High-quality employment relationships: Sustainable management through a psychological contract perspective

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The literature on sustainable management has seen a stark increase in publications in the last few years. A considerable number of papers were written on models or specific human resource practices that aim to provide clarity on what sustainable human resources entail. However, many publications seem to show that sustainable management focuses primarily on employer-driven outcomes and external stakeholders. In this chapter we therefore focus on employees and high-quality employment relationships through the lens of the psychological contract. We propose that by focusing on developing a high-quality psychological contract, companies will select the right contract terms in the form of sustainable human resource practices so as to realize the desired outcomes such as employee commitment and retention. After a short introduction on sustainability, we discuss psychological contracts and zoom in on three specific areas in which companies can make a real difference in generating high-quality relationships, thereby putting in place an employee-centered sustainable human resource management.