Promoting Sustainability: A Conceptual Framework of ‘Stakeholder Voice’

The role of HRM is built on the current market economic model and needs to change if HRM is to help businesses towards a new sustainability paradigm. It has been suggested that HRM institutional entrepreneurship (HIE-Sustain) is this new role for HRM, capable of promoting sustainability not only internally to the organisation, but also externally between and among organisations. We build on this perspective and argue that if HRM is to enact this new role, individual HR practices need to also be re-thought and re-designed towards sustainability objectives. We focus on employee voice practices because such practices are a promising vehicle through which HIE-Sustain may be able to initiate change. We offer a conceptualisation of ‘stakeholder voice’ for sustainability (SV-Sustain) based on a triple-bottom approach to performance which incorporates the voice of a range of external stakeholders. We expand the voice literature in this respect and offer a conceptual framework of the factors influencing the demand for and supply of SV-Sustain in organisations.