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This study aims to outline the rationale for the theme issue question and introduces articles written by MBA students at Les Roches Global Hospitality Education, Switzerland. The issue provides best practice examples of corporate social responsibility in hospitality settings and explores the outcomes and implications for employee quality of life.

This study provides a descriptive review of the theme issue approach and the ways in which industry case study examples have been integrated with a review of literature to analyse the ways in which corporate social responsibility initiatives are increasingly focusing on work–life balance and quality of life considerations.

During their analysis and case study research, the MBA group found that the provision for quality of life outcomes has been enhanced in recent years by hospitality and tourism firms, and that since the onset of the pandemic, momentum has been building. Yet, a bigger and more complex question relates to work–life balance – a critical component of quality of life outcomes – and whether it is transferable to society as a whole.

The aim of this theme issue is to explore the linkages between work–life balance, corporate social responsibility and the concept of circular economic thinking and how this impacts on quality of life. The authors argue that by better understanding these relationships, it is possible to contribute to the longer-term goal of sustainability and sustainable development. In part, this is because work life provisions are not only applicable at the micro level (firms) but also at the macro level (society), the latter through enhanced focus on circular economic thinking and practice.

This study aims to summarize and review the contributions made to the theme issue and observe that synergistic relationships between micro and macro levels of corporate social responsibility initiatives are needed to enable quality of life measures to be embedded in circular economic thinking and practice.

This study reviews the contributions made by each article in the theme issue with reference to case study examples of contemporary corporate social responsibility initiatives implemented in hospitality and tourism settings.

This theme issue sought to showcase how work–life balance provisions help to stabilize employee turnover, and that further to this, quality of life enhancements via corporate social responsibility initiatives at the micro or company level can stimulate circular economic strategies at the macro or societal level. This can play a key role in securing the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal number 3 (good health and well-being).

This summary argues that enhanced corporate social responsibility initiatives could shorten the journey to sustainability by focusing on improving societal and personal levels of quality of life. Only then will work–life balance measurements become more transferable from micro to macro perspectives through circular economic thinking and action. Hence, it is clear that work–life provisions are powerful drivers in the journey toward sustainability.

The objectives of the study are to assess the application of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in three hotel companies of similar standing by interviewing the unit general managers and to analyse the well-being of the three general managers and explore if their CSR initiatives align with the dimensions of quality of life and well-being. The article concludes with a review of the likely impact of employee well-being on the concept of the circular economy and overall sustainability.

Explores the potential relationship between the well-being of hotel general managers and its impact on the CSR initiatives of their hotels, three luxury hotels located in Dubai, Portugal and India provide case study examples. The hotels are similar in size and scale of operations and are positioned as leisure hotels. All three hotels have a workforce of 300–400 employees on permanent contracts with an additional 150–200 on temporary contracts. This is indicative of the significant responsibilities of general managers in fostering well-being in the workplace.

Findings suggest that a hotel general manager’s own well-being does not necessarily translate into high levels of CSR activity at the unit level. However, case study analysis of the three hotels seems to indicate a correlation between enhanced sustainable initiatives and competitive advantage that is advantageous for the businesses.

Using a combination of the positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, achievement (PERMA) well-being profiler and three in-depth interviews, this study examines the relationship between well-being, as measured by PERMA, CSR practices, and awareness of CSR implementation. In addition, the potential role of the circular economy is considered in fostering hospitality for employee well-being.

Maintaining human capital in the hotel industry is challenging due to high turnover. Through the implementation of circular economy theory, hotels are finding that human capital retention can be achieved via Quality of Life (QOL) outcomes by providing Corporate Social Resposibility (CSR) initiatives in the employee brand experience that focus on “place” attachment.

The approach is qualitative and three interviews were conducted with professionals from luxury hotels. The results were then compiled for each interview to determine whether QOL outcomes were in fact experienced by the interviewee in their designated hotel company.

Based on the interviews, all three hotels do incorporate CSR initiatives that focus on “place” attachment. Consequently, employees experience QOL outcomes that result in their retention within the hotel company.

An issue that hotels face is employee turnover. However, with experience-driven human capital management, retention can be achieved by ensuring that QOL outcomes are properly incorporated into the employee brand experience. In so doing, hotels can ensure that employees are engaged in their surrounding “place” through CSR initiatives that attach them to the local area.