Exploring Challenges and Solutions in Performing Employee Ecological Behaviour for a Sustainable Workplace

Abstract

Organisations are a fundamental part of challenges and solutions to climate change issues. Therefore, the micro and macro factors influencing employee ecological behaviour (EEB) are a rising interest among researchers. The contemporary concept of EEB has been embraced by many organisations and attracted scholars’ attention worldwide. Nevertheless, studies that explored challenges and solutions for performing EEB at the workplace are scarce. This study explored challenges and solutions in performing EEB at the workplace and focused on qualitative research methodology. The researchers interviewed 24 academicians from five leading green research Malaysian universities. Valuable qualitative data and numerous challenges such as high costs of practising, lack of infrastructure, top management support, environmental attitude, green mindfulness, enforcement, and monitoring were identified as challenges in applying EEB from the interviews. Stringent rules and regulations, monitoring, training programmes, and monetary incentives might be efficient solutions to apply ecological behaviour at workplaces, specifically universities. In conclusion, this study has discovered the challenges and solutions in implementing EEB for a sustainable workplace by interviewing academicians from different departments of selected Malaysian higher educational institutes. Also, poor infrastructure, high cost, and the lack of top management support, environmental attitude, green mindfulness, enforcement, and monitoring were identified as the primary challenges in performing EEB. Additionally, the research also discovered significant suggestions to resolve the challenges when implementing EEB at the workplace, such as strict rules and regulations, training programmes, incentives, monitoring, and communicating change and campaigns. Therefore, the stakeholders related to the industry should be concerned with the challenges identified when applying EEB at the workplace to apply the solutions generated from the study.

Make it their Decisions, not your Directives: Exploring Required Green Competencies for Employee Ecological Behaviour

“…Managers' views towards pollution control were positively associated with their desire to participate in pollution prevention practices, as per Cordano and Frieze (2000). Farooq et al (2021) found employees' environmental attitude has a considerable impact on employees' pro-environmental behaviours, and the results are consistent with Safari et al (2018).…”

“…Nevertheless, acknowledging and shaping individual behaviour is necessary to minimise the negative environmental impacts of organisational activities and Khalid FAROOQ, Mohd Yusoff YUSLIZA * , Zikri MUHAMMAD, Nik Hazimah NIK MAT emphasise a sustainable environment to adopt strategies excellently (Anwar et al, 2020). Environmental sustainability has a crucial role in higher education institutions due to the direct and indirect ecological implications involving electricity consumption, waste production, material usage, large movements of people and transportation within a campus (Farooq et al, 2021). Universities contribute less to pollution than the corporate sector.…”

Telecommuting during COVID 19: A Moderated-Mediation Approach Linking Job Resources to Job Satisfaction

“…A better understanding of resources and other employee factors that boost work-life balance and job satisfaction while working permanently from home will help in making policies for effective telecommuting and aid such organizations that are planning to adopt or continue this work arrangement after the crisis as well as during other emergencies. Lastly, along with other initiatives on the part of organizations [94], such a telecommuting arrangement could be adopted for environmental protection because of its congestion-, energy-consumption-, and emissions-reducing effects [95].…”

Reframing Recycling Behaviour through Consumers’ Perceptions: An Exploratory Investigation

“…According to the findings of this study, consumption behaviour is restrictive at work, due to job functions and organisational policy, and affects waste generation, including recycling behaviour. Recycling at work is mostly driven by organisational policy [4,38] and commitment through the provision of facilities including their availability, convenience, and accessibility. The level of organisational support may facilitate the degree to which people at work feel a sense of personal commitment, accountability, responsibility, and control [10,37].…”

“…This approach is necessary, as a quantitative study, mostly influenced by authors' perspectives, may not provide a detailed account and sufficient evidence of consumers' recycling behaviour. To encourage recycling, especially in organisational settings, institutional factors, such as facilities, should be considered [10,[36][37][38][39]. The understanding of these factors, including their interactions, may inform the design of effective recycling schemes.…”