Ensuring sustainable human resource management during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Lithuanian catering organisations

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic-induced work challenges have hit the catering organisations particularly hard worldwide. Lockdown suspended business activities, and uncertainty about the future alarmed both catering companies and their employees. The principles of sustainable human resource management (HRM) declared by the organisations have been put to test in critical conditions. The aim of the paper was to reveal the challenges faced by the catering organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic in the field of sustainable HRM and the way they were addressed. Qualitative in-depth interviews with the representatives of Lithuania’s catering service sector responsible for human resource management were carried out in order to explore how sustainable HRM has been ensured in their organisations. The research showed that state support played a critical role, which, especially when faced with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, was crucial in helping to preserve businesses and to retain employees by ensuring the conditions for continuous sustainable HRM development in the future.

Η Συμβολή Των Βιωματικών Εργαστηρίων «Παρεμβαίνουσας Μη Κατευθυντικότητας» (NDI) Στην Ανάπτυξη Αξιών Και Ικανοτήτων Της Αειφορίας

“…Οι Lozano et al (2017) αναφέρουν την ενσυναίσθηση προς τους ανθρώπους και τον πλανήτη και τη δυνατότητα αλλαγής προοπτικής (να μπω στη θέση του Άλλου) ως ουσιαστική ικανότητα στον δρόμο προς την αειφορία, μαζί με τη διαπολιτισμική κατανόηση, την αλληλεγγύη και τη συμπόνοια (compassion). Επίσης, η ενσυναίσθηση ήταν η λέξη-κλειδί για μια σειρά στόχων της ΕΠΑ: διαχείριση ανθρώπινου δυναμικού κατά την πανδημία (Savanevičienė et al, 2022), φεμινιστικό εργαλείο ενάντια στη διάκριση των φύλων (Karmakar, 2022), παιδαγωγικό εργαλείο για την αντιμετώπιση των ασυνείδητων προκαταλήψεων (Suveren, 2022, p. 423) ή ακόμη σκαλοπάτι για την ευτυχία (Karthik et al, 2022, p. 405). Παραθέματα όπως το παρακάτω δείχνουν την ενσυναίσθηση εν τω γεννάσθαι:…”

Evaluation of personnel risk in the SMEs in the V4 countries

“…real data from BE) to assess the BE, such as the BE index (Volintiru et al, 2018;Thurik and Wennekers, 2004). One of the determinants of BE quality is human risk (Karácsony et al, 2023), especially linked with Covid influence (Mishchuk et al, 2023;Savanevičienė et al, 2022), corporate social responsibility (Betakova et al, 2023;Dvorský et al, 2023a) or business ethics (Zvarikova et al, 2023;Belas et al, 2020). Johnson (1996) defines human capital as an individual's practical knowledge, acquired skills, and acquired abilities that enhance his or her potential productivity and enable him or her to work for income.…”