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Green Human Resource Management: a general review
Author: Rebecca Schoemaker
Student number: 2002476
Supervisor: Niki Philips
Second reader: Marinus Verhagen
Human Resource Studies, Tilburg University
Bachelor thesis, literature review
June, 2019
Abstract
In this study the concept green human resource management (GHRM) is researched. By
means of a literature study it is answered what GHRM is and which financial implications it
entails for an organization. To answer different sub-questions about the definition of GHRM,
the role of employees in GHRM, the practices that can be used for GHRM and the
organizational financial outcomes of GHRM, 31 articles have been used. Different terms,
criteria and combinations of terms have been used in Google Scholar and Worldcat of Tilburg
University to search for relevant articles. It can be concluded that GHRM entails the use of
HRM to promote sustainability and increase employees’ awareness and commitment on the
issues of environmental sustainability and that employees play an important role in the
success of GHRM. Additionally, the importance of green recruitment and selection, green
training and development, green performance management, green pay and reward and green
employee involvement as practices of GHRM have been discussed. Furthermore, it is
concluded that under certain circumstances financial benefits can be gained by environmental
performance.
Keywords: Green human resource management, Green HRM, Green practices, Environmental
performance, Human resource management, Sustainability.
Introduction
In a study of Kiron, Kruschwitz, Haanaes and von Streng Velken (2012) two third of 2.874
managers and executives stated that sustainability was critical to being competitive in today’s
market. Moreover, Hoffman (2018) stated that more than 90 percent of the CEOs thought that
sustainability was fundamental for success. Even though these studies indicate the importance
of sustainability in today’s society, some organizations experience difficulties with
successfully implementing it (Brockhaus, Kersten, & Knemeyer, 2013). The need to become
more sustainable and more environmentally friendly as an organization arises from multiple
factors such as regulations, non-governmental organizations that stand for environmental
change, media that sheds a negative light on non-environmental friendly organizations, and
consumer demand (Kiron et al., 2012).
Therefore, in the past few years environmental awareness became a significant
concept for organizations. The total CO2 emission in the Netherlands is originated for 85,9%
by organizations (CBS, 2018). Given this big proportion of emission caused by organizations
it is important that especially these organizations look for ways to decrease their pollution and
make employees and managers more conscious on how to act environmentally friendly.
Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) might play a big role in making
organizations more sustainable. Sustainability can be defined as: ‘’all activities aimed at
improving the social and ecological performance of a company while also retaining the
financial bottom line’’ (Brockhaus et al., 2013, p.167). GHRM is a new rising concept and
can be defined as: ‘’using Human Resource Management (HRM) practices to reinforce
environmental sustainable practices and increase employee’s commitment on the issues of
environmental sustainability’’ (Masri & Jaaron, 2017, p. 474). The definition of GHRM will
be more comprehensively explained in the results section.
Even though the amount of literature regarding GHRM is growing, there are still gaps
to be filled. Such as the lack of research on the impact of environmental management on
selection criteria and the impact of GHRM on financial performance and well-being
(Renwick, Redman, & Maguire, 2013). Additionally, Kiron et al. (2012) mentioned that many
companies still have difficulty defining sustainability in a way that is relevant for their
business. So even though GHRM awareness is growing there is still a need for research on
how to make the organization sustainable and ‘green’ whilst benefitting the organization. The
aim of this study is to give an overview of the existing literature on GHRM and by this
making GHRM a more acknowledged concept in the literature and organizations.
Based on the aforementioned, in this study the following research question will be
addressed: ‘’What is Green Human Resource Management and which implications does it
entail for an organization?’’
This research question will be answered by means of answering the following sub-questions:
1. How can GHRM be defined?
2. What is the role of employees in GHRM?
3. Which practices can be used to make the organization ‘green’?
4. What important financial implications does GHRM entail for organizations?
This study on GHRM is scientifically relevant, for GHRM is a relatively new concept
in HRM. To make GHRM a more acknowledged concept it is important more scholars
analyse and write about it. There are still a lot of gaps to be filled and there are empirical and
theoretical studies needed to increase the body of knowledge of GHRM (Opatha & Arulrajah,
2014). By giving an overview of GHRM and showing specific gaps in literature this study
also contributes to making the existing literature more structured.
This study also has practical relevance, as it offers insights for making decisions
concerning whether to implement GHRM and if so which practices can be used to do so.
Additionally, this study highlights the relevance and importance of GHRM, which could
result in having more ‘green’ organizations which in turn has relevance for the environment,
giving this study societal relevance. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the use of HRM to
make organizations ‘green’ and therefore the acknowledgement of the added value of HRM in
organizations can increase.
Methods
A literature review was conducted to answer the research question. This section will provide
an overview of the search method used to find relevant articles. To make a selection of
articles the search machines Google Scholar and WorldCat of the University of Tilburg were
used. Keywords used for searching literature were: ‘GHRM’, ‘green human resource
management’, ‘green’, ‘sustainability’, ‘employee outcomes’, ‘green pay and rewards’,
‘strategic human resource management’, ‘green HRM’, ‘green practices’, ‘green recruitment’,
‘environmental performance’, ‘costs’ and ‘green’. Some concepts have been used in
combination with other concepts and ‘AND’ to search more specific articles. Even though
many hits appeared when the concept ‘green human resource management’ was searched,
many articles were not relevant for this study because they did not focus specifically on
GHRM. In Table 1 the search terms and selected articles from Google Scholar are displayed
and in Table 2 the search terms and selected articles from Worldcat of the University of
Tilburg are displayed, after the criteria have been taken into account.
Table 1:
Search terms and selected articles from Google Scholar
Table 2:
Search terms and selected articles from Worldcat of Tilburg University
To ensure relevant articles were selected some criteria have been taken into account.
First, articles had to be written in the Dutch or English language so the articles could be
interpreted in the right manner. Second, the articles had to be scientific and peer-reviewed
because the data needed to be of high quality. Third, the articles had to be written between
2008 and 2019 to ensure this study was based on recent data. The year 2008 was chosen as the
bottom year since GHRM is a relatively new concept and there are very few articles about
GHRM written before that. An exception has been made for the article of Wright and
Mcmahan (1992) for this article discusses strategic human resource management and
definitions of that concept existed already before 2008. Last, after reading the titles, keywords
and abstracts the relevance of the articles for this study was determined by reading the full
paper.
Furthermore, articles were found via the reference lists of other articles (snowballing
method). A disadvantage of this method is that it presents relatively old articles (Beauchemin
& Gonzàlez-Ferrer, 2011). The criteria taken into consideration for articles found by
snowballing were: only selecting articles from 2000 on and they had to be written in the
English or Dutch language. An exception has been made for Wehrmeyer (1996) because he
discusses insights about greening people that were still perceived relevant for this study. In
Figure 1 the articles found by the use of snowballing are shown. An overview of all articles
used in this study are presented in the data table in appendix 3.
Figure 1:
Snowballing
Results
In the following section the research question will be answered by means of answering four
different sub-questions based on the relevant literature defined in the method section.
1. How can GHRM be defined?
Organizations began to promote and implement environmental management (EM) systems
and practices as a response to changes in regulations, public awareness and concerns about
potential environmental damage (Wehrmeyer,1996). Wehrmeyer (1996) stated in his book
that the key to the success or failure of an organizations’ environmentally aware approach are
the employees. Additionally, Mandip (2012) stated in her study that HRM is seen as an
important key in achieving sustainable development. As a result GHRM emerged, which
complimented the technical aspect of environmental management with the more human
aspects of HRM (Teixeira, Jabbour, & Jabbour, 2012).
Different conceptualizations and definitions of GHRM exist in literature. Renwick et
al. (2013) define GHRM as: ‘’the HRM aspects of environmental management’’ (p.1). This
conceptualization of GHRM is connected to EM and does not view GHRM as a separate
movement but more as a part of EM, which is in line with older definitions.
A more comprehensive definition is given a year later by Opatha and Arulrajah
(2014): ‘’It refers to the policies, practices and systems that make employees of the
organization green for the benefit of the individual, society, natural environment and the
business’’ (Opatha & Arulrajah, 2014, p. 104). In this conceptualization EM is not mentioned
explicitly, which indicates that GHRM is seen more as a separate movement instead of being
part of EM. Additionally, this definition is especially focussed on making employees ‘green’
as the goal of GHRM. Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) acknowledge four meanings of ‘greening’
or ‘green’ that are related to the context of managing people:
1. ‘’Preservation of the natural environment’’
2. ‘’Conservation of the natural environment’’
3. ‘’Avoidance or minimization of environmental pollution’’
4. ‘’Creation of natural spaces’’ (Opatha and Arulrajah, 2014, p.102)
Sharma and Gupta (2015) agree with the important role employees play in GHRM and
define GHRM as: ‘’the use of HRM policies to promote the sustainable use of resources
within business organizations and more generally, promotes the cause of environmental
sustainability. It involves human resource initiatives to endorse sustainable practices and
increase employee awareness and commitments on the issues of sustainability’’ (p. 825).
Deshwal (2015) agrees with this definition and also emphasizes the outcome of GHRM being
environmental sustainability: ‘’the use of HRM policies to support the sustainable use of
resources within organizations and, more usually helps the reasons of environment
sustainability’’ (p. 176). Employee commitment and awareness as well as the link to EM is
not mentioned in Deshwal’s definition.
In contrast with the previous definitions, Ahmad (2015) states that the topic GHRM
also includes the social and economic well-being of the organization and the employees in
addition to awareness towards environment. Which makes this definition unique, for most
definitions of GHRM are focussed mainly on the environmental aspect.
In conformity with most scholars, Masri and Jaaron (2017) focus solely on the
ecological aspect and define GHRM as ‘’using Human Resource Management practices to
reinforce environmental sustainable practices and increase employee’s commitment on the
issues of environmental sustainability’’ (p. 474). They state that GHRM considers values and
concerns of EM (Masri & Jaaron, 2017). Many researchers still do mention a link with EM in
their definition (Redman & Maguire, 2012; Sharma & Gupta, 2015; Masri & Jaaron, 2017).
However, throughout the years GHRM is defined less as a part of environmental
management, but more as a separate entity influenced by environmental management or as a
way to help environmental management by making the employees aware and committed to
environmental management.
Ren, Tang and Jackson (2018) for example do not include EM in their definition, as
they define GHRM as: ‘’a phenomena relevant to understanding relationships between
organizational activities that impact the natural environment and the design, evolution,
implementation and influence of HRM systems’’ (p. 778). They elaborate on this by
differentiating between GHRM and other definitions in HRM. They state that strategic HRM
and sustainable HRM are broader concepts than GHRM. Sustainable HRM focusses on the
triple bottom line, which entails profits, people and planet, whereas GHRM focusses solely on
planet and environmental factors (Rimanoczy & Pearson, 2010). Strategic HRM also focusses
on more than just environmental factors and can be defined as: ‘’the pattern of planned human
resource deployments and activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals’’
(Wright & Mcmahan, 1992, p.298). This narrowed focus of GHRM on environmental issues
is in slight contrast with the definition of Ahmad (2015), as Ahmad (2015) stated that also
social and economic well-being of the employee and organization should be included in
GHRM.
By analysing the aforementioned definitions, a few key concepts of GHRM definitions
can be identified: ‘HRM policies and practices’, ‘sustainable use of resources’, ‘awareness
and commitment of employees’ and ‘environmental sustainability’. In figure 3 an overview of
the definitions of GHRM is given.
Table 3:
Definitions of GRHRM
2. What is the role of employees in GHRM?
An important key aspect mentioned in almost every definition of GHRM is the role of
employees in GHRM. Especially in the simplified general reflections study of Opatha and
Arulrajah (2014) the role of employees in GHRM is stressed. They provide a reflective,
descriptive and prescriptive comprehension of green HRM. They state that it is impossible to
make an organization green without making its people green and that in order to become a
green employee, four roles (preservationist, conservationist, non-polluter and maker) should
be present in the employee. GHRM has four requirements concerning employees to achieve
greening (Opatha & Arulrajah, 2014), which will be discussed next.
2.1 Green competencies
Green competencies are necessary because if employees do not have sufficient knowledge
and skills (competencies) about greening, it will not be possible to become a green employee
(Opatha & Arulrajah, 2014). In conformity with Opatha and Arulrajah (2014), the
contemporary literature review of Renwick, Jabbour, Muller-Camen, Redman and Wilkinson
(2016) found that acquired green competencies are positively associated with individual green
behaviour. In their study they discuss seven empirically based papers from micro-level to
macro-level analysis. A tool which enables employees to learn and adopt new skills and
therefore can help gain possible green competencies, is providing training and education
(Ramus, 2002). By offering training employees will learn new skills concerning greening
which will increase the engagement in environmental activities. In his empirical study with
353 respondents from 12 different (mostly western) countries, he concludes that
environmental competence building has an important impact on employees’ environmental
actions.
2.2 Green attitude
Employees need to have the right attitude (appropriate beliefs, feelings and intention)
concerning greening (Opatha & Arulrajah, 2014). Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) believe the
right attitude with respect to greening can be subdivided into cognitive, affective and
behavioural attitude. A good cognitive attitude is if the employees belief in greening, think
greening is very important and think they will be able to live a happy life by greening. A good
affective attitude is if employees feel positive about greening, like to work with greening and
feel happy when they are busy with greening. A right behavioural attitude is about the
employees intend to really contribute to greening (Opatha & Arulrajah, 2014).
Moreover, Cordano and Friezze (2000) confirmed in their quantitative study that there
is a positive relationship between the attitudes of managers about pollution prevention and the
implementation of waste reduction activities. Their sample consisted of 295 environmental
managers at manufacturing facilities in the United States from 230 different companies. From
the 295 environmental managers 53,5% were working in large companies with over 500
employees. In accordance with this, Bamberg and Möser (2007) found in their meta-analysis
study on psycho-social determinants of pro-environmental behavioural intention, based on 57
samples, that attitude, behavioural control and personal norm are predictors of pro-
environmental behavioural intention. Both studies acknowledge a relationship between green
attitudes and pro-environmental behaviour (intention), but do differ in the extent that Cordano
and Friezze (2000) focus specifically on the green attitudes of managers and specific waste
reduction activities, whereas Bamberg and Möser (2007) focus on green attitudes in general
and the general intention of pro-environmental behaviour.
2.3 Green behaviour
There must be a change in behaviour of employees because green behaviour is necessary to
make the organization environmentally sustainable. The following dimensions of green
behaviour are identified by Opatha & Arulrajah (2014):
1. Organizational citizenship behaviour, which can be explained as to what extent the
employees engage in voluntary green actions that help the organization achieve
greening. An example of this could be when an employee re-uses as many items at the
office as possible.
2. Green interpersonal citizenship behaviour, which can be explained as employees’
engagement in helping co-workers to do their work in a green manner. An example of
this could be to teach co-workers how to act green.
3. Green official behaviour, which can be explained as the official involuntary green
tasks and duties assigned and imposed by the superior of the employee. An example of
this could be mandatory separation of waste, as is described in the company policy.
2.4 Green results
Green results are about the extent to which employees produced green outcomes and
innovations (Opatha & Arulrajah, 2014). Green competencies and green attitudes can be
defined as employees’ green inputs. Green behaviour and Green results can be seen as
employees’ outputs, which leads to environmental performance.
After evaluating different conceptualizations of GHRM and defining the role of
employees in making the organization ‘green’, the following section will discuss which
practices can be used to make the organization ‘green’ and the importance of those practices
for GHRM to succeed.
3. Which practices can be used to make the organization ‘green’?
Mostly the practices green recruitment and selection, green training and development, green
performance management and appraisal, green pay and reward and green involvement are
used to divide GHRM in different specific practices (Jackson, Renwick, Jabbour, & Muller-
Camen, 2011; Renwick et al., 2013; Tang, Chen, Jiang, Paillé & Jia, 2018). Other practices
that were mentioned by scholars but were not used as frequently as the aforementioned, and
therefore will not be comprehensively discussed, are: employment relations (Renwick et al.,
2013) and organizational cultures (Masri & Jaaron, 2017). In this part an overview will be
given of the five most used specific GHRM practices that can be used to make the
organization ‘green’.
3.1 Green recruitment & selection
As stated in the first sub-question of this study an important requirement for GHRM is that
the employees of the organization have the right attitudes and competencies with respect to
greening. By implementing green recruitment and selection organizations will select
candidates with more green attitudes and competencies which will help the organization
become more ‘green’.
The importance of green recruitment and selection for GHRM is stressed by the study
of Masri & Jaaron (2017). They revealed that green recruitment and selection was the most
influential practice of GHRM on environmental performance. The goal of their study was to
present a measurement of the impact of GHRM practices on environmental performance in
Palestinian manufacturing firms. They first identified six main GHRM practices through a
literature review and 17 semi-structured interviews with HR managers, after which they
identified whether the GHRM practices had a positive impact on environmental performance
with a survey instrument. The survey sample consisted of 90 food, chemical and
pharmaceutical manufacturing firms.
Moreover, Tang et al. (2018) developed a valid measurement of GHRM. With an
exploratory analysis they established five dimensions of GHRM, which were: ‘’green
recruitment and selection, green training, green performance management, green pay and
reward and green involvement’’ (p. 31). Based on these dimensions they developed
measurement items and used confirmatory factor analysis to confirm whether the
measurement of GHRM was valid. In the exploratory analysis the sample consisted of 74
students from MBA classes and in the confirmatory analysis the sample consisted of 153
employees of northern China companies. In their study three aspects of green recruitment and
selection are recognized (Tang et al., 2018):
3.1.1 A candidate’s green awareness
Green awareness is about personality factors that enable or disable achieving
organizational goals with respect to greening. Personality factors that enable achievement
of green goals are green consciousness and agreeableness (Tang et al. 2018).
3.1.2 Green employer branding
Green employer branding can be an effective method for organizations to attract and
select employees who have a positive attitude and awareness with respect to greening
(Tang et al. 2018). Moreover, Grolleau et al. (2012) confirmed in their empirical study,
which investigated the impact of environmental-related standards on recruitment of
employees, that a firm’s environmental responsibility is an important factor for job
seekers and that environmental commitments can indeed be used as an important
recruitment tool. Questionnaires and interviews were used at a sample of 13.790 private
France firms of an original database. In accordance with Grolleau (2012), Guerci et al.
(2015) confirm in their study that a company’s green reputation has a positive effect on
applicant attraction. They concluded this by studying the reactions of 174 graduate
students to the information about green practices and the green reputation on the websites
of seven Italian companies.
3.1.3 Green criteria to attract candidates
Employees should be selected based on ‘green’ criteria. For example, environmental
related questions could be asked during the selection procedure, which will show the
values and beliefs of the candidate regarding ‘greening’ (Renwick et al., 2013). Opatha
and Arulrajah (2014) mention that selecting employees who in their private life engage in
greening when consuming might be a good selection criterion, for they will probably
possess personality factors that enable them to also act ‘green’ in the organization.
3.2 Green training and development
The HRM practice training and development is in line with the ‘green competencies’ of
employees that were required for GHRM mentioned in the study of Opatha and Arulrajah
(2014). Renwick et al. (2008) state in their literature review that training is seen as a key
intervention to prevent and reduce waste, which is a part of GHRM. Moreover, Ahmad (2015)
states in his literature review that green training and development makes employees aware of
the value of environmental management, helps them understand methods on how to act green
and sharpens the skills of employees on how to deal with environmental issues.
Daily et al. (2012) also found in their quantitative study that green training has a
strong impact on environmental performance as perceived by managers. They propose a
model that links certain HRM factors to the environmental performance. They collected data
by administrating surveys to 220 managers of Mexican manufacturing organizations. The
only selection criteria for companies to participate in the survey was that the companies
needed to have some environmental management processes. Furthermore, Jabbour (2013) and
Teixeira et al. (2012) agree on green training being the most significant method for HRM to
make the organization accomplish its environmental goals. Jabbour (2013) came to this
conclusion by writing a literature review about environmental training in organizations and
Teixeira et al. (2012) by using a qualitative paradigm, based on multiple case study strategy.
The nine companies that participated in the study of Teixeira et al. (2012) were large
Brazilian companies with an ISO 14001 certification, which is a standard that helps
organizations specify an effective environmental management system. Even though different
research methods were used, they both agree with environmental training being an important
tool for organizations. In contrast with aforementioned studies, Masri and Jaaron (2017)
revealed in their study about the impact of GHRM practices on environmental performance in
Palestinian manufacturing firms that green training and development as a practice of GHRM
had the least influence on environmental performance.
Furthermore, in the study of Tang et al. (2018) three aspects of green training are
considered:
1. Awareness enhancement: green training can increase awareness of pro-environmental
activities (Tang et al. 2018).
2. Knowledge management: environmental values and knowledge are important drivers
for environmental actions of employees. Through the knowledge management by
giving training, employees can increase their knowledge and skills concerning
greening, which will give opportunities to better pursue the environmental goals (Tang
et al. 2018).
3. Climate building: training can help build a climate in which all employees are
encouraged to act in environmental initiatives or become involved in environmental
initiatives (Tang et al. 2018).
3.3 Green performance management and appraisal
As stated in sub-question two it is important for successful GHRM that employees exhibit
green behaviour. This might be encouraged through implementation of green performance
management an appraisal (Opatha & Arulrajah 2014).
Masri and Jaaron (2017) found in their quantitative study that green performance
management and appraisal positively affects environmental performance in manufacturing
organizations. That is to say, green recruitment and selection and green management of
organizational culture affect environmental performance more. They state that HRM can
integrate environmental performance into performance management systems by implementing
green objectives and responsibilities, evaluating the achievement of those objectives and
responsibilities and monitoring green behaviours. The evaluation can be done by using green
ratings as a key indicator of the employees’ performance on the job (Masri & Jaaron, 2017).
In accordance with Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) they also stress that giving feedback on the
environmental performance and behaviour is important, for feedback will increase abilities,
skills and knowledge (Masri & Jaaron, 2017). It is however important to mention that
according to Masri and Jaaron (2017), green performance management might not be the most
effective method to affect environmental performance, as they found green recruitment and
selection and green management of organizational culture had a greater impact.
In accordance with Masri & Jaaron (2017), Gupta (2018) also found green
performance and appraisal is not the most important tool for GHRM. In his literature review
he identified 39 attributes of GHRM, which were further categorized in five main attributes
(Gupta, 2018). After that he ranked those attributes by Best Worst Method (BWM) analysis
and to conclude used Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution
(TOPSIS) to evaluate manufacturing organizations on the basis of their GHRM practices.
Fuzzy TOPSIS is: ‘’a method used to find optimal alternatives from a number of alternatives
with certain criteria’’ (Rahim et al., 2018, p.291). Five experts from different organizations
participated in this study. He found training and development is seen as the most important
attribute and green performance and appraisal is seen as the least important attribute in
comparison with the others. The other main attribute categories were green recruitment and
selection, green pay and reward system and green management of organizational culture
(Gupta, 2018).
Tang et al. (2018) identified four important practices for green performance
management and appraisal. They identified that it is important to set green targets for all
employees, which makes it necessary for everyone to think of action plans on how to
implement ways to obtain these environmental targets. Furthermore, green performance
indicators need to be created, as they lead to green criteria on which the green performance of
all employees can be based. Additionally, it is important to evaluate the green outcomes of the
employees and to inspire managers to be hold accountable for these outcomes. They also
expand on the importance of using ‘dis-benefits’, which may lead to employees behaving
more green, for they do not want to get dis-benefits when they do not meet the green
performance indicators (Tang et al. 2018).
Less recent, but in line with the thinking of Tang et al. (2018), Opatha and Arulrajah
(2014) emphasize the importance of evaluating employees’ job performance according to
green-related criteria as well as to include a separate component for progress on greening in
the performance feedback interview.
3.4 Green pay and reward systems
Ahmad (2015) and Jackson et al. (2011) both state in their literature reviews that reward and
compensation is the most powerful HR practice for linking the interest of the organization to
the interest of the employee. Masri and Jaaron (2017) confirmed this importance by stating
that green reward and compensation positively affects environmental performance in
manufacturing organizations. However, they also found that green reward and compensation
were not often used within manufacturing organizations. This might explain why there is the
least knowledge available on motivating employees to act ‘green’ by using performance
appraisal and reward-management practices in GHRM as stated by Renwick et al. (2013).
Furthermore, Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) found two ways to make reward
management more green. First of all, it is important to give financial incentives to reward
employees when they are implementing green performance aspects to their job. Furthermore,
it is crucial to award employees with non-financial rewards such as praise and recognition for
their greening. It can be argued that non-financial rewards, such as praise, motivate
employees more (Jackson et al., 2011). On the other hand, some argue that a combination of
both financial and non-financial rewards works best to motivate employees (Renwick et al.,
2013; Tang et al., 2018). Tang et al. (2018) conceptualizes non-financial rewards for green
behaviour as giving green tax, travel benefits and green recognition.
Moreover, Gupta (2015) identified six sub-attributes of green pay and reward systems:
1. ‘’Green travel benefits to the employees’’
2. ‘’Financial incentives and tax cuts’’
3. ‘’Green recognition for environmental management’’
4. ‘’Bonus pay for employees surpassing their environmental targets’’
5. ‘’Rewards for innovative environmental suggestion’’
6. ‘’Green team excellence awards’’ (Gupta, 2015, p.206)
He concludes in his study that green pay and reward systems are seen as the third
most important attribute of GHRM from a total of the five main attributes mentioned before.
3.5 Involvement and engagement
Rothenberg (2003) states that when employees are more involved in green issues, the tacit
knowledge of the employees will enhance which in turn increases the ability to solve
problems related to environmental issues and will lead to better environmental performance.
His case study, which investigated 47 projects and 55 interviewed employees, shows a
positive relationship between active participation of employees in environmental projects and
environmental performance. The study of Masri and Jaaron (2017) also finds a positive
influence of employee empowerment and involvement on environmental performance in
manufacturing firms. But adds to this that the positive effect was less than the effect of green
recruitment and selection, green performance management and green management of the
organizational culture on the environmental performance. Which is in conformity with the
study of Gupta (2015), in which was shown that employee empowerment and involvement
was the third out of six most important attributes of GHRM. Furthermore, he states that
employee involvement will result in a better sense of responsibility, a process of enhanced
commitment and a new organizational culture.
Tang et al. (2018) identified five aspects that can encourage green involvement of
employees. The first aspect is a clear green vision, a system of values regarding
environmental management guides employees to be involved. The second and third aspects
are a green learning climate and various communication channels, which both enable
employees to be concerned about the environmental issues of the firm and learn from the
green behaviour of others. These formal and informal communication channels can create a
green culture in the organization, in which employees feel comfortable improving their green
behaviours, be involved and help others with becoming green. The importance of having a
‘green culture’ is also stressed by Ahmad (2015) and Renwick et al. (2013). Ahmad (2015)
states that the management of HR needs to work on a participative work environment where
all employees feel free to think along with green issues because they are the ones that need to
implement the green behaviour. Also, Renwick et al. (2013) mention that developing a culture
in which employees share ideas with each other and where green improvement efforts are
supported is a main process through which employee involvement has effects. Two other
processes through which employee involvement has effects are: by engaging and empowering
employees to make environmental suggestions and by using the green tacit knowledge of
employees (Renwick et al., 2013).
The fourth aspect identified by Tang et al. (2018) is offering green practices, such as
establishing green teams or give employees the opportunity to write a green newsletter.
Offering green practices makes it possible for employees to participate. The fifth aspect is
encouraging green involvement, which entails providing employees with opportunities to
engage in environmental problem solving to motivate employees to become involved. Tang et
al. (2018) also state that employees should be encouraged to participate in decision-making
activities concerning environmental decision.
4.What important financial implications does GHRM entail for organizations?
After discussing the concept of GHRM, the role employees play in it and identifying the
GHRM practices, this section will discuss the financial implications of having an
environmentally friendly organization by means of GHRM. It can be argued that the
implementation of GHRM generates additional costs for an organization (Firdaus & Udin,
2014). However, the following part focusses specifically on the fact that GHRM can also have
no effect or a positive effect on the financial performance of a firm.
Ambec and Lanoie (2008), Jacobs, Singhal and Subramanian (2010) and Bansal &
Roth (2000) all agree that it is possible to gain financial performance by better environmental
performance. Ambec and Lanoie (2008) expand on the circumstances under which it is more
likely for firms to have a positive links between environmental and financial performance, in
their systematic review. First, they identified opportunities for increasing revenues: ‘’better
access to certain markets; the opportunity of differentiating products; and the opportunity of
selling pollution-control technology’’ (Ambec & Lanoie, 2008, p.6). Second, they identified
opportunities for reducing costs: ‘’risk management and relations with external stakeholders;
cost of material, energy and services; cost of capital; and cost of labour’’ (Ambec & Lanoie,
2008, p.6). In appendix 1 (Ambec & Lanoie, 2008) a table showing an overview of the
circumstances most likely to lead to better environmental and financial performance is given.
For example, costs can be reduced by better risk management and relations with external
stakeholders (e.g. media, government). Having an increased environmental performance
might make those relations better and reduces the risks that might be connected with these
relations, for example by better environmental performance the media might cause positive
advertisement for the organization instead of negative advertisement when not having good
environmental performance. A circumstance under which reducing costs by risk management
and relations with external stakeholders is more likely to lead to better environmental and
financial performance is when the organization is in a highly regulated sector, such as the
energy sector.
Furthermore, Jacobs et al. (2010) conclude in their quantitative study that
environmental performance sometimes leads to better market reactions. In line with Ambec
and Lanoie (2008), they state that environmental performance can lead to revenue gains and
cost reductions, which in turn can lead to better financial performance. They also state that
more revenue can be gained in existing markets through reputational benefits or in access to
new ‘environmentally conscious’ markets with eco-friendly products. Cost reductions can be
gained by less production cost, less distribution and logistics costs because of reduced
packaging and by avoidance of financial losses because of lawsuits or regulation when
environmental standards are not met (Jacobs et al., 2010). In their study they examined market
reactions to 417 announcements of corporate environmental initiatives (CEI), and 363
announcements of environmental awards and certifications (EAC). To estimate the market
reaction to the CEI and EAC they used event study methodology, which entails that they
estimate market returns while controlling for influences on stock prices. The impact that CEI
and EAC have on the wealth of the organization will immediately be reflected in the stock
price. They concluded that the aggregates of CEIs and EACs did not lead to significant
market reactions, but that there were some significant positive market reactions found for
specific announcements; philanthropic gifts for environmental causes, voluntary emission
reductions and ISO 14001 certifications (Jacobs et al., 2010).
A few years earlier but in accordance with the aforementioned, Bansal & Roth (2000)
state that long-term profitability can be gained out of environmental performance. In their
qualitative study with a sample of 53 firms from the United Kingdom and Japan they
concluded long-term profitability can be gained from energy and waste management, process
intensification and green marketing. Moreover, they state that if an organization has a better
environmental reputation it is easier for that organization to hire overall high-quality
employees. When an organization has more high-quality employees it can be argued that the
performance of the employees will be better, which might lead to better financial outcomes
for the organization.
Furthermore, GHRM also affects the non-green work outcomes of employees. Shen,
Dumont and Deng (2016) concluded in their study that there is a positive relationship between
perceived GHRM and organizational citizenship behaviour, as well as between GHRM and
task performance. Additionally, there was a negative relation between perceived green HRM
and intention to quit, with all three outcomes mediated by organizational identification (Shen,
Dumontt, & Deng, 2016). This study was based on surveys filled in by 388 employees of an
Australian-owned food-grade paper-packaging manufacturer. When the task performance of
employees is higher, tasks will be performed better, which is beneficial for the company.
Conclusion/discussion
Interpretation of the results
To answer the research question ‘’What is GHRM and which implications does it entail for an
organization?’’ this study discussed four sub-questions of which the results will be interpreted
in the following section.
The first sub-question was: How can GHRM be defined? The answer to this question
provided a comprehensive understanding of what the concept of GHRM entails. In the
definition given by Renwick et al. (2013) GHRM has a strong link with environmental
management. It can be concluded that even though the role of environmental management in
the definition of GHRM declines and GHRM is seen more as a separate movement, the link
with environmental management is still made in some definitions (Sharma & Gupta, 2015;
Masri & Jaaron, 2017). The definition of Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) focusses mostly on the
role of the employees in GHRM. On the other hand, the definition of Ahmad (2015) stands
out for its broader interpretation, that GHRM should also include social and economic well-
being. In contrast with this, Ren et al. (2017) state that GHRM should only be involved with
the ecological aspect, for sustainable HRM and strategic HRM already engage in issues like
profits and social justice. After identifying the key concepts in all definitions discussed,
GHRM can be defined as: ‘The use of HRM policies, practices and systems to promote
sustainable use of resources, increase employees’ awareness and commitment to the issues of
environmental sustainability and importance of environmental management to benefit the
individual, society, business and natural environment.’
The second sub-question was: What is the role of employees in GHRM? Based on the
study of Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) the four requirements for employees for GHRM to
succeed were discussed.
Green competencies
The literature studies of Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) and Renwick et al. (2016) agree upon
the importance of green competencies. Ramus (2002) also agreed with them in his empirical
study and added the importance of training for acquiring green competencies. It can be stated
that because they came to the same conclusion with different methods the results are more
generalizable.
Green attitudes
Cordano and Friezze (2000) and Bamberg and Möser (2007) confirm the effect of green
attitudes on green behaviour. They both used different methods, Cordano and Friezze (2000)
conducted a quantitative study with a sample of 295 environmental managers and Bamberg
and Möser (2007) conducted a meta-analysis based on 57 samples, but still came to the same
conclusion which makes the conclusion more generalizable. Moreover, Cordano and Friezze
(2000) distinguish themselves by focussing specifically on the green attitudes of managers.
Furthermore, Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) discuss in their literature review what the right
green attitude is.
Green behaviour & green results
Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) identified three dimensions of green behaviour: organizational
citizenship behaviour, green interpersonal citizenship behaviour and green official behaviour.
Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) distinguish green results in green outcomes and green
innovations. It can be concluded that employees play an important role in GHRM, because
when they do not have the right competencies, attitudes and behaviour, the green results will
be difficult to obtain.
The third sub-question was: Which practices can be used to make the organization
‘green’? After shortly identifying which HR practices were mostly used in GHRM, each
practice was individually discussed.
green recruitment and selection
The importance of green recruitment and selection for GHRM is stressed by Masri & Jaaron
(2017) in their empirical study about the impact of GHRM on environmental performance in
Palestinian manufacturing firms. Furthermore, Tang et al. (2018) conceptualized green
recruitment and selection in the following three aspects: a candidate’s green awareness,
employer branding and green criteria to attract candidates. Moreover, Grolleau (2012) and
Guerci et al. (2015) agree that environmental related standards have an impact on the
recruitment and selection of a firm. Guerci et al. (2015) focussed in their study more on the
influence of the green reputation on the attraction of applicants, whereas Grolleau (2012)
focusses more on recruitment generally. For the study of Grolleau (2012) consisted of a much
bigger sample (N=13.790) than that of Guerci et al. (2015) (N=174), it can be argued that the
study of Grolleau (2012) was more comprehensive. Even though both studies were conducted
in different countries, Grolleau (2012) in France and Guerci et al. (2015) in Italy, and with a
different target group, Grolleau (2012) focussed on private firms and Guerci et al. (2015) on
graduate students, they agreed on the impact of a green reputation on the recruitment and
selection processes. Therefore, it could be argued that the results are generalizable across
countries. Furthermore, Masri and Jaaron (2017) confirmed in their study that green
recruitment and selection is seen as the most influential practice of GHRM on environmental
performance. As all discussed literature agrees on the importance of green recruitment and
selection for GHRM it can be argued that green recruitment and selection is an important tool
for GHRM.
green training and development
Conceptualizations of green training and development have been given by Ahmad (2015) and
Renwick et al. (2008). Furthermore Daily et al. (2012), Jabbour (2013) and Teixeira et al.
(2012) agree that green training and development is a relevant method for GHRM to
accomplish its environmental goals. Noteworthy is that these three studies came to the same
conclusion with different types of studies, Daily et al. (2012) with a quantitative study,
Jabbour (2013) with a literature study and Teixeira et al. (2012) with a qualitative multiple
case review. Concerning the sample, both the study of Daily et al. (2012) and Teixeira et al.
(2012) used data from south-American countries (respectively: Mexican, Brazilian). It can be
argued that to make a more generalizable conclusion these studies should be replicated in
Western or Asian countries as well. In contrast with the aforementioned, Masri and Jaaron
(2017) conclude that in comparison with other green HR practices, green training and
development was seen as the least influential practice of GHRM. This study was conducted in
Palestine, therefore it could be argued that whether green training and development is seen as
a positive or negative feature could differ per country due to financial constraints, for the
studies of Daily et al. (2012) and Teixeira et al. (2012) gave positive conclusions based on
south-American countries. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has had significant effects for asset
prices in Palestine, which influenced the finance of Palestinian organizations (Zussman,
Zussman & Ørregaard, 2008). However, it should be taken into account that the study of
Masri and Jaaron (2017) compared different green HR practices with each other, and out of
the practices compared in that study, green training and development was concluded least
important. This does not necessarily mean that it has no added value for GHRM. Tang et al.
(2018) conceptualized green training and development as the following three aspects:
awareness enhancement, knowledge management and climate building. Based on the
discussed literature it can be argued that green training and development is an important tool
for GHRM but that the importance might depend on the country or culture.
green performance management and appraisal
Gupta (2018) and Masri and Jaaron (2017) both conclude that green performance
management is not seen as the most important green HR practice. Both used multiple but
different methods to come to this conclusion. Gupta (2018) used a literature review, best
worst method and fuzzy TOPSIS (N=5) and Masri and Jaaron (2017) came to this conclusion
by means of a literature review, interviews with HR managers (N=17) and a survey (N=90).
Even though green performance management and appraisal is seen as the least important
attribute in the study of Gupta (2018), it might still have a positive effect on environmental
performance, because in the study practices were compared to each other. This is in line with
the findings in the study of Masri and Jaaron (2017), who state performance management and
appraisal positively affects environmental performance, but that green recruitment and
selection and green management of organizational culture affect it more. As the methods used
were very different and came to more or less the same conclusion, it can be argued that the
conclusion is more reliable. Furthermore, Tang et al. (2018) identified four aspects of green
performance management activities and Opatha and Arulrajah (2014) mention some specific
practices. Based on the discussed literature it can be concluded that green performance and
appraisal can be an effective tool for GHRM, but that it is not the most important tool.
Green pay and reward systems
Literature showed that green pay and reward systems are not often used in manufacturing
firms (Masri & Jaaron, 2017), which might explain why it is the least known GHRM practice
(Renwick et al., 2013). Therefore, it could be suggested more research is needed before strong
statements can be made on the influence of green pay and reward. However, when used, this
practice showed to have a positive effect one environmental performance (Masri & Jaaron,
2017). Ahmad (2015) and Jackson et al. (2011) both conclude in their literature reviews that
green pay and reward is the most powerful HR practice to link the interests of the
organization and the employee together. This is because giving monetary or non-monetary
rewards for acting green motivates the employees to behave in line with the organizational
green goals. Additionally, Gupta (2015) found in his study that green pay and rewards
systems were the third most important attribute in comparison with other practices. Even
though more research is needed to make strong statements, based on the discussed literature it
can be argued that when green pay and reward is implemented it has relevance for GHRM.
Green involvement and engagement
Rothenberg (2003) and Gupta (2015) both agree that involvement of employees plays an
important role in GHRM. Rothenberg (2003) conducted a case study and stated that when
employees are more involved, their ability to solve environmental issues will be better
because of their tacit knowledge. Furthermore, Gupta (2015) concludes that involvement of
employees is the third most important attribute of GHRM. Masri and Jaaron (2017) add to
this, that involvement of employees has a positive influence on environmental performance,
but the positive influence was less than that of green performance management, green
management of the organizational culture and green recruitment and selection. Based on the
study of Gupta (2015) and Masri and Jaaron (2017) it can be suggested that employee
involvement is a moderately important GHRM practice. Tang et al. (2018) identify in their
exploratory and confirmatory analysis five aspects that could measure green involvement,
including the ‘green’ culture, which is also seen as an important feature in the literature
studies from Ahmad (2015) and Renwick et al. (2013). Based on the discussed literature it can
be concluded that employee involvement is a good tool for GHRM. However, it is not the
most important tool for GHRM.
It can be concluded that green selection and recruitment, green training and
development, green performance management and appraisal, green pay and rewards and green
employee involvement are useful tools to implement GHRM. However, it can be argued that
green recruitment and selection and green training and development are more important tools
for GHRM, for there is more proof of the importance for the organization for these two
practices.
Last, the financial implications of GHRM for organizations were discussed based on
the fourth sub-question: What important financial implications does GHRM entail for the
organization?
Ambec and Lanoie (2008), Jacobs et al. (2010) and Bansal & Roth (2000) all agree
that better financial performance could be gained from environmental performance. Ambec
and Lanoie (2008) seek in their systematic overview for specific organizational circumstances
under which it is more likely for firms to gain financial performance and environmental
performance. These circumstances are displayed in appendix 1 (Ambec & Lanoie, 2008).
Moreover, Jacobs et al. (2010) conclude in a quantitative study that environmental
performance can sometimes lead to better market reactions. The focus of both studies differ
because Jacobs et al. (2010) focus more on financial benefits that can be gained out of the
green reputation of a firm, whereas Ambec and Lanoie (2008) do not specifically focus on the
green reputation of the firm, but also on other ways financial benefits can be gained, such as
waste reduction. It can be stated that Ambec & Lanoie (2008) and Jacobs et al. (2010)
concluded with use of different methods and a different focus of their study that it is possible
financial performance can be gained by environmental performance, but it depends on certain
circumstances or certain types of environmental performance whether it increases financial
performance. Furthermore Bansal & Roth (2000) confirm it is easier for ‘green’ companies to
hire high-quality employees, which might result in better performance and therefore also
financial performance. According to Shen et al. (2016) perceived GHRM has a positive effect
on task performance and organizational citizenship behaviour, and a negative effect on
intention to quit, all mediated by organizational identification. Better task performance might
lead to better financial performance of the company. Based on the discussed literature it can
be argued that GHRM does not necessarily has a negative effect on the financial performance
of firms, and in certain circumstances even generates better financial performance.
By means of answering the four sub-questions the research question can be answered
in the following way: GHRM is the use of HRM policies, practices and systems to promote
sustainable use of resources, increase employee awareness and commitment to the issues of
environmental sustainability and importance of environmental management to benefit the
individual, society, business and natural environment. Furthermore, employees play an
important role in the succeeding of GHRM, because when they do not have the right
competencies, attitudes and behaviour, the green results will be difficult to obtain. It can be
concluded that green recruitment and selection and green training and development seem to
be more important practices for GHRM to succeed than green performance management and
appraisal, green performance and appraisal and employee involvement. Concerning financial
implications for firms, it can be concluded that GHRM under certain circumstances can
generate better financial performance for firms.
Limitations and recommendations
Also, the limitations of this study must be discussed. GHRM is a relatively new concept in
HR literature, therefore a limited amount of literature was found on some subjects in this
paper. This was for instance the case with green pay and reward systems in which Masri &
Jaaron (2017) and Renwick et al. (2013) agreed on the limited knowledge available. It is
therefore recommended for future research to focus on specific green HR practices that have
not been researched a lot.
Furthermore, it can be recommended to conduct future research in Asian countries, for
these countries have upcoming economies in which organisations play a major role. In these
organizations the implementation of GHRM could be an important tool to make sure these
organisations do not pollute the world as much as Europe does at this moment. Of all studies
discussed only the studies of Tang et al. (2018) and Bansal and Roth (2000) were conducted
in Asian countries. Gupta, Hanges and Dorfman (2002) argued that cultural values and beliefs
may differ per cluster of countries, this indicates that outcomes may be different in other
continents. Therefore, it is recommended to replicate or conduct studies in other continents.
Also, the samples of most studies discussed existed of manufacturing firms (Cordano
& Friezze, 2000; Masri & Jaaron, 2017; Daily et al., 2012; Gupta, 2018; Shen et al., 2016).
For future research it can be recommended to conduct research in different sectors. For
example, in the service industry, for the implementation and effects of GHRM as an
innovative way of implementing environmental awareness in the organization might be
different there because of the different innovation processes in service firms (Ettlie &
Rosenthal, 2011).
Even though in this research the financial implications of GHRM for the organization
are discussed, the outcomes of GHRM for the employee were not discussed because not
enough relevant research on this topic was found. Therefore, future research could focus on
the outcomes of GHRM for the employee. Furthermore, it was remarkable that in some
studies discussed it seemed the English language was not fully mastered, this might lead to
different interpretations.
Implications
This literature review has theoretical and practical implications. It has theoretical implications
because this study adds to the limited literature available about GHRM, this might make
GHRM a more known concept in literature. By giving an overview of GHRM, this study
contributes theoretically by making the existing literature more structured. Furthermore, this
study is theoretically relevant because gaps in the literature have been identified and
recommendations for future research have been made.
This study also has practical implications for this study can help managers and
organisations decide whether they want to implement GHRM or not, and if they decide to
implement it this study can help to decide which specific green practices are most important.
Moreover, HR managers that are not familiar with GHRM might get new ideas because of
this study, which might result in more GHRM in organizations, which in turn will be
beneficial for the environment. In this study it was concluded that green recruitment and
selection and green training and development are the most important tools for GHRM to
succeed, this has practical relevance because managers might then favour those practices over
practices that seemed less important when implementing GHRM, such as green pay and
rewards and green performance and appraisal.
To better link theory with practice one HR manager of a private medical clinic and one
employee of the tourist company Wilderness Scotland have been interviewed (appendix 2). At
the private medical centre, it seemed few of the GHRM practices were implemented, this
might be explained by the sector, because health care is understaffed and this might lead to
insufficient time for things as sustainability (Murray, 2002). They do have an environmental
and sustainability declaration and there is an environment advisor with an environment group
who makes policies concerning sustainability, which corresponds with a small form of
employee involvement. However, except for the environment group, which is small and not
very active, employees are not really engaged in acting green. This organization might benefit
from implementing more GHRM practices, especially because the main problem seems to be
that the employees are not aware and committed to environmental goals, which is one of the
main goals of GHRM. On the other hand, in the second interview with an employee of the
tourist company Wilderness Scotland, it seemed almost all GHRM practices discussed in this
study were used. In this company all employees are involved with greening and sustainability.
Most comprehensively used are green recruitment and selection, green training and
development and green employee involvement. New employees for example need to do the
‘leave no trace’ training and all employees get multiple training opportunities concerning
sustainability or greening. A lot of different initiatives are implemented in the organization
(appendix 2).
The HR manager from the private health clinic thought green performance
management was most important because the clear and obvious evaluation criteria would lead
to more people acting green. On the other hand, the employee from Wilderness Scotland
thought green performance management was actually the least important and green
recruitment and training was most important. She explains this by stating that she thinks
employees should not be acting green because they are evaluated but because they genuinely
think it is the best way to work. She thinks this can be realized by green recruitment and green
training. The difference in the two answers might be explained by the different organizational
sizes. Meander medical centre is a big organization and Scotland wilderness only has around
35 employees. In case of the medical centre green performance management systems might
help to make clear goals that are understood by all employees, whereas at a small company
this is not necessary because it is easier to notice if someone is not acting green and to
informally address this. From the interviews can be concluded that there are great differences
in the extent to which GHRM is implemented in organizations.
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Appendix 1: Overview of the circumstances most likely to lead to better environmental
and financial performance and examples.
TABLE 1
POSITIVE LINKS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE – SUMMARY
Possibilities for Increasing Revenues
Circumstances Making This Possibility More Likely Examples
i) Better Access to Certain Markets
More likely for firms selling to the public sector (construction, energy, transportation equipment, medical products and office equipment) and to other businesses.
The Quebec government now cares about the environmental performance of all vehicles they buy as one evaluation criterion, and not only about the price.
ii) Differentiating Products
More likely when there is:
a) credible information about the environmental features of the product;
b) willingness-to-pay by consumers;
c) barrier to imitation. Wide range of possibilities.
Toyota has announced that all its models will be available with hybrid engines in 2012.
iii) Selling Pollution-Control Technologies
More likely when firms already have R&D facilities.
Alcan has patented a process to recycle its own spent potlining, and that of other companies.
Possibilities for Reducing Costs
iv) Risk Management and Relations with External Stakeholders
– More likely in industries that are highly regulated and scrutinized by the public, such as chemical, energy, pulp and paper, metallurgy, etc.
Statoil injects 1 million tons of CO2 a year beneath the seabed of the North Sea, thus avoiding the Norway carbon tax.
v) Cost of Materials, Energy and Services
– More likely when:
a) firms have a flexible production process;
b) firms are in highly competitive industries where optimization of resources is important;
c) firms are in industries where market-based environmental policies are implemented;
d) firms already have R&D facilities.
BP has reduced its emissions of GHGs 10% below their level in 1990 at no cost by implementing an internal tradable permit mechanism (see Reinhardt, 2001).
vi) Cost of Capital – More likely for firms with shares exchanged on stock
The stock value of Exxon went down by $4.7 billion following the wreck of
markets. EXXON VALDEZ.
vii) Cost of Labour – More likely for:
a) firms whose emissions may affect their workers’ health;
b) firms that seek to attract young, well-educated workers;
c) firms located in areas where sensitivity to environmental concerns is important.
A survey of Stanford MBAs in 2004 found that 97% of them were willing to forgo 14% (on average) of their expected income to work for an organization with a better reputation for corporate social responsibility.
Note. Reprinted from: ‘’Does it pay to be green? A systematic overview’’, by Ambec, S. &
Lanoie, P., 2008, The Academy of Management Perspectives, p. 33-34.
Appendix 2: Interviews
Interview HR-manager, Meander Medical Centre (May 30, 2019)
Meander medical centre is a top clinical hospital and takes care of around 320.000 citizens.
Sustainability seems to be an important feature of the organization, for they believe in the
principles of the ‘healing environment’. Therefore, the organization emphasises daylight, a
green environment and privacy. The interviewee has the function of HR manager and also
participates in the board of directors as secretary.
On the website can be found that the organization does identify with environmentally
friendly behaviour and sustainability issues. They mention their goal is to minimalize the
environmental footprint and to continually improve their environmental solutions. Five years
ago, the medical centre moved into a new sustainable building. Sustainable and
environmentally friendly techniques and sustainable materials were used for building it.
Furthermore, they have an environmental and sustainability declaration, of which the goal is
to sustainably use the building, activities, work processes and decrease waste.
The HR manager stated that there are some environmental practices in the
organization. First, as aforementioned there is an environmental and sustainability declaration
in which some protocols concerning greening are mentioned. Second, there is also an
environment-advisor and a steering committee which consists of a few employees. However,
except for this committee employees are not really actively occupied with sustainability and
greening. In hospitals already specific protocols exist concerning among other things
sustainability, for example for health reasons a lot of waste is automatically separated.
Even though on the website the sustainability and environmental awareness of the
organization is frequently mentioned, in the recruitment and selection process environmental
awareness is not a selection criterion and in the vacancies nothing about ‘greening’ is
mentioned. Also, green performance and appraisal and green pay and rewards are not
implemented in this organization. Sustainability and environmentally friendly behaviour are
to some small extend integrated in normal training opportunities for employees, but there is
no specific training or emphasis on it. However, as already mentioned there is some small
form of employee involvement, for there is a steering-committee concerning sustainability.
This way some employees are involved in making sustainability protocols or goals.
The interviewee thinks green performance and appraisal is the most important practice
of GHRM because this way it is clear for all employees what actions they must take and what
the environmental goals are. Furthermore, she thinks green pay and reward are least important
because she beliefs the motivation of employees should be intrinsic and not triggered by
rewards.
Interview employee, Wilderness Scotland (May 31, 2019)
Wilderness Scotland is Europe’s number one Adventure Travel Company which organizes
trips of six days in Scotland for small groups. The employee that was interviewed composes
and arranges these trips. In the company the environment and sustainability are important
factors. The interviewee said that when trips are created environmental and sustainability
factors are always taken into consideration. Also, at the office everything that is possible such
as materials, spray to clean computers and even toilet paper is made of composable
environmentally friendly material. The organization also gives counselling to for example
companies and local schools to promote sustainability and environmentally friendly
behaviour. Furthermore, for every five trips one customers books, the organization does a
good thing for the environment as a reward, such as planting a tree.
Concerning employee involvement, all employees are involved, aware and active with
‘greening’. For example, everyone brings their own environmentally friendly lunch, a lot of
the employees are vegans and food is brought in composable little bags. Furthermore, two
employees are assigned to each week have a specific project day concerning sustainability.
The employees are constantly reminded of environmental importance and greening. Also, to
customers the importance is being emphasised, for example don’t throw or take things from
nature. However, employees are not really involved in making environmental goals, except
for the two employees that were assigned to that. Also, for every trip booked a ten-pond
conservation contribution is ascribed from customers. At the end of the year the employees
may vote to which charity this conservation contribution is given, this year it was given to an
organization which produces sea bins to take plastic out of the waters of Scotland. Also, every
year every employee is allowed to spend two work days on doing volunteering work, the
employees may choose what kind of voluntary work they would like to do. A lot of the
voluntary work possibilities also concern the environment, such as planting trees, dispose
plastic waste in nature, helping at a children’s bike tournament in which biking is promoted
instead of going by car. Furthermore, there is a communication system concerning
sustainability. When someone wants to share something of importance concerning greening or
sustainability it can be posted on this platform, this way everyone stays up to date and is
involved in greening.
Also, in the recruitment & selection procedure being green is an important criterion in
this organization. The organization emphasises their environmentally friendly standards and
therefore also attracts people concerned with greening, this was also one of the reasons the
interviewee applied for a job here. In the vacancy sustainability factors are shortly mentioned
and it is important for a future employee to be green and to fit in with the company’s values.
Green training and development is also an important practice in this organization.
First, new employees need to do the ‘leave no trace’ training. The company is a partner of the
‘Leave No Trace Centre for outdoor ethics’, which entails they are committed to responsible
behaviour in Scotland’s wild lands. This policy exists of seven steps: plan ahead & prepare
(environmental and safety might vary for every place), be considerate of others, respect farm
animals and wildlife, travel and camp on durable ground (do not create new trails which will
scare the landscape), leave what you find, dispose of waste properly and minimise the effects
of fire. Second, there is a team meeting every Wednesday with all employees, in which every
team tells what is going on in their work area. During this meeting the sustainability team also
gives a presentation, this way all employees keep learning about sustainability and greening.
Third, the employees have a lot of freedom in the training they wish to follow. A lot of
training opportunities concern green behaviour. For example the interviewee choose a day
training about ‘rewilding’, in which she learned about how to treat nature, how to go back to
basic and how to recognise and keep nature healthy and visited a place of 600 hectare where
nature grows entirely how it wants, there are no boundaries made by humans.
Even though green recruitment and selection, green training and involvement and
green employee involvement are comprehensively used in the organization, the usage of green
performance and appraisal and green pay and rewards is less. The green behaviour of
employees is not explicitly discussed in assessments and there are no specific criteria that
must be met, except for the two employees who are assigned to work on sustainability during
worktime. Even though employees are not assessed on being green, employees automatically
do act green in the organization. The interviewee stated that she thinks green performance and
appraisal is not necessary in her organization, everyone already acts green out of their own
motivation and in the green recruitment process automatically people with the same values
about greening are selected. Green pay and reward is also not used often. However, there is
one ‘contest’, which entails that every year the employee that went to work most by walking
or by bike instead of by car is rewarded with a trip. This way coming by bike or walking is
promoted, which is better for the environment.
The interviewee thinks all practices have some sort of value. However, she thinks
green recruitment and selection is the most important because it is important to have
employees with a specific mindset. She also thinks green training and development is
important because this way employees keep learning how to act green and therefore are also
involved. Green performance and appraisal and pay and rewards are less important according
to the interviewee, because she explains that in this company everyone already is very
involved in their own specific manner and it is a normal way of working, therefore no
performance criteria are necessary.
Appendix 3: literature table Autor/year Key concepts Study kind Sample
characteristics
Main findings Journal
Ahmad, S. (2015)
Green Human resource
management;
Environment
management;Ggreen
initiatives; Paperless
office; Conservation;
recycling.
Literature Review - Discusses GHRM practices,
states that HR has a significant
opportunity to contribute to the
organization’s green
movement.
Cogent Business &
management
Ambec, S., & Lanoie,
P. (2008)
Environmental
performance; Financial
performance; Potential
revenue increase;
Potential cost reduction;
Circumstances
Systematic
overview of
empirical
evidence.
- Discusses different potential
revenue increases and potential
cost reductions and the
circumstances under which
better environmental
performance and better
financial performance both can
be gained.
The Academy of
Management
Perspectives
Bamberg, S., &
Möser, G. (2007)
Meta-analysis;
Meta-analytic SEM
(MASEM);
Pro-environmental
behaviour;
TPB;
Norm-activation model
Meta-analysis 57 samples, the
studies needed to
be peer-reviewed
and the bottom
year 1995 was
chosen. The
studies needed to
apply a NAM or
TPB model.
The influence of eight psycho-
social determinants on pro-
environmental behaviour is
tested. It is concluded that
attitude, behavioural control
and personal norm predict pro-
environmental behavioural
intention.
Journal of
environmental
psychology
Bansal, P., & Roth, K.
(2000)
Ecological
responsiveness; Green;
Motivations
Qualitative study N=53 Japanese
and United
Kingdom firms.
It was concluded that there are
three motivations for corporate
ecological responses:
legitimation, ecological
responsibility and
competitiveness. Also
conditions that increased
Academy of
Management Journal
corporate ecological
responsiveness were identified.
Cordano, M., &
Frieze, I. H. (2000)
Environmental managers;
pollution prevention
attitudes; environmental
regulation; source
reduction
Quantitative study N=295
environmental
managers of
manufacturing
facilities in the
United States.
53,5% of the
companies had
over 500
employees.
It was found that attitudes of
managers about pollution
prevention, perception of
norms concerning regulation
and the waste reduction
activity of the facility in the
past positively predicted
source reduction activity.
Academy of
Management Journal
Daily, B. F., Bishop, J.
W., & Massoud, J. A.
(2012)
Environmental
management; Human
resource management;
Environmental
performance; Mexico
Quantitative
study, self-report
survey
N= 220 Mexican
manufacturing
organizations.
A model that links human
resource factors to
environmental performance as
perceived by managers is
proposed. It was concluded
that environmental training
and environmental
empowerment are perceived
most important by managers.
However environmental
training had a stronger
relationship.
International Journal
of Operations &
Production
Management.
Deshwal, P. (2015) Green HRM; Sustainable
Development; Employee
Retention; Green
Management Practices
Literature review - In this study different specific
ideas of GHRM applied by
organizations are mentioned
and the impact of it on
organizational outcomes is
discussed. It is concluded
GHRM has 2 elements: HR
practices for environmentally
friendly behaviour and the
preservation of the knowledge.
International Journal
of Applied Sciences
Firdaus, M., & Udin,
Z. M. (2014)
Green management;
Green human resource
management; small
medium enterprises
(SMEs), Environmental
Literature study - In this paper a few important
studies on green management
are highlighted, with a focus
on small medium enterprises.
4th International
Conference on
Technology and
Operations
management
Guerci, M.,
Montanari, F.,
Scapolan, A., &
Epifanio, A. (2015)
Applicant attraction;
Corporate reputation;
Environmental
management; Green
HRM; Web-based
recruitment
Quantitative study N= 7 Italian
companies. They
must have been at
least once in the
‘Great place to
work’ ranking for
Italy between
2002 and 2012.
N=174 Students
of three different
Universities in
north Italy, who
evaluated the
websites of the
seven companies.
This study discusses the
effects of green recruitment on
applicant attraction. It
compares the applicants that
are attracted by the green
reputation of the organization
and the applicants that are
attracted by the info that is
provided on the website of the
company about the green
practices of the organization. It
was found green reputation did
have an impact on the
attraction of applicants.
However, the info about the
green practices did not have an
impact.
The international
journal of human
resource management
Gupta, H. (2018)
GHRM; BWM; Fuzzy
TOPSIS; Manufacturing
organizations.
Literature review,
Best Worst
methodology,
Fuzzy TOPSIS
5 HR experts
from 5 different
organizations
Identifies thirty-nine attributes
of GHRM. Ranks
manufacturing organizations
on the basis of their
performance on identified
GRHM practices using Fuzzy
TOPSIS. Green training and
development is ranked as the
most important practice.
Journal of
environment
management
Grolleau, G.,
Mzoughi, N., &
Pekovic, S. (2012)
Environmental-related
standards; Recruitment
Meta-analysis Data from the
French
Organizational
In this study with means of
three databases the effect of
environmental standards of
Resource and Energy
Economics
Changes and
Computerization’s
(COI) survey
2006, Annual
statement of
Social Data
(DADS) and
Annual Enterprise
Survey (EAE). In
total, N=10.840
French firms.
organizations on the
recruitment of employees is
researched. It is showed by
means of a bivariate probit
model that the recruitment of
(non) professional employees
improves by having
environmental-related
standards
Jabbour, C. J. C.
(2013)
Environmental training;
Green management;
Literature review;
Sustainability; Green
human resource
management
Literature review - It shows a systematic literature
review about environmental
training, it can be concluded
that environmental training is
an important practice. Also
recommendations for future
research are given.
Resources,
Conservation and
Recycling
Jackson, S. E.,
Renwick, D. W.,
Jabbour, C. J., &
Muller-Camen, M.
(2011)
Green HRM;
Environmental
sustainability; Sustainable
HRM; Environmental
management; Strategic
HRM
Literature review - In this study an introduction to
Green HRM is given and
different GHRM practices are
discussed.
German Journal of
Human Resource
Management
Jacobs, B. W.,
Singhal, V. R., &
Subramanian, R.
(2010)
Market value;
Environmental
performance;
Environmental initiatives;
awards; certifications;
stock market reaction
Quantitative N=780
announcements
In this study stock market
reactions to announcements of
‘corporate environmental
initiatives and announcements
of ‘environmental awards and
certifications’ are researched.
It was concluded that the
following announcements had
a positive market reaction:
philanthropic gifts for good
environmental behaviour,
Journal of Operations
Management
voluntary emission reductions
and ISO 14001 certifications.
Mandip, G. (2012) Corporate social
responsibility;
Environmental
management;
Sustainability
Literature review - In this study an overview of
HR processes that are involved
with GHRM is given, different
GHRM practices and a short
case study is discussed.
Research Journal of
Recent Sciences.
Masri, H. A. & Jaaron,
A. A. M. (2017)
Green human resource
management; GHRM
practices; Environmental
performance;
Environmental
management;
Manufacturing sector;
Palestine
Qualitative and
quantitative study
Interviews with
17 HR managers.
After that a
survey was
distributed to
food, chemical
and
pharmaceutical
manufacturing
firms. (N=90)
A model in which insights are
offered on how organizations
should link their HR functions
to support their environmental
performance for competitive
advantage is showed. Also an
assessment and measurement
of the impact of GHRM
practices in manufacturing
organizations is given.
Journal of cleaner
production
Opatha, H. H. D. N.
P., & Arulrajah A.A.
(2014)
Sri Lanka; Greening;
Human resource
management;
Environmental
management
General reflection
of
GHRM/literature
review
- A general overview of GHRM
is given. Especially the role of
employees in GHRM is
discussed.
International business
research
Rahim, R., Siahaan,
A. P. U., Wijaya, R.
F., Hantono, H.,
Aswan, N., Thamrin,
S., ... & Sujito, S.
(2018)
Decision Support System;
DSS; TOPSIS; Employee
bonus
Quantitative study - The method Fuzzy TOPSIS is
explained in a case of bonusses
for employees.
International journal of
engineering &
technology
Ramus, C. A. (2002) Employees; Employee
survey; Environmental
policies; Sustainable
development; Managers;
Employee participation
Literature review
and Quantitative
study
N=353 employees
from large
headquartered
European
companies of
which all
implemented most
This study discusses results
concerning employee
participation in green and
sustainable development
activities.
Journal of World
Business
of the
environmental
policies.
Ren S., Tang, G., &
Jackson, S. E. (2018)
Green human resource
management;
Environmental
management;
Antecedents;
Consequences;
Contingencies;
Measurement
Literature review - An integrated model of all
antecedents, contingencies and
consequences of GHRM is
discussed.
Asia Pacific Journal of
Management
Renwick, D. W.,
Jabbour, C. J., Muller-
Camen, M., Redman,
T., & Wilkinson, A.
(2016)
Environment; Green;
Human resources;
Organizations;
sustainability
Literature review - In this study seven articles
about GHRM are discussed
and future recommendations
are made. Different GHRM
practices, environmental
performance and contextual
issues are discussed.
The International
Journal of Human
Resource Management
Renwick, D., Redman,
T., & Maguire, S.
(2008)
Environmental
management; human
resource management;
sustainability; corporate
governance.
Literature review - Gives an overview of different
GHRM practices
University of Sheffield
Management School
Discussion Paper
Renwick, D.W.S., &
Redman, T., &
Maguire, S. (2013)
GHRM; AMO-theory;
Human resource
management;
environmental
management
Literature review - In this study different GHRM
practices are discussed by
discussing the AMO-model.
Recruitment and selection,
Employee training in EM,
environmental knowledge,
green leadership, management
development and leadership
are discussed as abilities.
Performance management and
appraisal and pay and reward
International Journal
of management
reviews
systems are discussed as
motivation. Employee
involvement, tacit knowledge
and supportive cultures for EM
are discussed as green
opportunities.
Rimanoczy, I. &
Pearson, T. (2010)
Leadership development;
Human resource
management; Corporate
social responsibility
Literature review - In this study the role of HR in
the sustainability program of a
firm is assessed. Furthermore
it is concluded that a change in
the organizational culture is
required.
Industrial and
Commercial Training
Rothenberg, S. (2003) Employee participation;
Environmental
improvements;
Environmental
management
Qualitative study 55 employees
were interviewed
and 47 projects of
organizations
were analysed.
It is researched how and with
what motivation employees
participate in environmental
developments in an
organization. It is concluded
that different combinations of
knowledge types are important
for participation in
environmental developments.
Journal of
management studies
Sharma, S. & Gupta,
N. (2015)
Environmental issues;
Green HRM; HRM;
sustainability
Qualitative case
study
One company:
HCL
Technologies
A process model of green
HRM is given
The Twelfth AIMS
International
Conference on
Management
Shen, J., Dumont, J. &
Deng, X. (2018)
Corporate social
responsibility; Intention
to quit; Organizational
citizenship behaviour
toward the organization;
Organizational
identification; Perceived
green human resource
management; Perceived
organizational support;
Quantitative study Respondents of an
Australian-owned
food-grade paper-
packaging
manufacturer.
(N=388)
It is concluded that non green
work outcomes, such as task
performance, organizational
citizenship behaviour and
intention to quit are influenced
by perceived green HRM
through motivational, social
and psychological processes.
Furthermore, perceived
organizational support
Group & Organization
Management
Task performance. moderates the effect of
perceived green HRM on
organizational identification
and the indirect effect of
perceived green HRM on the
three employee workplace
outcomes, via the mediation of
organizational identification
Tang, G., Chen, Y.,
Jiang, Y., Paillé, P.,
Jia, J. (2018)
Validated instrument to
measure GHRM, 5
dimensions GHRM.
Quantitative study Most from service
industry, most
from companies
with more than
1000 employees.
(N=74)
In this study five dimensions
of GHRM were distinguished,
after which they developed a
validated instrument to
measure GHRM.
Asia Pacific Journal of
Human Resources
Teixeira, A. A.,
Jabbour, C. J. C., & de
Sousa Jabbour, A. B.
L. (2012)
Environmental training;
Green management; Huan
resources; Brazil
Qualitative case
study
Nine case studies.
The companies
needed to be large
and ISO 14001
certified. All nine
companies were
Brazilian.
In this study the relationship
between green training and
environmental management is
discussed. It is concluded that
there is a significant positive
relationship between the level
of environmental training and
green management
International Journal
of Production
Economics
Wright, P. M. &
McMahan G. C.
(1992)
Strategic human resource
management; Human
resource management;
triple bottom line
Literature study - Strategic human resource
management is discussed by
discussing six theoretical
models.
Journal of
management
