“Navigating tensions: Aligning high-performance work systems with corporate sustainability goals”

Sustainable Human Resource Management (S-HRM) is associated with a long-term, employee-centered view that supports companies in achieving sustainability goals. Aligning profits with the common good, individual goals with organizational ones, well-being with exceptional performance - these are just some of the tensions that strategic HRM must face in modern organizations guided by the triple bottom line (TBL) of performance, people and planet. High Performance Work Systems (HPWS), bundles of HR practices, have long served as a vehicle to connect business strategy and HRM activities. As the strategic focus has expanded from traditional profits to TBL, it is time to consider how HR practices can be realigned as well. Sustainable HR systems need to serve multiple stakeholders and support employees throughout their working lives, beyond the boundaries of a single employer. The purpose of this research is to explore how HPWS, as part of strategic human resource management (SHRM), can contribute to sustainability goals while identifying and addressing the tensions that arise in the pursuit of multiple goals. Based on the literature review of 131 papers, we propose a conceptual framework of sustainable strategic HRM based on the interplay of AMO, RBV and stakeholder theories. In addition, we describe the conditions for implementation of the sustainable human performance work system and recommendations for future research.