Strategic Reward Management in the Sustainability Era: An Evolutionary Review of ESG, AI, and Employee Value Proposition
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61978/shr.v2i1.1237Keywords:
strategic reward management, sustainable employee performance, ESG oriented HRM, AI enabled HR analytics, employee value propositionAbstract
This study provides an evolutionary systematic literature review of Strategic Reward Management by synthesizing its shift from financial and contract-based compensation toward ESG-oriented, AI-enabled, and employee-centered reward architectures. It examines how ESG imperatives, AI-enabled HR analytics, and Employee Value Proposition (EVP) reshape reward systems in supporting sustainable employee performance. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 43 peer-reviewed Q1–Q2 journal articles published between 2015 and 2024 were analyzed using Scopus-oriented search terms, Watase UAKE Tools, cross-database metadata verification, manual screening, quality appraisal, and thematic synthesis. The review identifies three evolutionary waves. The first emphasizes motivation–performance alignment, fairness perceptions, and performance-based pay. The second shifts attention toward sustainable HRM, green HRM, CSR-linked rewards, and sustainable employability. The third highlights AI-enabled personalization, EVP-based value creation, ESG-linked rewards, and agility-oriented reward design. Across these waves, reward systems increasingly function not only as compensation mechanisms but also as strategic signals that communicate organizational values, reinforce fairness perceptions, enhance employee engagement, and support sustainable performance. The review also reveals theoretical fragmentation, as RBV, SET, AMO, Agency Theory, Dynamic Capabilities, and Institutional Theory are often applied separately with limited cross-framework integration. To address this gap, the study proposes an integrative conceptual model linking sustainability pressures, AI-enabled HR capabilities, strategic reward systems, EVP mechanisms, and sustainable employee performance. This review contributes by repositioning strategic reward management as an adaptive value-signaling mechanism and offers practical direction for designing ethical, data-informed, and sustainability-aligned reward systems.
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