The role of sustainable human resource practices in influencing employee behavior for corporate sustainability

Abstract

This article theorizes and empirically tests the relationship between employee perceptions of human resource practices and their propensity to adopt sustainable behavior (SB) to support organizational change for sustainability. Informed by the literature on corporate greening and organizational behaviour, we developed a structural equation model that links frontline employee perceptions of internal sustainability orientation, supervisory support, training and reward systems to their propensity to adopt in‐role and extra‐role SB. Furthermore, we investigated the mediating role of “affective commitment to change” with regard to the relationships between human resource practices and SB. Our results show that when sustainability is valued and promoted by the organization and line managers, employees are more likely to internalize and make sense of sustainability, which is subsequently reflected in a higher commitment to adopt SB. Although we also expected that training and rewards would strengthen commitment and willingness to adopt in‐role and extra‐role SB, rewards appeared to have no effect, and training affected willingness to adopt in‐role sustainable behaviour only when mediated by affective commitment. These results provide scholars of corporate sustainability and managers with evidence‐based insights on how to design HR practices and strategies to enhance employees' commitment and behaviour supporting organizational change for sustainability.

Green human resource management and the enablers of green organisational culture: Enhancing a firm's environmental performance for sustainable development

“…The HRM department plays a key role in enabling a green organisational culture because it shapes the values, beliefs, and behaviours of employees through the processes of hiring, training, appraisal, and incentivisation (Amini, Bienstock, & Narcum, ; Dyllick & Hockerts, ; Madsen & Ulhoi, ). In fact, a recent study by Pellegrini et al () identified the importance of designing HR practices to enhance employee commitment and behaviour in order to support organisational change for long‐term sustainable development. An earlier study by Attaianese () found that employees trained and incentivised to engage in proenvironmental activities ultimately helped to develop and promote a green culture throughout the firm.…”

“…Peer involvement relates to employee participation and mutual involvement in environmental initiatives (Jabbour, ; Srinivasan & Kurey, ). HR can nurture a culture of peer involvement in environmental activities through training and reward systems (Pellegrini et al, ). Specifically, HR can work with managers to develop key performance indicators (KPIs) for teams involved in the delivery of proenvironmental projects.…”

“…The KPIs can be linked to waste reduction activities, recycling improvements, and reductions in resource consumption (water, electricity, and raw materials; Jabbour, ). By tying financial rewards to the delivery of KPIs, HR managers can encourage employees to work with their peers to deliver environmental initiatives (Daily et al, ; Pellegrini et al, ).…”

“…Developing an employee's green abilities involves integrating positive environmental thinking into the firm using human resource (HR) activities such as recruitment, selection, training, and leadership development (Pellegrini, Rizzi, & Frey, ). Once recruited and trained, employees remain motivated through performance measurement and reward systems that are focused on providing opportunities for EP improvement (Attaianese, ; Renwick et al, ).…”

Can green behaviors really be increased for all employees? Trade‐offs for “deep greens” in a goal‐oriented green human resource management intervention

“…Many organizations are now recognizing the value of employee engagement in their efforts to improve sustainability performance, for example, initiatives to encourage employees to produce less waste, or use less water or energy, essentially green behaviors (Russell, Evans, Fielding, & Hill, 2016;Temminck, Mearns, & Fruhen, 2015;Young et al, 2015). There is also growing interest within the management community regarding the use of human resource management (HRM) processes and behavioral interventions to support such behavior (e.g., Markoulli, Lee, Byington, & Felps, 2017;Pellegrini, Rizzi, & Frey, 2018;Russell & Hill, 2018), collectively known as "green HRM" (e.g., Andersson, Jackson, & Russell, 2013;Kramar, 2014). The examination of the microfoundations and drivers of employee green behaviors (EGBs) in the context of green HRM, however, is still in its infancy, and more research remains to be done (e.g., Dumont, Shen, & Deng, 2017;Renwick, Redman, & Maguire, 2013).…”