This chapter investigates the dynamic interplay between green human resource management (HRM) and organizational outcomes and performance, elucidating the complex pathways through which green HRM influences those outcomes and the three organizational performance, namely environmental, social, and economic performance. Therefore, empirical evidence is examined at an organizational level. Noteworthy findings reveal green HRM's impact green process and product innovation, corporate social responsibility, green supply chain management, among others. By offering insights into green HRM's positive role in organizational outcomes and performance, this research contributes to a nuanced understanding of how green HRM practices can guide firms toward achieving their sustainability objectives.
Top1. Introduction
The focus on environmental conservation and the adoption of environmentally friendly production policies is on the rise. Environmental concerns have driven organizations to recognize the growing expectations from consumers, the market, and legal requirements (Banerjee, 2001). Consequently, organizations are now assuming greater responsibility for achieving sustainability objectives in general, particularly concerning the environmental impacts resulting from their operations.
The idea that the human resource function could make a meaningful contribution to enhancing an organization's environmental performance has motivated the integration of HR concerns into their environmental management systems (Jackson & Seo, 2010). This gave rise to the concept of Green Human Resource Management (HRM), originally characterized as “the human resource management dimensions of environmental management” (Renwick et al., 2013, p. 1).
Based on Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) theory, green HRM refers to “a set of people-centered practices oriented toward developing and maintaining the workforce’s abilities, motivation, and opportunities to contribute to an organization’s economic and environmental sustainability (Labella-Fernández & Martínez-del-Río, 2019, p. 1).
The quantity of articles related to green HRM has surged in recent years. The literature on GHRM has focus its attention on individual and organizational levels of analysis. At individual level of analysis, empirical research has shown that green HRM influences job performance (Ragas et al., 2017), pro-environmental behavior (Ansari et al., 2021; Nisar et al., 2021) and organizational citizenship behavior toward the organization (Aboramadan & Karatepe, 2021), among other outcomes. At organizational level of analysis, authors studied empirically the influence of green HRM on environmental performance (Longoni et al., 2018; Obeidat et al., 2020; Ren et al., 2021), financial performance (Longoni et al., 2018; O’Donohue & Torugsa, 2016) and social performance (Mousa & Othman, 2020). In addition, researchers have studied the influence of green HRM on organizational outcomes such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Cheema & Javed, 2017; Freitas et al., 2020), green supply chain management (GSCM) practices, green intellectual capital (Nisar et al., 2021)green innovation (Ogbeibu et al., 2020; Rehman et al., 2021; Song et al., 2021.
This book chapter aims at providing an examination of the relationships among green HRM and organizational outcomes and performance based on empirical evidence. As a result, the main research questions addressed in this study are the following:
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To what extend does green HRM produce organizational outcomes that benefit organizations?
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What mechanisms underlie the relationship between green HRM and organizational outcomes?
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To what extend does green HRM improve environmental, social, and economic performance?
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What mechanisms underlie the relationship between green HRM and environmental, social, and economic performance?
By answering these questions, this chapter offers useful insights into the positive role of green HRM into organizational outcomes and performance of firms. In addition, scholars have emphasized the significance of gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the mediating pathways through which green HRM exerts its influence on various results. This insight can guide organizations toward achieving their desired objectives (Ren et al., 2018). This study aligns with this objective by conducting an in-depth analysis of the crucial mediating mechanisms connecting green HRM practices with organizational outcomes and performance.