A Literature Review of the COVID-19 Pandemic’s Effect on Sustainable HRM
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- What dimensions of sustainable human resource management have been addressed at the COVID-19 and sustainable HRM nexus, and to what extent have they been studied?
- How has COVID-19 been portrayed to impact sustainable HRM in the extant literature?
- What opportunities exist for future research?
2. Methods of Data Collection and Analysis
2.1. Search and Selection
- Key word (“COVID“ OR “COVID-19“ OR “coronavirus“) AND (“sustainable“)AND (“HRM’ OR ‘Human Resource Management“ OR “HR“) ORAND (“work practices“) ORAND (“employment“)Search in: “Abstract“ and “Keywords“Document type: “Journal article“ and “peer-reviewed“
- The inclusion criteria were:the articles had to discuss COVID-19 within the business context ANDthe articles had to discuss COVID-19 and HRM ANDthe articles were published in English and have full text available ANDthe articles are published after January 2020
- The exclusion criteria were:Full text not available within the selected database or targeted journalsarticles that were not written in Englishnon-peer-reviewed articles, such as book chapters, conference, abstract papers or case studiesarticles not referring to COVID-19articles referring to COVID-19 without a focus on HRM
2.2. Data Extraction and Analysis
3. Main Findings
3.1. COVID-19 and the Social Sustainability of HRM
3.1.1. Employees’ Wellbeing Amidst COVID
COVID-19 as a Complicator
COVID-19 as an Exposer
COVID-19 as a Disrupter
3.1.2. HRM Practices and Systems Amidst COVID
COVID-19 as a Complicator
COVID-19 as an Exposer
COVID-19 as a Disrupter
COVID-19 as an Enabler (Both Positive and Negative)
COVID-19 as a Legitimizer
3.1.3. COVID-19′s Impact on Sustainable Careers
COVID-19 as a Complicator
COVID-19′s as an Exposer
COVID-19 as a Disrupter
COVID-19 as an Enabler
3.1.4. COVID-19 and CSR
COVID-19 as the Legitimizer
3.2. COVID-19 and Environmental Sustainability Green HRM
3.2.1. COVID-19 as a Complicator
3.2.2. COVID-19 as an Exposer
3.3. COVID-19 and the Economic Dimension of HRM Sustainability
COVID-19 as an Enabler
4. Future Research Avenues
4.1. Definitional Avenues
4.2. Thematic Avenues
4.2.1. Along the Dimensions of Our Framework
4.2.2. Beyond Our Framework
4.3. Methodological Avenues
5. Limitations
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Discipline | Journal Titles | No. of Articles Related to the Impact of COVID-19 on Sustainable HRM |
---|---|---|
Business | Business Strategy and The Environment | 1 |
Compensation & Benefits Review | 1 | |
European Journal of Marketing and Economics | 1 | |
Journal of Business & Economics | 1 | |
Journal of Business Research | 2 | |
Healthcare | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | 1 |
International Nursing Review | 1 | |
HRM | Advances in Developing Human Resources | 3 |
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources | 3 | |
Human Resource Development International | 3 | |
International Journal of Human Resource Management | 1 | |
Journal of Career Development | 1 | |
Journal of Vocational Behaviour | 1 | |
New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations | 1 | |
Management | Business and Management Studies | 1 |
Human Resource Management | 2 | |
Human Resource Management Journal | 2 | |
Human Resource Management Review | 3 | |
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management | 1 | |
International Journal of Hospitality Management | 4 | |
Journal of Intercultural Management | 1 | |
Journal of Management | 1 | |
Journal of Management Studies | 4 | |
Management Research: Journal of The Iberoamerican Academy of Management | 1 | |
Uncertain Supply Chain Management | 1 | |
Social science | International Journal Of Sociology and Social Policy | 1 |
Journal of Applied Psychology | 2 | |
Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography | 1 | |
Organizational Dynamics | 3 | |
Sustainability | 6 | |
Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes | 1 |
Dimension of Sustainable HRM | Areas of Study | Role of COVID-19 |
---|---|---|
Social (n = 52) | Employee wellbeing (n = 21) | CED
|
HRM practices and systems (n = 22) | CEDEL
| |
Sustainable career (n = 6) | CEDE
| |
CSR (n = 3) | Legitimizer | |
Environmental (n = 3) | Implications of COVID-19 on environmental sustainability (n = 2) | Complicator |
Green HRM and performance (n = 1) | Exposer | |
Economic (n = 1) | SMART team design and performance during COVID-19 (n = 1) | Enabler |
Aggregate Dimensions | Second Order Themes | First Order Categories | Theoretical Underpinning | Factors | Type and Contexts | Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Complicator | Amplifying or diminishing the existing challenges faced by employees | Flexible working Working from home (WFH) Work–life balance Work–life enrichment Gender equity | Ethics of care, Human resource development (HRD) approach, Work–life conflict | Human resource development (HRD) interventions Gender | Conceptual | [32,33,34,35] |
Work–life conflict Sustainable development goals Sustainable human capital development | Amplifying challenges: add domestic duties to women, strengthen gender roles, increase work–family conflict and stress. Diminishing: reduce commuting time; more personal time. Gender (moderator); age. Generational differences; educational level; occupational; experience with teleworking; duration and intensity of telework Mental disabilities Work–life enrichment | India: mixed methods, working women of Mumbai metropolitan Lithuania: quantitative, 436 teleworkers. UK: mixed methods, people with mental disabilities (PWMDs). Poland: qualitative, 18 HR professionals and 16 employees. US: quantitative, two studies, latent transition analysis. Romania: quantitative. | [26,31,36,37,38,39] | |||
Exposer | Exposing structural inequalities in workplaces or factors that impact on employees wellbeing. | Employee wellbeing. Job security. Job satisfaction. Social inequalities. | Job demands-resources model (JD-R model); psychological wellbeing; subjective wellbeing. JDCS model (job demand–control–support). Systems perspective. | Positive factors (resources) and negative factors (demands); professional identity; job satisfaction (moderator). Generational differences (moderator) Regions, age, gender, employment modes. Job demands; labor control (mediator); Social relationships and perceived social support (mediator). Employee wellbeing based on sustainable HRM principles leads to increased organizational trust. | India: hotel employees. China: university teachers. South Korea: Seoul, employees. Portugal: all employees. Ecuador: the self-employed. Review article. | [7,29,30,40,41,42,43] |
Exposing vulnerabilities with certain employee groups | Flexible global working arrangements (FGWAs). | Value creation. Value destruction. International HRM. | Forms of global working arrangements. Functionality. Health and wellbeing. Strategic and sustainable IHRM. | Review of flexible global working arrangements | [44] | |
OHS of international employees | Global work. Health and safety. | Personal health and safety; health and safety behavior factors; social and family factors; job/work related factors; organizational factors and external factors. Employees’ health. | Review on health and safety of international employees. Poland: quantitative. | [20,45] | ||
Disrupter | Altering the normal work conditions of employees and their experiences of person–environment fit (P–E) fit as well as sociopsychological issues. | Person–environment (P–E) fit | P–E fit; HRM | Work–family effects. Family structure. Entrepreneurship. | Conceptual | [40,46] |
Aggregate Dimensions | Second Order Themes | First Order Categories | Theoretical Underpinning | HRM Practices | Type and Contexts | Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Complicator | Amplifying or diminishing the effect of some factors on HRM practices. | Aged care workforce shortage during COVID-19. COVID-19 infection and death rates amplified individual resistance to join the sector and lower worker satisfaction, increase turnover intention. | Factors (personal, institutional and societal) affecting the recruitment and retention of suitable care workers in aged care. | Recruitment and retention. | Australia: qualitative, 32 direct care workers from three large not for profit aged care organization. | [56] |
Exposer | Exposing organizational practices and/or core assumptions/theories of the HRM field were problematic. | Labor commodification. Work design, recruitment and selection. Compensation management. Job design. | Shareholder theory. Labor commodification. Strategic HRM. | The flexible firm model. The HR architecture model. Primacy of the stakeholder view underpinning strategic HRM. | Viewpoint papers. | [8,57,58] |
Disrupter | Altering the normal work conditions of employees and their experiences of HRM practices. | Job search. Onboarding. Job insecurity, health complaints during isolation. Risk-taking behavior and changes in the organization. Mega trends such as flexible workforce, digitalization of business models, AI and machine learning. | Job insecurity. Work related attitudes and turnover intentions. | Work related attitudes (job motivation and job satisfaction). Turnover intentions. Onboarding practice. Job search. | Serbia: quantitative, 624 questionnaires from hospitality industry. Conceptual. US: quantitative, conceptual. | [59,60,61,62] |
Enabler | Enable organizations to put into place new HRM policies and employee wellbeing programs. | Role of HRM in curbing the adverse impact of COVID-19: Workplace guideline and support; Access to information on pandemic and financial benefits; Health related factors and quality of life; Communication and promoting message. A review of the Covid-19 pandemic on HR practices | Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation | Retention Recruitment and selection, remote working, motivating employees, re-skilling and communicating | Egypt: quantitative, medical supplies sector. Review | [63,64] |
HRM professionals ought to protect both organizations and their workers. | Review. | Compensation and benefits. | Review | [65] | ||
Economic hardships. Furlough policy. Perception of fairness. | Equity theory and social exchange theory. Organizational justice. Psychological contract. | Turnover intentions. Procedural justice/duration of furlough. | USA: mixed, quantitative followed by follow-up content analysis. | [66] | ||
HR responses to employee–organization relation during COVID-19. | Relational capital. Person-environment fit. Work–life balance. Pyramid of CSR. | Remote work. Safe working conditions. Adjustment to Performance management and compensation. Suspension of dismissals. Online HR practices. Emotional and mental support. | Poland: desktop research. US: quantitative, survey from forty-eight organizations. | [49,67,68] | ||
Enable scholars to envision new HRM designs | New COVID-19 safe workplace model. New workplace contract between employer and employee. Talent management. Flexible work arrangements (FWAs). 4-R crisis–normalcy model of HRD. A new “normal.” | Workplace design Talent management Professional work Human resource development | Flexible work Workplace design WFH, succession planning Platform economy Technology 4-R crisis–normalcy model (redefine, relook, redesign and reincorporate) | Conceptual paper | [9,12,69,70,71] | |
Legitimizer | The pandemic elevates the status of certain sustainable HRM practices. Highlight sustainable HRM and workplace/employee. | Broader performance outcomes. Investigate the influence of socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) on employee fears of external threats during the COVID-19 outbreak. | Socially responsible HRM. Social support and event system theories. Paradox theory. | Sustainable HRM People-profit paradox Short vs. long term paradox | China: mixed survey of 408 employees in hospitality and tourism firms in China Conceptual | [8,25,72] |
Employees’ Perception of sustainable HRM practices and positive organizational behavior during COVID-19. | Social exchange theory. | HRM involvement perception. | Quantitative, self-report questionnaire, Italian workers | [55] |
Aggregate Dimensions | Second Order Themes | First Order Categories | Theoretical Underpinning | Type and Contexts | Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Complicator | Future of careers such as people’s willingness to be health care providers (more eager or more hesitant). Obscured boundaries at the work–family interface. | Challenges and changes to careers post-COVID-19. | Career shock. Resilience. Sustainable careers. HRD. | Viewpoint paper. | [48,76] |
Exposer | Job crafting contributes to employee’s sustainable employability due to COVID-19. Skill gap in tourism and hospitality industry. Pervasive employment disparities. | Explore how employers’ investments through job characteristics engage employees in job crafting behaviors that lead to sustainable employability through a motivational process and accumulation of job resources. Addressing skills group in Welsh tourism and hospitality industry to highlight importance of sustainable tourism development post-COVID-19. | Job demands–resources theory. Sustainable employability. Sustainable development. | Pakistan: Punjab, quantitative, healthcare and universities. UK, Wales: quantitative, survey tourism and hospitality industry. | [77,78] |
Disruptor | Widespread unemployment. Worker mental health threat. Employment certainty. | Investigated the impacts of the pandemic on four distinct but related domains of employment and offered policy recommendations for career development professionals. | Work–family interface. Workplace inequality | Viewpoint paper | [76] |
Enabler | Workplace configuration (to accommodate social distancing); push to automate. Certain psychological resources—such as career competencies and resilience—could make COVID-19 as career shock more manageable. Differential implications over time (short-term vs. long-term; across life and career stages). Pandemic, further into the future it may allow for more positive outcomes (e.g., upgrade skills and competencies). Sustainable career (the process used to attract, support and retain employees in a way that results in committed and loyal employees). | Understand career consequences of COVID-19 using career shocks literature and offer research suggestions. Propose the concept of sustainable employment (SE) against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic and give insights into adopting it/implementing it in the (hospitality industry) in the USA. | Career shocks. Sustainable career. | Editorial. Viewpoint paper. USA: hospitality industry. | [48,79,80] |
COVID-19′s Effect on Sustainable HRM | Future Research Avenues |
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COVID-19 as a complicator | Does COVID-19 and its associated aftermath intensify employees’ work–life conflicts or does it mitigate the conflicts? Is this complicating effect mediated by factors such as gender, profession, organization, marital and children status or even country contexts? In the post-pandemic era, should organizations retain some of the pandemic responsive employee wellbeing policies or should they revert to the old ways? Before research reaches a conclusion, how should organizations innovatively embed working from home policies in their HRM strategy to achieve economic and social sustainability? |
COVID-19 as an exposer | COVID-19 has exposed some instances of workplace inequalities and injustices. Based on our review, there is a need for an integrated framework that systematically maps out how employees of different demographics (gender, age, race, social class, skills, etc.) and industries could be impacted by public health crises such as a global pandemic. More importantly, how could these pandemic induced inequalities be pre-empted or addressed to achieve the ultimate goal of the sustainable development of human resources? McGuire et al.’s [33] ethics of care approach offers a starting point; future scholars could explore how the ethics of care theory could be incorporated into sustainable HRM strategy and practices. Going beyond a firm level, Bansal et al. [7] suggest a systems perspective to understand the implications of COVID-19 on business and society. We argue that other leadership, ethical, sociological theories present opportunities for the cross fertilization of ideas and potential for sustainable HRM to grow rapidly as a field post-pandemic. In particular, sustainable HRM as common good HRM [1] seems to fit this purpose better. |
COVID-19 as a disruptor | There seems to be assumed knowledge in this regard. Apart from a few studies (e.g., [60,61]), there is a lack of empirical research on COVID-19′s disrupting effect on sustainable HRM strategies and practices. Future scholars could explore how COVID-19 disrupted organizational sustainable HRM agendas beyond the themes covered in this review, namely, job search and onboarding, the person–environment fit of employees, sociopsychological wellbeing [46], normal working conditions [59], and employees’ experiences of HRM practice (e.g., [60]). From a context perspective, research efforts could extend beyond the healthcare industry to look at banking and finance, retail, hospitality, tourism, education, etc., to gain a holistic understanding. Longitudinal studies would also be useful to help us understand the shorter and longer term effect of COVID-19. |
COVID-19 as an enabler | There are fragmented research efforts that look at COVID-19′s enabling effect of new HRM policies/practices such as employee retention, compensation and benefits, furlough policies, emotional support policies and performance management. There lacks, overall, an integrated and comprehensive framework that uncovers COVID-19 induced HRM responses. For example, how has COVID-19 enabled other innovative HRM practices associated with recruitment and selection, training and development remains unknown (other than the practices have gone virtual). In addition, COVID-19′s enabling effect on sustainable HRM strategies and practices could be both positive and negative. The literature is tilted towards capturing the positive examples of a few organizations making sensible adjustments (e.g., [68]). The dark side of COVID-19 as an enabler of unsustainable or unbecoming HRM policies remains underexplored, though there are media report of disheartening examples of employer surveillance of remote workers using tracking software known as “tattleware” [93] or the compulsory installment of spyware (e.g., Hubstaff) on their computers while working from home. We need empirical studies to shed light on this negative enabling effect of COVID-19 on sustainable HRM practices in order to avoid making similar mistakes in the future. |
COVID-19 as a legitimizer | The extant literature on the relationship between sustainable HRM practices and employee and/or organizational outcomes in the backdrop of COVID-19 is very limited. Two empirical studies were found to bridge this gap, and legitimize sustainable HRM. For example, there is a negative relationship between socially responsible HRM (a conceptualization of sustainable HRM) and employee fears during the pandemic [25] and a positive relationship between HRM involvement perception to organizational engagement and extra role behavior [55]. Similarly, there is research evidence for the legitimizing effect of COVID-19 on CSR. These studies offer preliminary substantiating evidence that sustainable HRM is more than a fad. In what other ways are sustainable HRM strategies and practices related to employee and organizational outcomes constitutes fertile ground for future research. |
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Liang, X.; Zhang, X.; Paulet, R.; Zheng, L.J. A Literature Review of the COVID-19 Pandemic’s Effect on Sustainable HRM. Sustainability 2022, 14, 2579. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052579
Liang X, Zhang X, Paulet R, Zheng LJ. A Literature Review of the COVID-19 Pandemic’s Effect on Sustainable HRM. Sustainability. 2022; 14(5):2579. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052579
Chicago/Turabian StyleLiang, Xiaoyan, Xiwei Zhang, Renee Paulet, and Leven Jianwen Zheng. 2022. "A Literature Review of the COVID-19 Pandemic’s Effect on Sustainable HRM" Sustainability 14, no. 5: 2579. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052579
APA StyleLiang, X., Zhang, X., Paulet, R., & Zheng, L. J. (2022). A Literature Review of the COVID-19 Pandemic’s Effect on Sustainable HRM. Sustainability, 14(5), 2579. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052579