A Contribution to Sustainable Human Resource Development in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This examines the six drivers and twelve detailed practices of sustainable human resource development (S-HRD) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic across different organizations in Poland. The empirical strategy is based on explorative research conducted using surveys in Poland between 2020 and 2021. The results confirm that the surveyed organizations implemented S-HRD practices driven mainly by the expectations of external stakeholders. They neglected the areas of caring for employees' well-being and developing environmental awareness before the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, most companies maintained their approach to S-HRD. This research is unique because it adds to the body of literature advocating the significance of S-HRD for organizational resilience before, during, and after extreme events. Generalizing the results is challenging because the snowball sample has significant restrictions. However, future research may overcome these shortcomings by using larger samples based on probability or random sampling techniques.

Automated summary

This article examines the drivers and practices of sustainable human resource development (S-HRD) in Poland before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that organizations implemented S-HRD practices driven by external stakeholder expectations and neglected employee well-being and environmental awareness. Despite the pandemic, most companies maintained their approach to S-HRD. This research adds to the literature on the importance of S-HRD for organizational resilience during extreme events.