Sustainable Human Resource Management

Strategies, Practices and Challenges

Sugumar Mariappanadar, Sugumar Mariappanadar

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781350305052
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

This exciting new text, written by some of the leading experts in the field, is the first of its kind to tackle the increasingly popular topic of sustainable HRM. Structured in six parts, the book guides students and practitioners through all of the key areas of the subject at hand, from setting out the background and institutional contexts for sustainable HRM in the 21st century, to examining the theories and practices that underpin it, and the strategies and implementation methods associated with it, all from a global perspective. The text draws on the most up-to-date and cutting-edge research and scholarship, as well as industry best-practice, in order to explore the intersection between human resource management and the creation of sustainable organisations. This is an essential text for upper-level undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA students taking modules on sustainable HRM. It can also be used as a supplementary text by those studying strategic HRM more broadly and by practitioners interested in implementing sustainable HRM.

part I

Introduction to Sustainable HRM

Introduction

I am engaged in my job, passionate about my career and committed to the organization. However, I am progressively struggling with increased physical and mental tiredness, work-life imbalance due to my work related commitments to improve organizational performance. Also, I am not sure how as a non-specialized environmental management employee I can contribute to ecosystem sustainability. Hence, I more often feel that my life happiness and enjoyment are not complete. – A common dilemma encountered by employees in the modern workplace

Can you or your family and friends, as employees, relate to the stated work– life–environment dilemma and the irreversible consequences the dilemma has on you, your family, the natural environment and society?

Stop thinking that you and your family and friends have personally not done enough to cope with the work–life–environment dilemma.

Start thinking what you, as an agent of an organization, can do more of at the organizational level to benefit the ecosystem as well as to enhance employees’ quality of life both within the workplace and outside of work.

This book aims to help HR and management professionals, including academics, researchers and practitioners at all levels in an organization, to act as ‘agents’ in order to make the workplace environmentally sustainable and enhance stakeholders’ (employees, their families, society etc.,) well-being while simultaneously attempting to improve organizational performance. Strategic HRM has made a significant contribution in offering a mental schema for HR and management professionals. This schema engages HR as a human capital to gain competitive advantage for the organization and contribute to shareholders’ benefits. However, stakeholders’ growing pro-social and sustainable environmental expectations have become major disrup-tors to the current dominant business strategy, which seeks to satisfy only the pro-organizational expectation of shareholders. Consequently, many organizations have embraced corporate sustainability in terms of the triple bottom line (TBL) requirements. That is, corporate sustainability is about management approaches used by organizations to integrate and achieve TBL (i.e. economic/financial, human/social and natural environmental outcomes) as part of their business strategy (UN Global Compact, 2014).

The academic field of HRM has responded to the challenges of this disruptor that has resulted from stakeholders’ changing expectations regarding business performance in terms of both financial and non-financial benefits. The field of sustainable HRM was developed as one that explicitly recognized that engaging HR is important for achieving sustainability outcomes as part of a corporate business strategy. Sustainable HRM acknowledges the importance of the employee/human capital and the impact of management practices in achieving corporate sustainability business strategy outcomes. In Europe, the UK, the USA and the Asia-Pacific region, the literature on sustainable HRM has grown to include both influential books and seminal articles in leading academic journals, including Human Resource Management, Human Resource Management Review, the International Journal of Human Resource Management, Management Revue, the German Journal of Human Resource Management , the International Journal of Manpower, and the Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration.

Following on from these publications, in the early 2000s, sustainable HRM as an idea evolved into a theoretical domain and discipline within the field of HRM. Furthermore, sustainable HRM, as a subject, has been introduced as courses at universities and business schools around the world to train future managers. These courses seek to enable students to reframe the existing business strategy, which focuses primarily on outcomes that benefit shareholders and senior executives, with improving organization– stakeholder relationships in order to achieve corporate sustainability in its broad sense. The primary motivation for this book on sustainable HRM for the twenty-first century is to provide a sustainability-oriented vision of HRM so as to synthesise the competing and inconsistent economic/financial, human/social and environmental outcomes of sustainability business strategy. This book explores the sustainability-oriented aspects of HRM functions and practices in large companies in a globalised world and focuses on integrating sustainability principles both in HRM theory and in the practical decision making of all managers performing the role of managing people. In sustainable HRM, the notion of success is extended beyond the single financial-performance bottom line, to consider simultaneously human, social and ecological sustainability based on the paradox perspective.

In this book, an attempt is made to show how the complexities of sustainable HRM can lead to potential paradoxes and tensions in the implementation of new practices and processes, and how these can be constructively dealt with by HR and line managers. The aim of the book is to extend the existing dominant strategic HRM approach for financial performance to a strategic focus on synthesizing positive economic/financial, environmental and human/social outcomes of corporate sustainability. To achieve this aim the book takes an analytical approach to HRM instead of a prescriptive approach for HRM functions (i.e. employee selection, training etc.) by substituting the word ‘sustainable’ for ‘strategic’ as the principal HRM function. That is, as well as referring to the existing literature on sustainable HRM, new theoretical frameworks are also provided to engage HR into synthesizing the three apparently inconsistent and competing outcomes of organizational corporate sustainability so as to advance the field of HRM generally, and sustainable HRM in particular. Furthermore, it is important to note that in this book sustainable HRM includes a ‘strategic’ focus for HRM even though the title of the discipline of sustainable HRM does not itself include the word ‘strategic’. Hence, ‘sustainable’ HRM uses a strategic approach to engage HR to achieve the three sustainability (economic/financial, human/social and environmental) outcomes of corporate sustainability business strategy.

In achieving this objective, Part I of the book gives the various definitions of sustainable HRM and explains how it builds on and extends strategic HRM. Furthermore, the importance of sustainable HRM for managing employees in the twenty-first century is discussed to help HR and management professionals achieve the TBL sustainability outcomes. In Part II the institutional contexts are discussed for developing sustainable HRM and why this is important for the HRM profession. As well, a paradox perspective for sustainable HRM is presented as a means of effectively dealing with the tensions in synthesising the complementary but apparently inconsistent outcomes of corporate sustainability.

In Part III, theoretical foundations grounded in organizational values as a means of developing sustainable HRM strategies are provided so that HRM practices can align with the corporate sustainability business strategy. Furthermore, theories on the harm of work and ‘green HRM’ are also discussed. These theories will enhance students’ understanding of the importance of sustainable HRM practices and to recognise the impacts of both sustainable and unsustainable practices on stakeholders (i.e. organizations, employees, family members, the community and employees/ practitioners involved in environmental management).

Part IV explains the practical aspects of implementing sustainable HRM in people management using a three-dimensional configuration model for sustainable HRM strategies, the Respect Openness Continuity (ROC) model, and measurement of sustainable HRM performance and reporting. Finally, in Part V the future of sustainable HRM, including sustainable HR roles and global sustainable HRM, are explored. As mentioned, the five sections of the book are based on an analytical approach and supported by research evidence. This will enhance researchers’ ability to pursue future research and forms the basis for practitioners who seek to synthesise the inconsistent outcomes of HRM (i.e. economic/financial, human/social and environmental) in order to contribute to a corporate sustainability business strategy. The aim of this book is to engage readers to appreciate the paradox or tension of the competing and inconsistent outcomes of corporate sustainability, and attempt to synthesize rather than integrate (i.e. comprise on) the outcomes in management decision making.

To extend the field of HRM from strategic HRM to sustainable HRM, research and insights from diverse fields, including strategic HRM, sustainable HRM, green HRM, corporate sustainability, corporate social responsibility and institutional theory have been used. In addition, examples and cases from HRM practices are used to provide inspiration for this book. Furthermore, a comprehensive review of the literature relating to each of the topics in the book and new theoretical and practical insights to extend the new and emerging field of sustainable HRM are also provided. This is important for practitioners, researchers and students of HRM as well as management who need to know the latest developments in the field of HRM so that they can attempt to further develop sustainable HRM practices for organizations. Hence, the readership of this book will be primarily professionals involved in HRM, management and sustainability-related tasks in organizations and/or advanced students with some prior knowledge of organizational behaviour and HRM at the undergraduate level as well as MBA students.

The book is complemented by a suite of supplementary materials available on the companion website at www.macmillanihe.com/mariappanadar-sustainable-hrm. This includes learning objectives, a glossary of key terms, exercises and PowerPoint lecture slides.

References

Compact Global UN (2014). Overview of the UN Global Compact. http://nbis.org/nbisresources/sustainable_development_equity/un_global_compact.pdf. Accessed on 22 September 2015.

1

Human resource management in the twenty-first century: Sustainable HRM

Sugumar Mariappanadar

In the human resource management (HRM) field there are many courses that provide insight into the management issues that affect the financial bottom line of companies. However, there is limited understanding of how implementation or overuse of certain HRM practices may have sustainable and unsustainable impacts on organisational outcomes and stakeholders (employees, their families, society’s sustainable environmental management expectations) respectively. Sustainable HRM focuses on practices which enhance both profit maximisation for the organisation and also simultaneously improving human, social and environmental sustainability. This reflects the synthesis perspective.

The aim of this chapter is to introduce the field of sustainable HRM to advance the understanding of human resource management in achieving sustainability outcomes for organisations and promote the synthesis effect. To achieve this aim four areas are covered. Firstly, the evolution of HRM practices is briefly discussed to highlight the additional value sustainable HRM adds to strategic HRM which is a relatively recent development in the field of HRM. This discussion on evolution also provides a short overview on different perspectives used in strategic HRM. Secondly, multiple definitions for sustainable HRM are discussed. Thirdly, a synthesis paradox framework of sustainable HRM is proposed to achieve corporate sustainability by satisfying the competing expectations of stakeholders (e.g. organisation, society’s sustainable environmental management expectations, employees and their family members). Fourthly, the importance of sustainable HRM in the twenty-first century is discussed. Finally, the barriers to the development and implementation of sustainable HRM are indicated.

1.1 What is human resources?

Many people question the ethical aspect of the usage of the term human resources (HR) in managing people in organisations. The proponents of the ethical aspect of human resources argue that ‘human’ cannot be downgraded and equated to resources, such as energy, finance, technology, raw material and so on, because unlike other resources which contribute to organisational performance ‘humans’ should not be exploited in the same way to achieve their desired goals. However, Boxall and Purcell (2016) indicate that ‘human resources’ is not about ‘people’ as a resource but it is about ‘employee competencies’ (e.g. attitude, skills, motivation, etc.) which are the resources used by organisations to achieve their strategic goals. This simply means that humans/employees who own or possess valuable resources/competencies (job knowledge, skills, motivation, attitudes, etc.) choose to use those resources for achieving organisational goals. At the same time employees could also gain benefits for themselves and society, and preserve the health of the ecosystem. However, these human resources (i.e. employee competencies) are only available at the employees’ discretion. Employees might choose to use their human competencies to their best ability in order to benefit an organisation only when the organisation entices them with various transactional and transformative HR practices.

However, employees are not bound to an organisation regardless of the organisation’s attractive or cohesive practices, whereas every individual employee has the right to voluntarily leave an organisation if they choose to do so. The International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention on human rights and industrial relations provides protection to employees from any human rights violation by organisations. Hence, in this book, ‘human resources’ is referred to as ‘people’ and human resources is also referred to the potential resources as competencies (e.g. job knowledge, skills, motivation, attitudes, individual differences, etc.). People bring these competencies to an organisation and can develop them for the benefit of an organisation (shareholders), employees (internal stakeholders), society’s sustainable environmental management expectations (external stakeholders). However, the term ‘human’ is used to refer to ‘people’ working in organisations. For example, the term ‘human’ is used in the ‘human aspect’ of sustainable development to indicate the positive and/or negative impacts of work experiences of employees as people in organisations.

1.2 Traditional human resource management

HRM is a broad term that refers to the activities associated with the management of the people who do the work of organisations. This view of HRM extends the definition of Boxall and Purcell (2016) who define HRM in terms of activities associated with managing employees. However, increasingly work is being done by people who are engaged to do the work of organisations on contracts other than employment contracts. The nature of HRM is broadened by recognising that HRM is associated with more than just managing full-time and part-time employees, but also involves managing people who are contractors, consultants and volunteers.

Kramar and colleagues (2017) in explaining traditional HRM have indicated that the personnel work undertaken before the 1980s was predominantly administrative and operational such as record-keeping, routine administration, recruitment and selection, training, salary and wage administration, safety, and supervisor and management development (Deery & Dowling, 198...