Organization OR Environment? Disentangling Employees’ Rationales Behind Organizational Citizenship Behavior for the Environment

Abstract

Scholars and managers have raised the question of how to encourage employees to perform discretionary pro-environmental behaviors at work, termed organizational citizenship behaviors toward the environment (OCB-Es). This study examined how rationales for organizational sustainability relate to employees’ OCB-Es. We considered two rationales—eco-centric and organization-centric—and two sources—employees’ rationales and their perceptions of their employers’ rationales. Results from 489 working adults across a variety of organizations and occupations revealed that both eco-centric and organization-centric rationales at both individual and perceived organizational levels related to employees’ OCB-Es. Furthermore, we found interactive effects, such that employees’ perceptions of their organizations’ rationales were more important than their own rationales in determining OCB-Es. These findings contribute to a theoretical understanding of the complex and interrelated factors motivating employees to perform voluntary sustainability behaviors in organizations. In addition, our results are valuable for managers looking to increase employee sustainability behaviors.

An organizational ethic of care and employee involvement in sustainability‐related behaviors: A social identity perspective

“…Second, driving and enhancing sustainability is a complex task, which requires the collective effort and collaborative involvement of all organizational actors (Daily, Bishop, & Govindarajulu, ; Norton, Parker, Zacher, & Ashkanasy, ; Ones & Dilchert, ). Oftentimes, however, driving sustainability depends on employees' discretionary efforts and behaviors (Lamm, Tosti‐Kharas, & Williams, ; Ramus, ; Ramus & Killmer, ), but their underlining drivers remain relatively understudied (Tosti‐Kharas, Lamm, & Thomas, ). This led scholars to call for adopting a behavioral perspective in examining how transitions to greater sustainability might be achieved (Andersson et al, ; Norton et al, ; Paillé & Raineri, ).…”

Greening the workplace: conceptualising workplaces as settings for enabling sustainable consumption

“…Over the past few years, management scholars have begun to investigate "discretionary" or "voluntary" pro-environmental behaviour on the part of employees that is neither rewarded nor specified in official job descriptions (Daily et al, 2009;Lamm et al, 2013;Lülfs and Hahn, 2013;Tosti-Kharas et al, 2016). Based on environmental psychology, these concepts take into account that pro-environmental behaviours at the workplace are routine and habitual, but they do not consider their embeddedness within the organisation of everyday life.…”

From Sustainable HRM to Employee Performance: A Complex and Intertwined Road

“…Work engagement and organizational identification are crucial factors in employee performance, and the link between the two is described as ‘expressions of the individual's relationship with their organization and with their work’ (Karanika‐Murray et al ., 2015, p. 1027). A critical factor is employees' perception that their organization's sustainability is a core value, which is a process labeled as ‘organizational rationale for sustainability’ (Tosti‐Kharas et al ., 2017). People demonstrate pro‐sustainability behaviors mainly because they perceive and believe that their organization supports sustainability, regardless of their own personal beliefs.…”