1Loyola College of Social Sciences, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-Commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed.
Today’s dynamic business world demands a shift from traditional HR practices to a more balanced HR system, integrating environmental, social and economic concerns. Termed as sustainable human resource management (SHRM), it is concerned with helping the organisation perform better while maintaining ecological parameters and ensuring the well-being of employees and the community. This article uses a systematic review of publications on SHRM to analyse the level of integration of the triple bottom line (TBL) into its philosophy. The article also contributes to the HR literature by consolidating the new roles of the HR team in an organisation to implement SHRM practices judiciously. This article proposes a model that integrates SHRM, HR roles and the TBL to achieve organisational sustainability.
ESG, sustainable HRM, triple bottom line, organisational sustainability, HR roles
Aggarwal, P., & Singh, R. K. (2022). Synthesizing the affinity between employees’ internal–external CSR perceptions and work outcomes: A meta‐analytic investigation. Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, 31(4), 1053–1101.
Alwan, B. M., & Al-Hisnawi, S. M. (2023). Analysis of sustainable human resources response to the impact of green human resources management strategies: Analytical exploratory research for the opinions of a sample of university leaders and technical teaching staff. Migration Letters, 20(S5), 93–108.
Amrutha, V. N., & Geetha, S. N. (2020). A systematic review on green human resource management: Implications for social sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 247, 119–131.
Anlesinya, A., & Susomrith, P. (2020). Sustainable human resource management: A systematic review of a developing field. Journal of Global Responsibility, 11(3), 295–324.
Aust, I., Matthews, B., & Muller-Camen, M. (2020). Common good HRM: A paradigm shift in sustainable HRM? Human Resource Management Review, 30(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/6/j.hrmr.2019.100705
Avery, G. (2005). Leadership for sustainable futures: Achieving success in a competitive world. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Avery, G. C., & Bergsteiner, H. (2010). Honeybees & locusts: The business case for sustainable leadership. Allen & Unwin.
Awwad Al-Shammari, A. S., Alshammrei, S., Nawaz, N., & Tayyab, M. (2022). Green human resource management and sustainable performance with the mediating role of green innovation: A perspective of new technological era. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, 901235. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.901235
Benn, S., Griffiths, A., & Dunphy, D. (2007). Organizational change for corporate sustainability: A guide for leaders and change agents of the future. Routledge.
Bombiak, E., & Marciniuk-Kluska, A. (2018). Green human resource management as a tool for the sustainable development of enterprises: Polish young company experience. Sustainability, 10(6), 1739.
Budhiraja, S., & Yadav, S. (2020). Employer branding and employee-emotional bonding—The CSR way to sustainable HRM. In Sustainable human resource management: Transforming organizations, societies and environment (pp. 133–149). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5656-2_8
Cerutti, P. S., Sarate, J. A. R., & Macke, J. (2023). Organisational leadership for sustainability: Employees’ perception of talent retention. International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 17(4), 425–446.
Chams, N., & García-Blandón, J. (2019). On the importance of sustainable human resource management for the adoption of sustainable development goals. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 141, 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12371
Cheng, B., Yu, X., Dong, Y., & Zhong, C. (2024). Promoting employee career growth: The benefits of sustainable human resource management. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 62(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12371
Cho, Y., & Choi, Y. (2021). When and how does sustainable HRM improve customer orientation of frontline employees? Satisfaction, empowerment, and communication. Sustainability, 13(7), 3693.
Choi, J., Sohn, Y. W., & Lee, S. (2020). The effect of corporate social responsibility on employees’ organizational citizenship behaviour: A moderated mediation model of grit and meaning orientation. Sustainability, 12(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135411
Cohen, E., Taylor, S., & Muller-Camen, M. (2012). HRM’s role in corporate social and environmental sustainability [SHRM Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines Series]. SHRM. Retrieved, 10 December 2023, from https://www.shrm.org
Davidescu, A. A., Apostu, S. A., Paul, A., & Casuneanu, I. (2020). Work flexibility, job satisfaction, and job performance among Romanian employees—Implications for sustainable human resource management. Sustainability, 12(15). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156086
Diaz‐Carrion, R., López‐Fernández, M., & Romero‐Fernandez, P. M. (2018). Developing a sustainable HRM system from a contextual perspective. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(6), 1143–1153.
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. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(1), 88–108.
Elkington, J. (1994). Towards the sustainable corporation: Win-win-win business strategies for sustainable development. California Management Review, 36(2), 90–100.
Gollan, P. J. (2000). Human resources, capabilities and sustainability. In D. Dunphy, J. Benveniste, A. Griffiths, & P. Sutton (Eds.), Sustainability: The corporate challenge of the 21st century (pp. 55–77). Allen & Unwin.
Gupta, M. (2017). Corporate social responsibility: Ensuring sustainable human resource management practices. Review of Professional Management, 15(1), 78–83. https://doi.org/10.20968/rpm/2017/v15/i1/151693
Jabbour, C. J. C., & Santos, F. C. A. (2008). The central role of human resource management in the search for sustainable organizations. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19(12), 2133–2154. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190802479389
Jackson, S. E., Renwick, D. W., Jabbour, C. J., & Muller-Camen, M. (2011). State-of-the-art and future directions for green human resource management: Introduction to the special issue. German Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(2), 99–116.
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. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3310-8
Kainzbauer, A., Rungruang, P., & Hallinger, P. (2021). How does research on sustainable human resource management contribute to corporate sustainability? A document co-citation analysis, 1982–2021. Sustainability, 13(21), 11895.
Kramar, R. (2014). Beyond strategic human resource management: Is sustainable human resource management the next approach? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(8), 1069–1089.
Kramar, R. (2022). Sustainable human resource management: Six defining characteristics. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 60(1), 146–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12321
Macke, J., & Genari, D. (2019). Systematic literature review on sustainable human resource management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 208, 806–815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.10.091
Manuti, A., Giancaspro, M. L., Molino, M., Ingusci, E., Russo, V., Signore, F., Zito, M., & Cortese, C. G. (2020). “Everything will be fine”: A study on the relationship between employees’ perception of sustainable HRM practices and positive organizational behaviour during COVID-19. Sustainability, 12(23). https://doi.org/10.3390/su122310216
Manzoor, F., Wei, L., Bányai, T., Nurunnabi, M., & Subhan, Q. A. (2019). An examination of sustainable HRM practices on job performance: An application of training as a moderator. Sustainability, 11(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082263.
Mariappanadar, S. (2012). The harm indicators of negative externality of efficiency focused organizational practices. International Journal of Social Economics, 39(3), 209–220.
Mitra, S. (2022). An exploratory study of sustainability and firm performance for Indian manufacturing small and medium enterprises. Journal of Cleaner Production, 371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133705
Müller-Christ, G., & Remer, A. (1999). Environmental economics or business ecology? Preliminary thoughts on a theory of resource management. In Operational environmental management in the 21st century: Aspects, tasks, perspectives (pp. 69–87). Springer.
Naseer, M., Asad, N., Hashmi, H. B. A., Fu, H., & Abbass, K. (2023). Analysing the pro-environmental behaviour of pharmaceutical employees through green HRM practices: The mediating role of green commitment. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(3), 7886–7903.
Newman, A., Miao, Q., Hofman, P. S., & Zhu, C. J. (2016). The impact of socially responsible human resource management on employees’ organizational citizenship behaviour: The mediating role of organizational identification. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(4), 440–455.
Piwowar‐Sulej, K. (2021). Core functions of sustainable human resource management: A hybrid literature review with the use of H‐classics methodology. Sustainable Development, 29(4), 671–693. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2166
Podgorodnichenko, N., Edgar, F., Akmal, A., & McAndrew, I. (2021). Sustainability through sensemaking: Human resource professionals’ engagement and enactment of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Cleaner Production, 293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126150
Podgorodnichenko, N., Edgar, F., & McAndrew, I. (2020). The role of HRM in developing sustainable organizations: Contemporary challenges and contradictions. Human Resource Management Review, 30(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2019.04.001
Prince, R., Vihari, N. S., & Rao, M. K. (2022). Examining the effects of sustainable HRM on work well-being: The role of voice behaviour and trust in management. In Managing risk and decision making in times of economic distress (Part B, pp. 159–171). Emerald Publishing.
Proença, T. (2022). Sustainability and the role of HRM. Revista de Administração de Empresas, 62(5).
Purgał-Popiela, J. (2024). Sustainability in human resource management practices used by small and medium-sized enterprises: A systematic review. Central European Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/CEMJ-03-2024-0097
Rajhans, K., & Bhavsar, V. (2023). Impending need of sustainable human resource management practices in construction industry: Evidence from India. International Journal of Construction Management, 23(13), 2249–2259.
Roche, M., Shang, S., Bentley, T., Catley, B., Blackwood, K., Teo, S., & Sutton, A. (2023). Mindfulness, older workers, and relational leadership. Journal of Management & Organization, 29(3), 571–588.
Rubel, M. R. B., Kee, D. M. H., & Rimi, N. N. (2021). The influence of green HRM practices on green service behaviours: The mediating effect of green knowledge sharing. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 43(5), 996–1015.
Saini, S., Sachdeva, L., & Badhotiya, G. K. (2022). Sustainable human resource management: A conceptual framework. SPAST Abstracts, 1(01). https://spast.org/techrep/article/view/3417
Sayyadi, T. H., Azadi, M. H., & Sayyahpoor, A. (2017). Analysing factors affecting implementation success of sustainable human resource management (SHRM) using a hybrid approach of FAHP and type-2 fuzzy DEMATEL. Journal of Cleaner Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.06.109
Schleich, M. V. (2022). What are the human resources policies and practices most used by companies with the best ESG ratios in Brazil? Revista de Administração de Empresas, 62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-759020220511x
Schotten, M., Meester, W. J., Steiginga, S., & Ross, C. A. (2017). A brief history of Scopus: The world’s largest abstract and citation database of scientific literature. In Research analytics (pp. 31–58). Auerbach Publications.
Sharma, M., Luthra, S., Joshi, S., & Kumar, A. (2022). Analysing the impact of sustainable human resource management practices and industry 4.0 technologies adoption on employability skills. International Journal of Manpower, 43(2), 463–485. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-02-2021-0085
Sharma, R. R. (2024). Future trends in sustainability. Review of Professional Management, 22(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/09728686241307516
Smith, H. L. (2018). Working smarter: The case for knowledge management in global health (Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland University College). ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
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). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2019.100708
Stankevičiūtė, Ž., & Savanevičienė, A. (2018). Designing sustainable HRM: The core characteristics of an emerging field. Sustainability, 10(12), 4798. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124798
Westerman, J. W., Rao, M. B., Vanka, S., & Gupta, M. (2020). Sustainable human resource management and the triple bottom line: Multi-stakeholder strategies, concepts, and engagement. Human Resource Management Review, 30(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100742
Wilkinson, A., Hill, M., & Gollan, P. (2001). The sustainability debate. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 21(12), 1492–1502. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/0144357011041 0865
Zaid, A. A., Jaaron, A. A., & Bon, A. T. (2018). The impact of green human resource management and green supply chain management practices on sustainable performance: An empirical study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 204, 965–979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.09.062
Zaugg, R. J., Blum, A., & Thom, N. (2001). Sustainability in human resource management: Evaluation report. Survey in European companies and institutions. Arbeitsbericht des Instituts für Organisation und Personal der Universität Bern und des Eidgenössischen Personalamtes