Sustainable HRM through a justice lens: identifying a leverage point for systemic impact

Contemporary HRM scholarship recognizes that sustainable HRM plays a salient role in addressing global grand challenges. However, largely attributable to the complexity of sustainability agendas and the ambiguity surrounding sustainable HRM’s scope and role in organizations, its potential to do so is constrained. To address this, our paper explores how sustainable HRM can meaningfully and holistically contribute to sustainable development. Employing a socio-ecological lens we argue that social justice, because it aligns with and supports sustainable HRM’s core competencies and is essential for sustainable development, affords a key leverage point for advancing and optimizing HRM’s potential to effectively contribute to current social and ecological challenges. Additionally, drawing on sustainability research, we identify and discuss some of the key principles and enablers needed to guide the development of social justice within sustainable HRM.