Abstract:

Purpose- As societies' environmental and social sensitivities increase, companies try to adapt themselves to this new expectation. Sustainability discussions also come into our lives in this direction. The Sustainable Human Resources Management approach, which aims to balance these sensitivities between humans, organizations, and the environment, has increasingly attracted the attention of researchers since the 2010s. Although companies are committed to this new understanding, they often cannot go beyond symbolic activities. In companies, managers come to the fore as the implementer/executor of sustainability. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the difficulties faced by companies in adopting Sustainable Human Resources Management practices and develop solutions to encourage the adoption of this concept. Methodology- In this study, data were collected online through open-ended questions from sustainability experts and senior executives of companies in the BIST Sustainability Index. Content analysis technique, one of the qualitative analysis methods, was used in the analysis of these data. Findings- When the study's findings were evaluated, it was determined that the challenges for sustainability in the Turkish context generally stem from internal factors. Accordingly, the biggest obstacles to Sustainable HRM activities are the weak institutional structures of the companies, the lack of knowledge and skills of the managers, the economic and financial obstacles, and the lack of support from the leaders and managers. Conclusion- As a result of this study, various suggestions have been presented to managers and companies to adopt and realize sustainable HRM in the Turkish context. Managers and experts made suggestions mainly for the internal context (94%). However, the recommendations for the external context (6%) were less on their agenda. Internal context recommendations focus more on HRM (48%) and organizational level policies (32%). The suggestions that stand out based on sub-themes are: - Increasing the awareness of HRM employees and senior management (14.3%), - Determination of short/medium/long term sustainability strategy and holistic implementation of objectives (11.1%)- and regarding the role of HRM, “HRM should be goal setting, inclusive, transparent, and keep abreast of developments and process (11.1%). When the study results are evaluated, Turkish companies should first prepare their internal processes to realize Sustainable HRM fully. In addition, according to the recommendations of the managers and experts regarding the external context, it is seen that the legal regulations will act as a driving factor in fulfilling the requirements of Sustainable HRM.

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