Human Resource Management Approaches

Abstract

This chapter contributes to the debate on corporate sustainability by outlining the role of human resource management (HRM). It focuses on the quest for corporate environmental performance in the context of the contested employment relationship, acknowledging that workplace actions and their consequences are socially embedded. The chapter covers a wide range of theories and research on the sociology and psychology of organizational sustainability. It begins with a brief historical overview of HRM and provides an original definition of a low-carbon work system (LCWS) before discussing a theoretical framework for examining HRM interventions to create sustainable, low-carbon workplaces. It argues that future research should explore the contribution of employee voice, through employee participation processes, to the achievement of workplace sustainability. The chapter concludes by exploring the thesis that future research needs to be more sensitive to the broader socio-cultural phenomenon that organizations are embedded in society.