Human resource development and sustainability: beyond sustainable organizations

摘要

This conceptual paper draws upon the theory of the risk society to develop three propositions that argue that Human resource development (HRD) and sustainability lie in a mutually co-constructive relationship. While many have critiqued HRD for its scant attention to sustainably, this paper identifies how three models of HRD including strategic HRD, critical HRD, and holistic HRD currently respond to the ideologies that vie to define the sustainability project. It is argued here that if HRD scholars and practitioners are more deliberate in their relationship with sustainability, they will encounter new and powerful conceptual and ethical frameworks to address the long standing tension in the field. As HRD grapples with sustainability they will need to address its own developmental dilemmas, which may give rise to a new HRD; one that is more aligned with the dilemmas of today's complex, global society.