Do green HRM practices influence employees' environmental performance?

Abstract

Purpose: Recent research has demonstrated an increasing awareness among business communities about the importance of environmental concerns. Green human resource management (GHRM) has become a crucial business strategy for organizations because the human resource department can play a key role in going “green.” This study tests an integrative model incorporating the indirect effects of GHRM practices on employee organizational citizenship behavior toward environment (OCBE), through green employee empowerment. Moreover, this study investigates the moderating effect of individual green values on OCBE. Design/methodology/approach: Using a paper–pencil survey, we collected multisource data from 365 employees and their immediate supervisors from Pakistan. Findings: The results of structural regression revealed that GHRM has a significant indirect effect on OCBE through green employee empowerment. The results also indicated that individual green values moderated the positive relationship between green employee empowerment and OCBE. Practical implications: Organizations should appropriately appraise workers’ green behavior and align their behavior to pay and promotion. Organizations should also encourage and motivate employees to be engaged in green activities and contribute to environmental management. Originality/value: This study suggests that green employee empowerment and individual green values are important factors that influence the relationship between GHRM and employees' OCBE, and it empirically analyzes these proposed relationships in a developing country context.