Human resource management, performance and organisational sustainability: a new paradigm

The issues of environmental and social sustainability are firmly on the international political agenda and these two areas of sustainability are also now claimed to be a major concern for business organisations. The desire for long term environmental, social, as well as financial sustainability poses a number of challenges for business organisations. It also poses challenges for managers, for policymakers and for employees. Sustainability challenges management concepts, such as performance, and frameworks, such as human resource frameworks, used by managers. This paper focuses on a particular area of management, human resource management. The paper explores the concept of organisational performance, sustainability and the relationship between organisational performance, sustainability and human resource management. The analysis reveals that most of the existing research is framed within a world view that is mechanistic and static. Such a view limits an understanding of the dynamic relationship between human resource management, organisational performance and sustainability. An alternative view is proposed and the implications for human resource management, organisational performance and sustainability are explored.