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Human Resource Human Resource ManagementManagement

Management School, Management School, University of SheffieldUniversity of Sheffield

Green (Environmental) HRM Green (Environmental) HRM

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• Green/EM (Environmental Management) job descriptions for employees • And green goals included into managerial job descriptions • Graduate perceptions of EM practises (use of Green criteria) • Green job candidates use Green criteria when applying for jobs

• Recruitment of employees who are ‘Green aware’becomes part of the interview schedule

Green HRM Processes:Green HRM Processes: Recruitment

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•Green employer branding (green employer of choice)

• Green intro. to inductions (familiarisation)e.g. Health & Safety

• Becoming a green employer may produce other HR benefits, such as:

• increased staff motivation and/or engagement• reductions in labour turnover and• increasing workforce health (CIPD research)

Green HRM Processes:Green HRM Processes: Recruitment

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PMA - Performance Mgmt. & Appraisal

• Green performance standards & indicators in PMA at all dept. levels • Communication of Green schemes for all via procedures/auditing to all levels in PMA scheme, est. firm-wide dialogue on green matters

• Managers are set green targets, goals and responsibilities • Roles of managers in achieving Green outcomes included in appraisals (e.g. familiarisation, & encourage EM learning)

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PMA - Performance Mgmt. & Appraisal

• Green standards for all dept’s in on-site use, waste mgmt./reduction (e.g.’s EG&G, Kodak, BFI)

• Mgmt. appraisals assess no. of green incidents, use of environment responsibly, & successful communication of environmental policy

• Penalties for non-compliance on targets in EM

•Link EM in PMA to Pay & Reward, stop EM as a ‘fad’

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•Train front-line teams to analyze their work areas in EM•Train to > staff concern for & emotional attachment to EM impact•Integrating EM training, & processes/material use, use TNA in EM •Integrating training on instruction and generation of eco-values•Development of employee skills, and competence building in EM •Socialisation in Green values/management, use of Green teams in EM •Train staff to produce green analysis of workspace

Training & Development (T&D)

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• Job rotation to train green managers of the future

•Integrating training to increase staff knowledge in EM

•Use discussion packs (GEC), suggestions, interactive media (ICI) as tools for EM training

•Training in EM aspects of safety, energy efficiency, waste management, & recycling / Safety rep’s to give data on green courses

•Develop Green personal & tacit skills, & knowledge in EM

Training & Development (T&D)

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•Re-train staff losing jobs in polluter industries (union role) •EM affects job skills, so union role here

•Employers to develop EM training/skills in renewable sector (e.g. T&G at Mill Chemicals)

•Union rep’s need time to attend Green training

•Unions include EM in training of union activists (e.g.’s T&G, AMICUS, TUC, TUSDAC)

Training & Development (1)

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•Lack of take-up in training/education in EM•Low level of management eco-literacy (hence IEM, UN, & UK courses in EM, and this topic being taught to you today!

•Line managers enact Green “learning cascade” (Rover Group allocated 350 working days to such an initiative)•Educate & train employees in EM business practices (CIPD/KPMG)

•HR at E.ON/first direct are seen to be key to embed an EM culture

Training & Development (1)

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•Theory: Advanced EM is people intensive, meaning needs employee development to increase tacit skills in EM

•Need to broaden EM specialists into managers (e.g.’s DuPont, Unisor Sacilor), but how to do this is problematic

•EM problems are complex, so knowledge is important to understand & utilise (e.g. mobile phones, pollution in 14 production areas!)

Training & Development (2)

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•Challenge is to install eco-values as there are few models out there to support eco-investment (similar issues to HRM & Org. Perf. case)•Few Green courses at Universities – poses recruitment issue for some firms, e.g. those in ‘clean coal’ such as Babcock

•EM focus on developing personal skills/team-building in global firms•Unions want sustainability included into apprenticeships (e.g.’s AMICUS, T&G).

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Training & Development (3): E.g. Kent County Council (KCC)

KCC faces barriers to increased ownership in EM: • Lack of commitment/will by seniors• Cynicism of importance/relevance of issues• Lack of resources/time• Green fascism/policing• New bureaucracy• Cost constraints• Communication/mentoring issues• Lack of training• Knowledge gaps

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Training & Development (4): KCC (1)KCC faces problems such as:• Few staff being trained effectively• Green teams view other staff not resp. in EM • Staff give token response/hostile rejection to EM • Difficult to maintain EM due to other prioritiesKCC is scoring some success, such as: • Est. EM onto dept agendas, plans & projects• Embracing EM agenda (achieving culture change)• Helping dept’s to gain access to funding• Implementing programmes in EM (like water/energy efficiency, green

purchasing, < paper consumption, transport & waste, promoting resource efficiency.

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Training Needs Analysis (TNA) • Is useful to assess training required in EM (what Green knowledge &

skills staff need)• Options include using specialists or survey staff • Org’s may est. firm EM training committee to alert managers that EM

is imp. & has resources dedicated to it, e.g. Duke e.g. Duke Power, , & combine knowledge categories (contextual processes/intra-org) to develop less toxic cleaners - e.g. NUMMI

But problems here include: • Extra work for operations mgrs/workers (new rules/ restrictions);

ensuring mgrs release staff for EM training; integrating training into PMA; gaps in mgmt decisions/branch performance (technical inadequacy, ignorance, mis-use of time), e.g. ESB

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Employment Relations

•Employee Involvement & Participation (EI&P) in EM suggestion schemes/problem-solving circles (encourages concern/applies skills) •Staff independence to form & experiment with green ideas

•Integrate EI&P to EM - productive maintenance (cleaning, greasing)•Employee help-line for guidance in Green matters •Tailor Green EI scheme to industry/firm standards (esp. SMEs)•Increase line/supervisory support behaviours in EM

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Employment Relations

•Unions EM agreements (TUSDAC) train union rep’s (GMB, T&G) •Green elements into Health & Safety, < exposure to fumes/chemicals •Encouraging U.K. employees to use green transport (CIPD/KPMG)•Set-up low carbon champions (CEO/Board) e.g. E.ON, < footprints •Introduce EM whistle-blowing help-lines, EM grievance & discipline procedure, dismissal for EM breaches (& U.K. legal position)•Use/develop social capital in EM, networks, resources (e.g. NUMMI)

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Employment Relations (1)

• EI&P to cut waste, as employees have:

(i) the most knowledge of work processes/products, (ii) can manage such complex work well, and (iii) doing so builds their pride & commitment to work, e.g.

SMEs

• EI&P to < pollution, and > revenue• Problem is mgmt record is low on linking EM to H&S• EI to motivate workers in EM (detect leaks), & to

develop worker EM schemes (recycling), e.g.’s Argos & first direct

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Employment Relations (1)

Barriers to > EI in EM:

•Lack of management support for EM (e.g. Rover/KCC/Accenture)

•Unions may lack access to EM information, and education, & training in EM – all of which undermine union bargaining power

•Workers may not see EM as an issue ‘for them’, unlike pay which may be a more direct concern

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Employee Relations (ER)/Involvement (EI)

Firms may use EI to generate revenue & reduce pollution:• e.g. 3M,e.g. 3M, (2,500 solutions/waste release halved/saved

$300m, & later estimates of 4,750 projects globally/preventing £1.7bn of pollution/ saved $850m pollution control/raw material costs)

• e.g. American Airlinese.g. American Airlines flight attendants recycled 616,000 pounds of aluminium cans (gain of $40,000)

• e.g. Dow Chemicalse.g. Dow Chemicals 173% ROI in 1st year. • Other examples include schemes at Chrysler/Jeep, Chrysler/Jeep,

AT&T, Wheeling-Pittsburgh AT&T, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Firms may establish firm policies to support employee eco-initiatives, & use supervisors to support employee EM

actions:• e.g. GE Plastics, Lucent Technologies, Neste Oye.g. GE Plastics, Lucent Technologies, Neste Oy

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Employee Involvement (EI) (1) Firms may use EI as it can motivate workers in EM, by: • Allowing them to detect leaks in production processes• Increase team knowledge of causes of waste, & how to reduce these

(as this is delegated to them). E.g’s: E.g’s: • Chrysler/JeepChrysler/Jeep (recycling)• AT&TAT&T (waste disposal)• 3M/Kodak/DuPont/Procter & Gamble3M/Kodak/DuPont/Procter & Gamble (all wastereduction) • See gains from EI in improvements in EM & workers H&S, & the

development of more knowledgeable employees/supervisors in EM as a whole

• Est. & use worldwide Green forums to share info. Re. EM processes, &/or offer help-line for staff - e.g. Cable & Wireless e.g. Cable & Wireless

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Union Role • Unions may act as allies to Environmental

Managers (EM’s) to generate self-directed Green initiatives from workers, e.g. NUMMI & Dunlop

• Campaign in EM to incl. co-operation with green groups, & focus on H&S concerns re. Hazardous/damaging substances & refusal to handle toxic waste - e.g. Unions & Greenpeace

• Seek legal rights for workers to paid time-off to attend training in EM, & be informed of outcomes on monitoring discharges/emissions

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Union Role

• Employers may encourage union members to be involved in

Green programmes, e.g. Sony, who do this to < glass

defects/waste glass & < energy use

• Be reluctant to involve unions in EM as they see EM as a mgmt issue (e.g. U.K. CBI oppose mandatory Green audits/union role in them, & see them as tools for mgmt control/assessment)

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Jobs & Employment Unions may be caught in contradiction of looking tosupport staff on opposite sides of EM conflicts: • e.g. Welsh dockerse.g. Welsh dockers refusing to handle toxic waste were

represented by the same union as others at incineration plants asked to dispose of such waste!

• Jobs growth may occur from focus on EM, e.g. DTIe.g. DTI see future for power/wind generation & EM control systems

• U.K. forecasts – up to 1,000 skilled jobs from using wind technology, & 10 jobs per megawatt of renewable power used

• 30,000 jobs forecast in UK renewables sector before 2015, & job gains from using bio-mass too

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Jobs & Employment (1)Recycling:

May have created 35-78,000 new U.K. jobs by 2010, & complex schemes may create more skilled employment than landfill

• e.g. DTI,e.g. DTI, estimate up to 35,000 working on ‘green’ jobs in UK by 2020!

Areas of job growth related to EM include: • In the energy industry (up from 8k in 2007), & in: • solar power/hydrogen/biofuels/coal-to-liquid tech.• Issue of labour re-allocation from non to Green

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•Need for a Green pay/reward system to < waste, e.g. DuPont/3M, & gain knowledge (such as chemistry re. emissions), e.g. Bhopal •Tailor packages to reward green skills acquisition (3M pay for them)

•Use of monetary-based EM rewards (bonuses, cash, premiums)•Use of non-monetary based EM rewards (sabbaticals, leave, gifts) & recognition-based ones (awards, publicity, external roles, daily praise)

Pay & Reward (P&R)

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•Develop negative reinforcements (criticism, warnings, suspensions for lapses) NB: negatives teach little about waste disposal/disclosure•Develop positive rewards in EM (e.g. feedback) •Establish PRP in EM to gain stewardship/citizenship (esp. seniors) •Link EM suggestion scheme to reward system & participation in EM initiatives to career gains (mgrs. advance by helping staff in EM) •Use green tax breaks, Line have rewards to motivate employees in EM•Difficult to assess staff efforts/results in EM, & to reward it

Pay & Reward (P&R)

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Pay & Reward (1) Use monetary-based Green reward systems:

• E.g. BFI, imp. % of mgmt monthly pay bonuses dependent on outcomes achieved in EM

• DuPont & Neste Oy use exec pay/bonuses for middle mgrs/seniors partly based on stewardship practices/perf. goals in EM - part of bonus system

• ICI set EM targets for senior mgmt PRP grading(C) D Renwick

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Pay & Reward (1) Use recognition-based rewards for mgrs:• E.g. Monsanto/Dow/ICI/Coors (present awards at public

meetings)• Duke Power (awards publicised via news articles)

Make recognition at different levels: • E.g. at EG&G for individual/team/division contributions

to waste <• Xerox company-wide team excellence awards• Body Shop pay staff to complete Green community

service/events• FedEx give 3 months paid leave to work on EM projects

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P&R (2)Issues:

• Need to develop rewards to motivate juniors, & link promotions to staff outputs in EM. E.g.’s:

• Amicus/Legal & General annual Green awards scheme (open to all non-mgmt staff)

• BSkyB: staff build points for Green behaviours on firm credit card to earn > benefits

• Sky: £1,300 cash incentive for hybrid cars (UoS?)• first direct First direct: annual awards dinner

recognises EM behaviours• CIPD/KPMG: 8% of UK firms reward Green

behaviours with non-cash rewards• ShellShell: view (& reward?) staff highly with

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P&R (3)Organisations may provide EM incentives. E.g.’s: • Car mileage for company cars can be extended to cover bike

journeys/loans. • Staff can be offered financial substitutes for car allowances

encouraging car pooling/sharing. • Company cars can be limited to journeys beyond public transport. • Tax incentives/exemptions can be used to loan bikes/safety

equipment to staff. • Organisations can use a less polluting car fleet. • E.g. Rover, used suggestion scheme where if savings made by staff

were over a certain level, reward for them was a new car! Hence…

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Exit • Dismissal/exit de-briefings could include an EM

dimension, as mgrs need to know why staff leave • Employers formulate & use whistle-blowing codes, &

provide legal protection for users of them

• Employers avoid stereotyping of whistle-blowers & use of ‘reverse’ whistle-blowing practices

• Managers to ask if Green issues are reasons for resignations (too little EM? moving to a more Green employer?)

• Exit interviews & whistle-blower accounts to gauge firm Green-ness

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Exit CIPD:

• Equality Act (2006) – Tribunals to decide if ‘Green beliefs’ are grounds for protecting employees against discrimination in employment/vocational training

• - similar to those on ‘religious belief’, are such beliefs respected?

• Employers may need policy in EM & to respond to ‘Green belief’ requests by employees

• (e.g. for less travel, more recycling facilities, more flexible working), to avoid claims that EM beliefs are ignored

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Discussion At present: • Employees’ personal values aren’t fully exploited towards

achieving corporate EM initiatives• Personnel/HR function appears under-rated and needs to interact

with others re. EM matters • Many orgs do not use an integrated approach to implement EM

programmes & achieving it is difficult due to changing unsustainable practices that staff have learnt over decades

• Issues arise in changing the approach of some HR staff to green issues – as a minority are actively hostile to EM & feel it detracts from HR being taken seriously as a business partner (CIPD)

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Discussion (1)Some British HR mgrs question EM, saying: • The existence of global warming is not proven, and there is a need for

debate on Green issues• The EM case is ‘not proven’, & ‘a lot of hype’ • Green employers are a form of ‘Green extremism’• HR should not jump on ‘political bandwagons’, as this does the HR

profession ‘no good’ when ‘striving to be taken seriously by business’• Problem: HR’s professional identity is close to mgmt. Hart: it is ‘an ally

to the present economic system that is destroying the environment itself’• Also, need to monitor all mgmt styles used in EM, & to engage mgrs in

EM (as mgrs may not care)

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Green HR Roles

HR Generalists (Today?)

Light Green

HR Environmental Generalists

(Tomorrow?) Green

HR Non-Environ. Specialists

(Yesterday?) Non-Green

HR Environmental Specialists

(Tomorrow?) Dark Green

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Discussion (3)HR role could be to: • Guide line mgrs to gain staff co-operation to implement EM

policies & seek out allies to change the status quo• Integrate HRM & EM, E.g NUMMI use knowledge mgmt, EI,

EP, employment screening, training, redundancy, < status differentials, & mgmt style to > EM in practice

• Use org. culture to create climate of support for participation/collaboration. E.g. NUMMI use of employee screening for co-operative people, socialisation via intensive training to remove adversarial mind-sets, a no-lay off policy, and reductions in status differentials to generate trust

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Discussion (4)Many U.K. HR staff embrace EM today. Examples: • HR at Cable & Wireless implementing EM programme through

global H&S function. • E.ON optimise desk space – encourage working from home (if

feasible), use online (live) meetings (to < staff travel between offices), & car-sharing

• Sky campaign to turn off power sources when staff leave offices, using 100% renewable energy, & introducing solar lighting.

• First direct travel policy to promote car sharing, and > use of public transport.

• Boots < car journeys by 20%, use of intranet car-pooling scheme, e-HR helps staff track emissions

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Discussion (5)CIPD survey: • 23% of HR professionals see HR as having ownership of environmental

issues • 40% see HR should take facilitator role in EM • 23% see HR should take an assist others EM role • HR are well-placed to lead on introducing EM, as have experience in

communication/culture change• HR role - HR can develop a report in EM, (incl. policy statement, targets,

progress measures, impact assessment), & a policy framework to bind together EM initiatives in transport, flexible working, energy efficiency, & recycling.

• Use of EM reports may encourage line managers & employees to take pride in EM in their firms

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Discussion (6)• Successful EM seen to be underpinned by understanding of work

attitudes & personal motivation of staff towards job/org/colleagues

• E.g. Neste Oy: EM motivators = gender (women more), &

professional values, but not pay!

• Hence importance of intrinsic motivation & vocational call as employee motivators to EM

• & not ethical concern &/or family/religious values

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Discussion (6)• Emphasis on designing HRM policies that tend to

promote worker co-operation/involvement with firm EM objectives

• extrinsic factors that centre on EM policies, & intrinsic ones on staff skills/values

• Firms need to offer staff motivating devices of immunity & protection when reporting EM issues

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Conclusions• EM in HRM – Green HRM – can be understood through

using a process model (detailed above)• Green HRM is relatively new, as the HR function is one of

the last management functions to ‘go green’• A future research agenda in Green HRM could include trying

to understand what drives Green mgmt./employee behaviours (fear? guilt? other?)

• Read our SUMS Discussion paper on Green HRM, at:

http://www.shef.ac.uk/management/research/papers/abstracts/2008-01.html & click on PDF in ‘Downloads/download the file’

• See CIPD publication People Management for details of their ‘HR goes Green’ campaign (C) D Renwick

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Initial Readings

• Renwick, Redman and Maguire (2008)

• Jabbour and Santos (2008)

• Brio, Fernandez and Junquera (2007)

(see Module Pack for full details)

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