– The purpose of this paper is to examine how small- and medium-sized organisations that were already participating in recognised sustainability programmes in Iowa, USA, in how they were utilising activities normally associated with human resources (HRs) to implement sustainability – activities included communication, engagement, incentives and recruitment and retention.
– The authors were interested in how small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were utilising HR functions to implement sustainability. This was an exploratory, qualitative research study utilised semi-structured interviews to obtain data.
– Based on the findings, some of the functions are being utilised more than others, with some activities not being implemented at all.
– This research offers empirical research on how sustainability is achieved in SMEs.
– This paper outlines some practical methods that any SME could utilise to help implement sustainability within an organisation.
– This paper adds empirical research on how SMEs are implementing sustainable practices into their operations by using activities normally associated with the HR department.
