Bridging Sustainable Human Resource Management and Corporate Sustainability

Abstract

The rise of the Sustainable Development (SD) concept contributed to the increasing interest in practices encompassing the Sustainable Human Resource Management (Sustainable HRM) and the results of these practices. This article relates to the area of Human Resource Management and activities undertaken by HR departments to implement the principles of sustainable development in the enterprise. In particular, it refers to the concept of Sustainable HRM, recognized by many researchers as a new paradigm in the area of HRM. Although an intensely-studied subject, there is a clear gap in research regarding Sustainable HRM in Polish companies. Additionally, there is a lack of research contribution on the Podlasie region—ecologically and ethnically the most diverse region in the country. While sustainability in environmental terms is evident in the region, the article focuses on sustainability implementation in the business sector. The article helps to close the research gap. Its aim is to examine the two-fold role of HR departments in: Implementing activities in the area of Sustainable HRM, and introducing the principles of sustainability to corporate strategies. It was assumed that such activities contribute to corporate sustainability. In order to verify the role of HR departments, a new, comprehensive research model, based on the work of De Prins, was built. The model relates to the double-task of HR departments in organizations. The added value of the article stems from the research model proposal, which can be applied without geographical limitations and to numerous organization types. The paper introduces one of the applications of the model—a regional one. The model was tested in a questionnaire survey conducted among employees of enterprises operating in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, which is unique in terms of environment, culture, and economy in Poland. The respondents were participants of MBA studies at one of the universities of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. The results of the study fully confirmed the hypothesis adopted in the study regarding the performance of activities by HR departments in the psychological and social areas of Sustainable HRM. The third aspect of the study, regarding the ecological area, was not clearly confirmed in the study. It was found that this may result from the restrictive law regulating the issue of the impact of enterprises on the natural environment. The results of the study allowed for the verification of the main hypothesis assumed in the research model, thus confirming its truthfulness.

Stress on Frontline Employees from Customer Aggression in the Restaurant Industry: The Moderating Effect of Empowerment

“…The results of multi-group analysis are illustrated in Table 5. Empowerment significantly moderated the relationship between a customer's verbal abuse and employees' job stress [∆χ 2 (1) = 4.454, p < 0.05]. Therefore, H5a was supported.…”

“…When it comes to organizational sustainability, one can only imagine the economic and strategic aspects of organizational initiatives or goals that are set in order to maximize profit. However, organizational sustainability, entailing the concept of sustainable development at the organizational level, requires an organization to think beyond profit [1,2]. While economic profitability is essential for firms that want to attain long-term success, organizational sustainability emphasizes that firms not only think beyond their shareholders but also that they are managed in accordance with the interests of all their stakeholders [2][3][4].…”

“…However, organizational sustainability, entailing the concept of sustainable development at the organizational level, requires an organization to think beyond profit [1,2]. While economic profitability is essential for firms that want to attain long-term success, organizational sustainability emphasizes that firms not only think beyond their shareholders but also that they are managed in accordance with the interests of all their stakeholders [2][3][4]. This is because, according to stakeholder theory [5,6], all stakeholders (including employees) provide resources to an organization, and all of them contribute to the wealth of the organization [7,8].…”

“…In the food service industry, where the human element is heavily involved in the course of service delivery, frontline employees are among the internal stakeholders who are considered crucial evaluative factors in the organizational performance impacting a firm's profitability in the long term [9]. Considering sustainable development at the organizational level to be the process of meeting the needs of the firm's present and future stakeholders [2,10], one way the restaurant industry attains organizational sustainability may be through paying attention to the needs of employees, thereby achieving effective performance in the present, and not damaging future achievement [11,12]. Indeed, prior research has found that social and economic goals and initiatives that airline industry leaders established and adopted for the sustainability of their operations included employee health, safety, and well-being, and employee involvement and empowerment [13].…”

Sustainable HRM Practices in Corporate Reporting

“…A prerequisite for the incorporation of sustainable HRM practices is the overall application of the corporate sustainability (CS) concept, which is based on the wider framework of sustainable development (SD) defined in 1987 in a report called Our Common Future prepared by the World Commission of Environment and Development known as the Brundtland Commission (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). The base for S-HRM, the SD, can be seen as the process described by Mazur and Walczyna (2020) as organization-driven change where the equally distributed attention to all three pillars of sustainability: the economic, social, and environmental are incorporated into organizational strategy. The concept of incorporating HR into sustainability and vice versa (as it is a reciprocal process) has evolved over the years and thus has changed the scope of the literature on the S-HRM as well as the understanding and definitions' shaping.…”