INTRODUCTION

Sustainable development is concerned with meeting the needs of people today without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Companies now realize

that they have to develop a powerful social conscience and green sense of responsibility where

corporate responsibility is not an altruistic nice to have, but a business imperative. The HR

function will become the driver of environmental sustainability within the organization by

aligning its practices and policies with sustainability goals reflecting an eco-focus. The HR

strategy must reflect and inspire the ambitions of the HR team and other employees, aligning

with the company‟s strategy, values and culture, deliver sustainable returns to investors, address

customer needs, identify and respond to emerging societal trends, respond to governmental and

regulatory expectations, and influence the public policy agenda. In a nutshell creating a green

World where consumers and employees force change. In fact the HR function can be renamed as

“People and Society”.

There is thus a growing need for the integration of environmental management into human

resource management (HRM) – green HRM – research practice. Green HR is the use of HRM

policies to promote the sustainable use of resources within business organizations and, more

generally, promotes the cause of environmental sustainability. Green initiatives within HRM

form part of wider programs of corporate social responsibility . Green human resources refer to

using every employee touch point/interface to promote sustainable practices and increase

employee awareness and commitments on the issues of sustainability. It involves undertaking

environment-friendly HR initiatives resulting in greater efficiencies, lower costs and better

employee engagement and retention which in turn, help organizations to reduce employee carbon

footprints by the likes of electronic filing, car-sharing, job- sharing, teleconferencing and virtual

interviews, recycling, telecommuting, online training, energy- efficient office spaces etc.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Mrs.pallavi kumara stated that There is thus a growing need for the integration of

environmental management into human resource management (HRM) – green HRM – research

practice. Green HR is the use of HRM policies to promote the sustainable use of resources within

business organizations and, more generally, promotes the cause of environmental sustainability.

Green initiatives within HRM form part of wider programs of corporate social responsibility .

Green human resources refer to using every employee touch point/interface to promote

sustainable practices and increase employee awareness and commitments on the issues of

sustainability. It involves undertaking environment-friendly HR initiatives resulting in greater

efficiencies, lower costs and better employee engagement and retention which in turn, help

organizations to reduce employee carbon footprints by the likes of electronic filing, car-sharing,

job- sharing, teleconferencing and virtual interviews, recycling, telecommuting, online training,

energy- efficient office spaces etc.

Dr. Douglas Renwick states that There is a growing need for the integration of environmental

management into Human Resource Management (HRM) – Green HRM – research practice. A

review of the literature shows that a broad process frame of reference for Green HRM has yet to

emerge. A concise categorisation is needed in this field to help academics, researchers and

practitioners, with enough studies in existence to guide such modelling.

Priya Vij, Dr Sapna suri, Sukhbir singh states in there research paper that The future of Green

HRM appears promising for all the stakeholders of HRM. The employers and practitioners can

establish the usefulness of linking employee involvement and participation in environmental

management programmes to improved organizational environmental performance, like with a

specific focus on encouraging green practices and help green management evolve and develop.

Unions and employees can help employers to adopt Green HRM policies and practices that help

safeguard and enhance worker health and well-being. The model presented in this paper clearly

distinguishes the usually prevalent HRM system practices in an organization from a system that

implements Green HRM, thus highlighting the benefits of Green HRM and some practices

associated with it.

Suhaimi Sudin states that Green management initiatives become an important factor in

forward-thinking businesses around the world. Researchers argued that employees must be

inspired, empowered and environmentally aware of greening in order to carry out green

management initiatives. Corporate green management requires a high level of technical and

management skills in employees, since the company will develop innovation-focused

environmental initiatives and programmes that have significant managerial implications.

However, gaps still exist in the human resource management (HRM) literature on human

resource (HR) aspects of environmental management - Green HRM.

Taylor et al., (1992) presented a generic view on importance of green management. In this

study a qualitative approach was adopted wherein 16 companies were identified from 5 different

countries. It was seen that when companies offered an incentive in terms of green awards

employees were more inclined to follow principles of green management

The study by Denton (1999) examined the impact of employee involvement in pollution

control. This is study adopts a qualitative case study approach wherein employees from Dow

chemical were interviewed. It was observed that employees were motivated and given rewards

when they came up with innovative waste reduction ideas

CONCLUSION

From the above review it is to be acknowledged that the importance of green HRM practices is

vital to promote employee morale and this may help in arriving at a great deal of benefit for both

the company and the employee. For example some of the benefits that an organization can attain

as a result of introducing green HRM principles in EMS include:

Improvement in retention rate of employee

Improvement public image

Improvement in attracting better employees

Improvement in productivity and sustainability

Reduction in environmental impact of the company

Improved competitiveness and increased overall performance

Apart from this it is to be identified that employees who are actively involved in environment

management principles may play a vital role in arriving at better environmental strategies to be

implemented. Employees may feel empowered to adopt specific environment management

principles as a resulted of promoted human resource policies which present better opportunities

for improvements related to reduction of waste and promotion of lean manufacturing. This also

may help in arriving at greener products and green savings from waste elimination

REFERENCE

1)2011 International Conference on Sociality and Economics Development IPEDR vol.10 (2011)

2)_Green HRM: A review, process model, and research agenda

*Dr. Douglas Renwick, University of Sheffield Management School Professor Tom Redman,

University of Durham Business School Dr. Stuart Maguire, University of Sheffield Management

School Discussion Paper No 2008.01 April 2008

3) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING AND HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT (IJMHRM) ISSN 0976 – 6421 (Print) ISSN 0976 – 643X (Online)

4)Globale research analysis Volume : 1 | Issue : 5 | Oct 2012 • ISSN No 2277 – 8160

5) International Journal of Business and Management; Vol. 7, No. 21; 2012 ISSN 1833-3850 E-

ISSN 1833-8119 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education