions

Abstract

As understanding and recognition grows regarding the importance of improving employment and working conditions to advance individual, organizational, and national objectives, several policy approaches have been developed in an attempt to drive further engagement by organizations in this area. One such approach has been a responsibility driven agenda spearheaded by business sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR) or environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives, including a multitude of standards and instruments that have been developed in recent years. However, there is still limited understanding of the level of engagement by organizations in managing the work environment and promotion of sustainable work through CSR/ESG/sustainability initiatives. This study looked to address this gap by analysing 100 Forbes Global 2000 CSR/ESG/sustainability reports across world regions and occupational sectors. The goal was to assess whether, and how, enterprises operationalized the link between managing the work environment and responsible business practices, and how this understanding varied across different dimensions. Findings suggest a broad understanding in this area with many organizations reporting on initiatives linked to overarching themes. However, differences exist in the level of engagement regarding different aspects of the work environment, as well as across world regions and sectors. These findings support the continuing development of the responsibility driven approach to managing the work environment and promotion of sustainable work alongside other existing policy initiatives.