Review of Public Personnel Administration· 2026Q1
From Policy to Sustainability: The Evolution of Sustainability in Public HRM in Aotearoa/New Zealand in the SDG Era
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
A longitudinal analysis of 10 NZ local council HRM policies (2010-2021) reveals sustainability was added incrementally to existing frameworks post-SDGs, with increased focus on equity and wellbeing, but limited attention to environmental concerns and broader social justice.
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Key points
- Sustainability was integrated into NZ public HRM policies incrementally, not through transformational change.
- Post-SDG policies showed increased attention to equity, diversity, and wellbeing.
- Environmental sustainability received limited attention in public HRM policies.
- Broader social justice commitments in public HRM remained uneven.
- HRM policies act as signals, but sustainability integration may be constrained by compliance and efficiency logics.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This study examines how sustainable human resource management (SHRM) has been incorporated into public sector HRM policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand before and after the introduction of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Drawing on a longitudinal qualitative analysis of HRM policies from 10 local councils between 2010 and 2021, it explores how sustainability concerns across social, economic, and environmental domains were integrated into public HRM. The findings show that sustainability entered public HRM primarily through incremental layering onto existing HRM frameworks rather than transformational change. Following the SDGs, policy attention to equity, diversity, and wellbeing increased; however, broader social justice commitments remained uneven, while environmental sustainability received limited attention. By examining HRM policies as organizational signals, the study contributes to public HRM and SHRM scholarship by showing how sustainability priorities are communicated before implementation and may remain constrained by institutional logics of compliance, efficiency, risk management, and organizational performance.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Public Administration
Public AdministrationSocial Sciences