Pressures for sustainability and strategic responses onemployment relationshipsthe role of HR manager

Abstract

Contributing to sustainability is no longer a choice for companies.Companies receive external pressures (Institutional Pressures forSustainability) that influence the development of more sustainablemanagement models. This paper shows how these pressures are just astarting point to begin the path towards a strategic commitment tosustainability, in which the human resources department plays an essentialrole. Using a sample of 145 Spanish companies, we define a model thatanalyzes the influence that external factors (IPS) and internal factors to theorganization (Sustainable Strategic Commitment) have on EmployeeRelationships (ERs). The results achieved show that despite the influenceof IPS on ERs, the commitment or contribution of a company tosustainability is based on the fact that companies try to differentiatethemselves and go beyond what the environment establishes. Also, it isconfirmed the moderating effect that the HR manager’s role has in thispromotion of commitment at the strategic level and, consequently, in thedevelopment of a set of ERs more suited to a sustainable model, this isseeking long-term commitment (Mutual Investment)