The Study of Green Human Resource Management Practices within the Private and Public Sector
Nur Aqilah Adilah Hj Abd Rahman1, Muhammad Ridhauddin1*, Izzaty Ningsheh Md Shahri1, Hamizah Hamid1
1 School of Business, Universiti Teknologi Brunei, BSB, Brunei Darussalam
*Corresponding Author: [email protected] Accepted: 15 July 2022 | Published: 1 August 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55057/ajrbm.2022.4.2.15
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Abstract: Going Green has been quite a topic to discuss these days. People would always consider if anything they do and did will actually contribute to the society and the environment.
As the world is moving forward as fast as technology and machinery created, Going Green has always been a concern to some people due to the shift in management. The world is trying to reduce air pollution and environmental toxins that could affect human beings' immune systems and by raising awareness which could reduce the number of pollutants released to the environment. Going green would not be the only factor that was supposed to improve the environment; Green Human Resource Management which had also been considered to reduce carbon emissions. This paper seeks to investigate and analyze whether the implementation of Green Human Resource Management would actually help to boost the employee performances as well as the organization. Thus, this paper will enhance the importance and will be viewed as a necessary requirement for transformation to add focus on the relevance of Green Human Resource Management that will be intensified and to produce an effective solution and recommendations.
Keywords: GHRM (green human resource management), GKS (green knowledge sharing), GM (green motivation), performance.
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1. Introduction
Green Human Resource Management
Employees are one of the most important aspects that could help build and maintain an organization. With right guidance and motivation could actually guide the employee to attain vision of the organization easily. Green human resource management has become an emerging trend among organizations (Moch Yusuf Fathussalam et al., 2021). GHRM refers to using employees to support sustainability by increasing employee responsiveness and commitments.
(Rani & Mishra, 2014). Authors particularly in the area of HRM agreed that GHRM helps reduce cost, raise awareness of employees, heightened employee engagement, environmentally friendly which help organizations to reduce carbon footprints such as “car sharing, job sharing, flexible working hours, teleconferencing, online training, etc. ((Moch Yusuf Fathussalam et al., 2021; Rani & Mishra, 2014)
According to (Jabbour & De Sousa Jabbour, 2016) GHRM involves the traditional human resource; practice, recruitment, selection, performance evaluation, training and rewards aligned
with environmental goals, organizational culture, teamwork and employee empowerment.
(Jabbour et al., 2013; Jabbour & De Sousa Jabbour, 2016)
Research gap 1: Earlier research were dated back less than 20 years ago and then the topic surfaced in 2013 but only limited numbers of research can be found.
Research gap 2: Researchers mostly used a systematic review approach, from journal articles, books that basically talks about green human resource management and only few were using quantitative methods for data collections.
Green Knowledge Sharing and Green Motivation (rewards)
Knowledge sharing refers to knowledge suppliers providing knowledge for knowledge demand to help others learn and develop new capabilities (Chang & Hung, 2021). Knowledge sharing is considered to not only be the key part of encouraging employees innovation but act as tools to stimulate critical thinking thus helping shape the organizational innovative strategy.
Therefore, any knowledge shared which focused on environmental protection and green issues will be considered as green knowledge sharing. (Chang & Hung, 2021)
Research Gap 3: No research has been done in Brunei Darussalam. There are many gaps to be filled in respect of GHRM, and theoretical and empirical studies are needed to enhance the body of knowledge of GHRM (Opatha & Arulrajah, 2014).
In the context of GHRM, performance evaluation and motivations (rewards) are related to including environmental issues in the performance evaluation process of employees and teams in the methods of rewarding employees for their dedication in environmental goals. (Jabbour
& De Sousa Jabbour, 2016). It was stated that with adequate evaluation and motivations based on results from environmental projects are critical for companies into becoming more environmentally proactive as with the motivations, it is important to advance in environmental management to generate eco-innovations. (Jabbour & De Sousa Jabbour, 2016)
Green motivation is another tool in supporting eco-friendly management, motivations are elements that are important in order to maintain employee interest and attention towards organization. The motivation must focus on attraction, retaining and most importantly motivate employee to achieve organizational objectives. (E V P A S PALLAVI & M V V BHANU, 2016; Jam & Jamal, 2020)
2. Literature Review
Titles Author Data sample Major Findings
1 Green Human Resource Management:
A Review and Research Agenda (2013)
1. Douglas W.S.
Renwick 2. Tom
Redman 3. Stuart
Maguire
Systematic review approach in which this process produced over 200 books, journal articles, edited work and discussion papers that were available for analysis. Authors only focus on report empirical findings or theoretical arguments for EM-HRM relationship (environmental management – human resource management).
The review finds considerable evidence of the Positive impact of EI (Employee involvement) in EM with evidence of an association with the key outcomes of efficient use of resources, reduced waste and pollution, and also some evidence of a positive impact on employee outcomes such as increased job satisfaction.
2 Green HRM:
Practices and Strategic Implementation
in the
Organizations (2014)
1. Sushma Rani 2. Dr. K.
Misha
15 articles related to “Green
Human resource
management”
GHRM mainly focused on increasing competency within processes, reducing and eliminating environmental desecration, and restoring HR tools, procedures in greater efficiency and at lower cost.
3 Green Human Resource Management:
Simplified General Reflections.
(2014)
1. H. H. D. N.
P. Opatha1 2. A. Anton
Arulrajah2
Archival method that allows authors to structure research and build a reliable knowledge base in the research area. Articles cited in the databases such as Sage, Taylor and Francis, Springerlink,
ScienceDirect, JSTOR, Wiley and Emerald.
There are many gaps to be filled in respect of green HRM, and theoretical and empirical studies are needed to enhance the body of knowledge of green HRM. Major challenges that will be faced by researchers are conceptualization and operationalisation of various constructs in the field of green HRM as valid and reliable instruments need to be developed.
4 Green Human Resource Management:
Policies and Practices (2015)
1. Shoeb Ahmad
Secondary data. Literature related to topic from different database, websites and other sources were collected (systematic review)
GHRM have resulted in increased efficiencies, cost reduction, employee retention, and improved productivity.
5 Promoting employee's pro environmental behavior through green human resource management practices Bilal (2019)
1. Bilal bin Saeed 2. Bilal Afsar 3. Shakir
Hafeez 4. Imran Khan 5. Muhammad
Tahir 6. Muhammad
Asim Afridi
347 questionnaires by employees which were asked to be filled during work time and returned via internal mail system.
Results revealed that green HRM practices positively affected employee's pro environmental behavior, and proenvironmental psychological capital mediated this link. Employee's environmental knowledge moderated the effect of green HRM practices on pro environmental behavior.
6 Impact of Green Human
Resources Management Practices on Organizational Sustainability and Employee Retention: An Empirical Study Related to Educational Institutions (2020)
1. Maira Jam 2. Dr Warda
Najeeb Jamal
Questionnaires and analysis
using SPPSS.
Questionnaires collected from 87 H.R. Managers with a sample size of 150 objects.
Positive relationships were indicated between green management policies and sustainability of educational institutions from research made by authors. Although the relationship was positive, the intensity of the relationship is weak. Link between green policies and employee retention is better than the relationship found between green policies and organizational sustainability.
7 The influence of green HRM practices on green service behaviors: the mediating effect
of green
knowledge sharing. (2020)
1. Mohammad Rabiul Basher Rubel 2. Daisy Mui
Hung Kee 3. Nadia
Newaz Rimi
365 surveys were collected from Frontliner employees and Private commercial banks of Bangladesh.
Private banking and Frontiliners were focused on because behaviours of an employee was seen as an instrument to attain and maintain competitive
Organizations should design HRM practices to support green policy attainment through the green behavior of employees.
First, they integrate HRM goals
with organizational
environmental management goals. Second, they equip employees with the necessary skills, values and expertise to
advantage. implement green management goals successfully. Third, they increase employee awareness and cognition of pro-environmental performance at the individual and organizational levels. Fourth, they enhance the extent to which promotion and reward practices are based on green performance 8 Green
innovation and environmental performance:
The role of green
transformational leadership and green human resource management (2020)
1. Singh, Sanjay Kumar 2. Giudice,
Manlio Del 3. Chierici,
Roberto 4. Graziano,
Domenico
309 responses out of 669 questionnaires of 7 likert scale from manufacturing sector SMEs in the UAE.
Findings support all hypotheses of direct and indirect effects and have several theoretical and practical implications. Study significantly advances theory and suggests that HRM-performance relationship neither de- pends upon the additive effect of green transformational leadership and green innovation as antecedent and mediator, respectively, nor on their interactive effect but a mix of both combinational forms (ie., additive and interactive) to affect firm environmental performance.
9 Factors
Affecting the Implementation of Green Human Resource Management in Ormawa: A Conceptual Model (2021)
1. Moch.
Yusuf Fathussalam 2. I G Ag Kom
Agnam 3. Irene Dyah
Ayuwati 4. Desy Fitri
A. L 5. Yuniar Revi
A. L 6. Geraldo
Brata Hiroshi 7. Uly Asfari
Multimethod research Scholar, Scopus, Emerald Insight, Elsevier
In the practice of GHRM implementation there are several factors that affect the start from member motivation, training, job satisfaction, organizational culture, ethics towards the environment. And some factors have basic factors. Such as member motivation based on the leader's behavior towards his members and also the reward system given by the organization.
3. Methodology
Data collection
Data is collected using quantitative methods. Questionnaires were distributed online for employees from the private and public sector to participate in.
Research design
For research design, there were 6 sections for the sets of questionnaires of 40 questions divided among the sections. The questions asked were about green human resource management and green knowledge sharing, green motivation and most importantly did participants know what Green human resource management is and whether they have attended workshops related to human resource or green human resource workshops.
Research size
Initial size was 50 participants, but only 20 participants participated in the questionnaires.
Analysis
Data gathered and collected from the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS tools.
Potential challenges
Only a few people participated in the questionnaires, but since this is a new approach and no research was ever made in Brunei Darussalam, then it should be acceptable for analysis to be used for future research.
Hypotheses
H0: GHRM has no impact on employee’s performance
GHRM actually has no impact on employee’s performance, either with or without the implementation of GHRM it will not have any effect on employee’s performance.
H1: GHRM (IV) has a direct positive impact on Employee’s performance (DV).
GHRM has a direct positive impact on employee’s performance with the implementation of GHRM.
H2: Green Knowledge sharing (GKS) mediates relationship between GHRM and Employee performance.
GKS mediates the relationship between GHRM with employee’s performance.
H3: Green Motivation (GM) mediates relationship between GHRM and Employee performance.
GM mediates the relationship between GHRM with employee’s performance.
4. Analysis
H0: GHRM has no impact on employee’s performance
H1: GHRM has a direct positive impact on employee’s performance with the implementation of GHRM.
Reliability test was the first spss tools used to test internal consistency, meaning to see how closely related a set of items are as a group hence measuring the strength of the consistency.
Cronbach’s Alpha for questionnaires distributed was .917. The general rule of thumb for Cronbach’s alpha of .70 and above is good, .80 and above is better and .90 and above is best.
From the results obtained, Cronbach alpha’s is best. Responses then were transformed into new
variables to compute means as GHRM, GKS, GM and EP. Statistic descriptive data was then used in order to check the skewness and kurtosis of each variable, if values for each are between from -1.96 to +1.96 then data is normally distributed. Results obtained from Shapiro-Wilk were used because data sets were lower than 100 and data were not statistically significant, therefore data are normally distributed. To further confirm whether they are normally or not normally distributed variables, logs were used for checking.
After log variables, normality tests still showed normally distributed variables hence when the value is greater than .05, then the null hypothesis is not rejected. Basically, with the implementation of GHRM, it will not have an impact on employee’s performance. For testing H1, Bivariate correlation was used and results from pearson correlation value is .571 that is considered moderately correlated. Level of significance is statistically significant since level is lower than .01 meaning there is a positive relationship between GHRM and EP.
H2 and H3: GKS and GM mediates relationship between GHRM and EP.
This study was conducted to examine whether GKS and GM would actually impact the relationship of GHRM and Employee performances. It was hypothesized that GKS and GM will mediate the relationship of GHRM and Employee performances. Sobel Test were used to test the mediating effect of GKS and GM. Table below shows the direct and indirect effect of the mediating variable. Results reveal, both values were less than .05 which means GKS and GM significantly mediates relationship between GHRM and Employee performance. GGKS positively affect GHRM and EP (B=1.00, z=2.388, p<.05) and GM also positively affect GHRM and EP (B=0.351 z=2.065. p<.05) GKS have stronger relationship since B value is 1.00 compare to GM 0.109
Measurement models Table (N=20)
Mean Std. Deviation N Green Human Resource Management
1. Hiring those who understood environmental values (Paillé et al., 2020)
3.1000 2.12504 20
2. Our company has clear developmental vision to guide employees in environmental management (Paillé et al., 2020)
2.4500 1.39454 20
3. In our company, there is a climate of mutual learning for green behaviour and awareness among employees.
2.8000 1.85245 20
4. Formal and informal communication were used in our firm to spread green culture.
3.7000 2.05452 20
5. Practices were offered to employees to participate in environment management (problem solving group, suggestion schemes, etc...)
3.6500 2.15883 20
6. Environmental policies developed by employers are excellent. 2.7500 1.58529 20 7. I volunteer for projects, endeavors or events that address
environmental issues in my organization. (Paillé et al., 2020)
3.6000 1.78885 20
8. Considerable importance given to green staffing process (Singh et al., 2020)
2.6500 1.42441 20
9. Every employee undergoes mandatory environmental training (Singh et al., 2020)
2.6000 1.50088 20
10. I use environmental training in their jobs. 3.0500 1.50350 20 11. Environmental training enhance my environmental skills and
knowledge.
3.7500 1.68195 20
Employees Performance
1. I enjoyed Go-Green in my company. 4.6000 1.56945 20
2. I practice appreciating environmental values at my job 4.6000 1.42902 20 3. Going green has not affected my tasks or my work. 4.3000 1.49032 20 4. My organization values my environmental contribution. (Paillé et al.,
2020)
3.5500 1.73129 20
5. My organization does not care about whether I behave in a sustainable manner or not. (reverse-scored) (Paillé et al., 2020)
4.6500 1.63111 20
6. In my opinion, the amount of attention given to the environment by my employer. (Paillé et al., 2020)
4.3000 1.30182 20
7. Being environmentally friendly has improved the reputation of our company.
4.4500 1.27630 20
8. Being environmentally friendly has improved our performance. 4.2000 1.23969 20 Green Knowledge Sharing (Chang, 2021)
1. My green knowledge sharing (e.g., eliminating pollution, environmental protection, etc.) with other organizational members is good.
4.4500 1.23438 20
2. My green knowledge sharing (e.g., eliminating pollution, environmental protection, etc.) with other organizational members is harmful. (R)
3.8000 .76777 20
3. My green knowledge sharing (e.g., eliminating pollution, environmental protection, etc.) with other organizational members is an enjoyable experience.
4.3000 .57124 20
4. My green knowledge sharing (e.g., eliminating pollution, environmental protection, etc.) with other organizational members is valuable to me.
4.4000 .82078 20
5. My green knowledge sharing (e.g., eliminating pollution, environmental protection, etc.) with other organizational members is a wise move.
4.3000 1.08094 20
Green Motivation
1. Employees are encouraged by the top management to engage in environmental improvement.
3.8000 2.01573 20
2. Incentives or rewards are given to encourage environmental behavior. 3.3000 1.92217 20
3. Engagement workshops or forums are provided for staff to improve their environmental behavior.
3.1000 1.74416 20
4. The company empowers employees to be involved in the improvement of the environment.
3.6500 1.75544 20
5. Sufficient training is provided to employees so that they can participate in environmental improvement efforts.
2.7500 1.77334 20
5. Conclusion
To conclude, with the implementation of GHRM it would not affect the performance of an employee since GHRM is not yet known to certain organizations. From 20 participants who participated in the questionnaire, only 5 participants know what GHRM is. but with the implementation it has a positive effect on employee performance.
6. Recommendation
As a recommendation, future research needed to be done on GHRM since from results obtained from questionnaires GHRM have positive relationships on employee performance. With GKS and GM mediating the relationship between GHRM and EP, it actually has a positive effect on employee performance. It would be good for the organizations to consider implementing GHRM in the organizations since it does have a positive effect on employee performance and for organizations to understand and learn what GHRM is capable of doing and how it is very good to be used as future tools in the human resource department.
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