L11: Sustainability and HRM

Question 1

Rationales behind sustainable HRM

Answer 1

• Increase productivity and morale
• Improve brand image
• Avoid loss of social legitimacy
• Reduce cost
• Add value

Question 2

10 Arguments for sustainable HRM

Answer 2

• people and their Human Resources are critical for organizational success
• HRM malpractices can do substantial harm
• Org. are facing a changing demography
• There is stiff competition over talents
• Sustainable HRM helps org. to build positive reputation
• Recognition of long-term perspectives help org. to deal with complex shareholders
• sustainable HRM practices have a positive impact on customer satisfaction and innovation
• Sustainable HRM helps to keep up with changing institutional and legislative environment
• Sustainable HRM is the right thing to do

Question 3

Harm caused by unsustainable HRM

Answer 3

• work-intensification, poor job design, role ambiguity
• work-pressures leading to stress-inflicted “unhealth”: exhaustion, burn-out, depression, decreased cardiorespiratory fitness
• work- pressures leading to work-family conflicts
• layoffs and downsizing can lead to a lower customer satisfaction and org learning both negative consequences for people that need to leave as well as the “survivors”
• income insecurity “zero-hours contracts”
• in-work poverty

Question 4

Most important aspects for job seekers

Answer 4

• development opportunity
• compensation
• spatial (and temporal) flexibility - new as cause of work movements
• Mental well-being - new as well

Question 5

Methods in sustainable HRM

Answer 5

• wages that not create financial stress
  compensation for over-time and avoidance of excessive over-time
• job security
• safe work environment
• flextime and compressed work hours
• support for parental leave and althelic reimbursement
• organizational justice
• Stress management
• diversity and inclusion
• Psychological safety
• Employee voice

Question 6

Green HRM

Answer 6

• origin: environmental management combined with HRM
• The need of human competence and capacity of innovation in order to improve environmental performance
• green recruitment and selection
• green onboarding and training
• green rewards (intrinsic/inside and extrinsic/external through influence)
• green empowerment and intrapreneurship

Question 7

Sustainable HRM as a business strategy

Answer 7

• sustainability can be a source of competitive advantage
• The resource based view, resources can be: valuable, rare, inimitable & non-substitutable
• Organizational culture

Question 8

Implementing Sustainable HRM

Answer 8

• instill a sustainability mindset “knowing, being, doing”
• building a business case (problem statement, objectives, requriements, actionpllan executive summary)
• adress the obstacles (industry practices, empty rhetoric, complexity, misconceptions)

Question 9

Measuring and reporting sustainable HRM

Answer 9

• work-related quality of life scale (general well being, working conditions, stress at work etc)
• CIPD (Charted Institute of Personal and Development) Good work index (pay and benefits, job design and the nature of work, employee voice etc)

Question 10

theories used within sustainable HRM

Answer 10

• mainstream CSR theories (triple bottom line, CSR pyramid, stakeholder theory)
• institutional theory - org need legitimacy that is gained by adhering to external norms, “isomorphism” (coercive, normative and minetic)
• Paradox theory, sustainable HRM is subject to contradictory forces (efficiency vs responsibility, short-term vs long-term paradox etc)
• The AMO theory. Individual performance is determined by a combination of abilities, motivation and opportunities
• social identity theory - people do identity themselves with different groups and belongings

Question 11

Green practices and the evolvement of it

Question 12

increasing involvement from employees pressures companies to take a more green approach

Question 13

What are the identified misconceptions and differences in the comprehension of concepts such as sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, and the relationship between strategic HRM and sustainable HRM?

Question 14

How do neoliberal values of individualism, privatization, and competitive advantage contribute to the stagnation in progress toward achieving sustainability, as mentioned in the abstract

Question 15

What hindrances does sustainable HRM face in practice, with a specific focus on the predominant schema of strategic HRM and the misconception of corporate social responsibility?

Question 16

How does the paper propose to address the current stagnation in progress toward sustainability by implementing sustainable HRM at the center of sustainable development and corporate accountability?

Question 17

In what ways does the paper suggest that the new model of sustainability, with sustainable HRM at its center, could be more comprehensive and applicable in practice compared to existing models?

Question 18

What role does the relationship between strategic HRM and sustainable HRM play in the hindrances faced by sustainable HRM in practice, as described in the abstract?

Question 19

What implications does the proposed model of sustainability have for organizations and their reporting on sustainable development and corporate accountability?

Question 20

(Amrutha)Why does the article highlight social sustainability as the least explored area compared to economic and environmental pillars in the context of green human resource management practices?

Question 21

(Amrutha) In what ways does the article prioritize social equity, health, wellness, and well-being in the context of green human resource management research, and why is this prioritization significant?

Question 22

(Amrutha) What does the article suggest about the enormous potential of core green practices in envisioning social sustainability, and how does it contribute to the state-of-the-art in green human resource management research?

Question 23

(Amrutha) How does the article contribute to the understanding of green human resource management and its potential impact on social sustainability within organizations, and what practical applications or insights are provided for future endeavors in this field?