第 55 卷 第 4 期
2020 年 8 月
JOURNAL OF SOUTHWEST JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY
Vol. 55 No. 4
Aug. 2020
ISSN: 0258-2724 DOI：10.35741/issn.0258-2724.55.4.44
Research articleSocial Sciences
G
REEN
H
UMAN
R
ESOURCE
M
ANAGEMENT FOR
O
RGANIZATIONAL
S
USTAINABILITY
:
A
N
EED OF THE
H
OUR FOR
M
ODERN
W
ORKPLACE
組織可持續發展的綠色人力資源管理：現代辦公時間的需要
Tahir Masood Qureshia, Abhilasha Singhb, Balqees Naser Almessabi ca
Associate Professor, College of Business Administration, American University in the Emirates bProvost/Vice President for Academic Affairs American University in the Emirates
cAssistant Professor, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Received: April 13, 2020 ▪ Review: June, 04 2020 ▪ Accepted: July 23, 2020
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
Abstract
The present study intends to identify the importance of green human resource management practices in public sector organizations; employee awareness about green human resource management practices; employees’ readiness to implement these practices; and government vision and policies towards green human resource management leading towards organizational sustainability in public sector organizations of the United Arab Emirates. This cross-sectional study shall empirically test the hypothesis based on research questions about primary data, collected from employees of public sector organizations. Based on positive epistemology in this deductive research, a hypothesis is designed, and data collected, through closed-ended survey questions using a convenience sampling technique. The present research finds that the government vision and policies about green human resource management practices were not fully explained to employees working in the public sector, hindering the attainment of organizational environmental goals, and hence national sustainability efforts. Green human resource management practices significantly contribute to organizational sustainability. To maintain sustainable growth and performance, organizations shall implement green concepts across organizations, including Human Resource Management departments. Organizations need to develop green objectives on an annual basis, aligned with government vision and policies in this regard. All stakeholders, including academic experts and business leaders, need to be oriented about green concepts in order to better collaborate, and employees need to be comprehensively trained to understand and implement these concepts in order to attain organizational sustainability in all aspects. Research outcomes of this study cannot be generalized with as much confidence in private sector work settings, since the study is designed and conducted on public sector organizations of the United Arab Emirates.
Keywords:Green Human Resource Management, Organizational Sustainability, Employees’ Readiness, Green Environment
摘要 本研究旨在確定綠色人力資源管理實踐在公共部門組織中的重要性；員工對綠色人力資源管 理實踐的意識；員工願意實施這些做法；以及政府對綠色人力資源管理的願景和政策，以實現阿 拉伯聯合酋長國公共部門組織的組織可持續性。此橫斷面研究應基於從公共部門組織的員工那裡 收集的有關原始數據的研究問題，對假設進行實證檢驗。在此演繹研究的正面認識論基礎上，設 計了一個假設，並使用便利抽樣技術通過封閉式調查問題收集了數據。本研究發現，政府對綠色 人力資源管理實踐的願景和政策並未向在公共部門工作的員工充分解釋，這阻礙了組織環境目標 的實現，從而阻礙了國家可持續發展的努力。綠色人力資源管理實踐極大地促進了組織的可持續 性。為了維持可持續的增長和績效，組織應在整個組織（包括人力資源管理部門）中實施綠色概 念。組織需要根據政府在這方面的願景和政策，每年制定綠色目標。所有利益相關者，包括學術 專家和業務領導者，都必須以綠色概念為導向，以便更好地進行協作，並且需要對員工進行全面 的培訓以理解和實施這些概念，以實現各個方面的組織可持續性。由於這項研究是針對阿拉伯聯 合酋長國的公共部門組織設計和進行的，因此無法對私營部門的工作環境充滿信心地推廣這項研 究的研究結果。 关键词:
綠色人力資源管理，組織可持續發展，員工準備程度，綠色環境
I.
I
NTRODUCTIONEnvironmental sustainability regulations and awareness developed the notion of Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) in the corporate world [1]. Currently, the world is facing the new economic challenge of resources constraints and environmental challenges [2], this situation has created an urgency to reform economic growth and development models at government levels of different countries to achieve proactively framed environmental targets.
The national strategy of the United Arab Emirates about the three pillars of sustainability is clear with current, threshold, and sustainability value. However, while there are national initiatives to make the community aware of the immense need to understand the concerns of the global environmental challenges, yet the authors couldn’t find enough efforts to stimulate and unleash entrepreneurship and innovation in the green industry needed to adopt numerous environment management practices. Needless to state that there is a need for a paradigm shift to discover green economic aspects of any business in the nation and around the world. The present study focusses on the critical need of employing GHRM practices across the emirates and in all public and private enterprises as a significant business strategy for all kinds of business. The human resource departments in all public and private enterprises must play a dynamic role in going green at the office, through various HRM practices. The study shall explore the current status while reviewing the best practices in this regard through the review of the literature and suggests future directives while remaining
heedful of the uniqueness of the respective country.
The approach of GHRM is also much needed for the contemporary economy relying on the capability of people that undoubtedly contributes to the economy and hence leads to a sustainable nation. Hence the study takes various hypothesis for developing a theoretical framework grounded on a thorough review of the literature to address the following research objectives:
To identify the current gap in public sector organizations about green Human Resource Management (HRM) practices for building sustainable organizations.
To explore the relationship between
green Human Resource (HR) practices and organizational sustainability.
To explore the moderating role of
government vision about the green environment and mediating role of employees’ readiness to utilize green HRM practices.
A. Significance of the Study
The subject of organizational sustainability is no more an option rather is considered imperative for any business in the present era and more specifically for the modern workplace. Needless to state that the present study is unique in the region and is aligned with the UAE national agenda of sustainability. Focusing on green HRM practices as a need of the hour it emphasizes how it serves as a tool to attain organizational sustainability. The relevance of the present study
serves to both theoretical and practical
B. Theoretical Significance:
The study will certainly contribute to the growing literature of green HRM, in the prominent HR functions like recruitment and selection, training and development, performance
management, compensation and benefits,
organizations’ and employees’ awareness, and their readiness to utilize green HR practices and Organizational sustainability. It is important to mention the meager research studies conducted in the region relating to green HRM and organizational sustainability and hence the study further addresses the gaps in the region.
C. Practical Significance:
The practical significance of the study relates to the model developed by the authors, about the
green HRM practices and organizational
sustainability that can serve as a guideline for the policymakers and act as a tool to align the organizational practices with the sustainability mission of the nation. The empirical data provided in the study will further facilitate the
decision-makers in the public-sector
organizations to understand the factors
influencing organizational sustainability.
The relevance of the present study can be further witnessed in the review of the literature that enabled the authors to derive the hypothesis and explore the variables undertaken by the present study.
II.
L
ITERATURER
EVIEWA. Green HR and Organizational Sustainability
The notion of green HRM is mainly related to the organizational capabilities and capacity to attract, train, and maintain employees using eco-friendly practices. These practices enable
organizations to enhance their social
consciousness about the environment and leads them to attain sustainability. It is a multi-angled process based on organizations’ abilities to adopt eco-friendly HR practices that are significantly associated with employees, organizations, and the
country’s eco-sustainable performance.
Environmentally equipped human capital is comparatively better enabled in terms of job-sharing, teleconferencing, online interviews, electronic filing, recycling, carbon emissions, waste handling, green purchasing, and virtual pieces of training [3]. In contemporary work settings, eco-friendly HR practices adopted by the organizations are significantly associated with
their strategic sustainable development
orientations. This process is based on the
organization’s endeavors for acquiring and retaining its human talent by keeping onboard other stakeholders, including employees, society, regulatory authorities, contractors, clients, etc. [4].
Organizational adaptability of green HR
initiatives is the stronger predictor of
organizational financial and eco-performance [5], [6], [7]. The behavior of those employees who facilitate organizations to adopt and implement eco-friendly benchmarks and standards is
significantly associated with the desired
outcomes such as citizenship behaviors and organizational identification [8], [9], [10], [11]. The organization’s green HR practices are mainly concerned with the promotion of employees’ green attitude and behavior concerning their work-related environment [12], [13].
It was stated that Green HRM are activities that enhance positive environmental outcomes [14]. Similarly, Organizational eco-friendly initiatives are significantly contributing to optimizing personnel eco-centric green attitudes and behaviors as mentioned by [15], [16], [17]. Furthermore [18] from personnel psychological and social perspectives it was explored that organizational green HR initiatives are strongly related to the employees’ behavior [19].
Studies in this regard also witnessed that Organizations’ adaptation of green HRM practices is likely to influence their personnel to conceptualize their workplace environment by
the psychological climate developed by
organizations through green HRM initiatives [20], [21], [22], that enable employees to engage with the positive and green attitudes and behaviors concerning the organizational eco-performance benchmarks and standards. Further, it explored that green HR initiatives are significantly associated with an organization’s ability to develop pro-environment green behaviors in their work settings. Therefore, organizations shall adopt green HR initiatives aiming to attain desired employees and organizational outcomes [23]. Based on the literature review and the
importance of green human resource
management practices to attain organizational sustainability following Hypothesis is developed.
Hypothesis 1: GHRM practices are
significantly related to organizational
sustainability.
B. Green Recruitment and Selection
Several organizations across the globe adopted green HRM practices aiming to enhance their selection process in terms of eco-friendly workplace environment to recruit potential incumbents [24]. Active seekers generally prefer
those organizations to work with that exhibit ability to match persons to organizations fit and vice-versa using eco-friendly online recruitment platform. Currently, organizations are indulging with virtual recruitment practices that enabled them to ensure the provision of critical insights regarding their eco-centric HR initiatives. Virtual recruitment platforms across the globe contain focal information in terms of eco-friendly initiatives implemented by the organizations [25]. It has been evident that there is a significant relationship between organizations’ positive eco-friendly reputation and their talent attraction process. Therefore, it is recommended that organizations should emphasize more on eco-friendly initiatives and essential job hallmarks
during their selection process, which
consequently develops an organizational eco-friendly reputation and image. Organizations should design their hiring interview questions Performa, in such a way that enabled organizations to hire those personnel that are compatible with the firm’s strategic eco-friendly orientation [27].
Hypothesis 1a: Green recruitment and
selection (GRS) are significantly contributing to organizational sustainability.
C. Green Training and Development
Organizations eco-friendly training and development initiatives shall address social issues, in terms of workplace safety and technical health, which in turn, enables the organizations, to attain strategic sustainability relative to their competitors around the world. It has been suggested that organizations should be designed their eco-friendly training and development programs in such a way that enhance their collective social, financial, and eco-performance. Organizations’ green and eco-friendly training and development programs are significantly associated with the ability of their personnel to recognize and mitigate the waste material about their job description as provided by the organizations [27]. Also, the Organization’s adaptation of green HR initiatives mainly depends on their ability to educate their employees regarding eco-friendly practices in terms of both material and processes perspectives, which consequently, enhance the employee’s emotional attachment in terms of environmental concerns [28].
Organizational environment-centric (waste management, carbon emissions, recycling, green purchasing, green IT) training and development interventions are significantly associated with
organizational eco-performance [29].
Pro-environment trained human capital is considered as one of the focal assets in terms of attaining organizational sustainable development goals and objectives. Organizations adopting job rotation training methodologies, aiming to execute their employees’ eco-friendly training programs, enable the organizations to attain sustainable growth through their eco-performance. Several steps can be adopted by the organizations to formulate eco-friendly training and development initiatives by developing an environment committee consisting of regulatory authorities, environment professionals, HR staff, and other key stakeholders [30].
Further, the Organization’s adoption of green HR initiatives to their recruitment and selection process should remain consistent with other HR functions such as orientation, training, and development initiatives. Organizational practices with the GHRM strongly relate to employees’ awareness of eco-friendly initiatives [31] coupled with enhancing employee's skills set regarding eco-literacy and data collection of their concerned waste material [32].
In many countries, it has been evident that
organizational trade unions significantly
contribute towards the development and
execution of eco-friendly training and
development initiatives in organizations [33]. Eco-friendly training and development programs can be executed after doing need assessment or in an authoritarian way [36], this in turn, enhance organizations’ ability to influence their employees to identify and recognize the significance of environmental initiatives [35].
Hypothesis 1b: Green training and
development (GTD) are significantly
contributing to organizational sustainability.
D. Green Performance Management:
It has been evident that organizations’ eco-performance, is based on the firm’s ability to
incorporate their ecological performance
benchmarks and standards, with their
performance appraisal systems [36].
Organizations can align and integrate
performance standards and procedures with any portal, software, and website to conduct a job analysis, development of job descriptions, and evaluate the performance of employees by different stakeholders [37]. This process will enable organizations to develop and sustain eco-friendly performance management culture. In the
green performance management process,
employees are evaluated using technology without involving any paperwork by all stakeholders [38]. Performance appraisal result
comes on employee portal and then an employee can accept or reject the performance results. Based on performance, employee development plan comes on portal directly and then training department becomes active, to ensure the implementation of the plan [39].
Hypothesis 1c: Green performance management (GPM) is significantly contributing towards organizational sustainability.
E. Green Compensation and Benefits:
In [40] has inferred that the organization’s initiatives in relation to the development of green compensation and rewards system are strongly related with the ecological productivity of their personnel and their organizational citizenship
behavior. Du Pont has adopted Green
Performance-Related Pay systems in order to
optimize their eco-friendly stewardship
methodologies and processes in the organization [41]. In Green compensation and benefits system, employee’s attendance, output quality, and performance are related with automatic formulas in software and pay generation and transfer happens automatically without single usage of paper.
Hypothesis 1d: Green compensation and
benefits (GCB) are significantly contributing to organizational sustainability.
F. Organization and Employees’ Awareness and Readiness to Use GHRM, and Organizational Sustainability
The organizational environment that enable employees to generate eco-friendly ideas, shall encourage employees to comply with the firm’s ecological benchmarks, and are significantly related with employee’s ability to detect several key ecological obstacles such as managing leakage in the production process and waste management. This in turn, optimizes the firm’s
eco-performance. The main predictor of
employees’ readiness to adopt eco-friendly initiatives in organizations is the organization’s
ability to motivate and encourage their
employees in relation to the organizational ability to develop sustainable goals. Organizations exert influence to organize their natural, human, and financial resources by adding green value to their products and services. It has been found that employee’s knowledge of green HR initiatives, and ecological work processes, is strongly related with the organizations’ ability to cope up with the challenges of GHRM, in terms of, reducing carbon emission, recycling, and green purchasing etc. This in turn, enhances the employees’ level of commitment and identification with their
respective organizations. It has been found that employee’s readiness to opt for eco-friendly practices and processes in relation to their job description, is significantly contributing towards their health and safety and performance. Organizations are required to involve their employees in formulation of eco-friendly policy aiming to fulfill their sustainable development goals. The process of involving employees in environment related decision making, enables them to create and expand their knowledge about
green initiates. Furthermore, involving
employees in generating solutions, regarding
energy conservations, recycling, waste
management and carbon emissions, makes employees ready to work in green work settings.
In [42] in theory of planned behavior (TPB) argued that the organizations are likely to manipulate their employees’ attitude and behaviors, towards adaptation of eco-friendly practices, in relation to the organizational sustainable development goals. It has been found that various organizations around the world used TPB model, aiming to penetrate eco-friendly attitudes and behaviors, in relation to the employees work settings, in terms of mitigating carbon emissions, waste management, recycling [43], pollution prevention strategies, green IT [44] and green procurement [45]. TPB model is significantly associated with the organization’s top-level management’s eco-friendly attitude and behaviors, which consequently, enabled top management to manipulate their subordinate behaviors in terms of adaptation of pro-environment initiatives, in relation to the organizational eco-performance benchmarks and standards. Based on literature review, importance of organization and employees’ awareness about GHRM and employees’ readiness to use GHRM, the following Hypotheses are developed.
Hypothesis 2: Organization and employees’
awareness about GHRM mediates relationship
between Green HRM and organizational
sustainability.
Hypothesis 3: Employees readiness to use
GHRM mediate relationship between GHRM and organizational sustainability.
Moderating effect of Government vision and
policies between GHRM practices and
organization sustainability
Organizational sustainability is considerably related, with its ability to comply with the requirements of regulatory stakeholders, by focusing and emphasizing towards the eco-friendly practices of GHRM. This optimizes the organizations’ ability, to enhance the skill set of future generations, and attain social legitimacy in
return. Organizations’ ability to handle regulatory authorities’ pressure in relation to the adaptation of eco-friendly practices, is mainly associated with their endeavors, regarding social legitimacy and systems [46]. Furthermore, organizations’ ability to adopt eco-friendly HRM practices using
employees’ pro-environment expertise, by
keeping government vision and policies about the green environment in mind, leads them to attain organizational sustainability.
There is a meaningful relationship between firm’s ability to comply with the concerned regulatory authorities’ eco-centric policies and eco-performance. Though the firms were facing
immense pressure from their regulatory
stakeholders, to comply with their ecological laws and regulations, their implementation optimized the organization’s eco-performance [47]. There is a strong correlation between organizational adaptability of eco-friendly initiatives and environmental sustainability by meeting the ecological standards provided by their respective regulatory stakeholders. Further. It has been found that the firm’s ability to do profitable business is significantly associated with their endeavors to comply with the ecological laws and regulations as imposed by their regulatory authorities. Organizations are likely to manage such kind of pressure, in order to sustain their social legitimacy or mitigating their resource wastage, which consequently, help
them to sustain in competitive business world. Regulatory stakeholders, exerts pressure on organizations to optimize their eco-performance, by complying with eco-centric laws and regulations. As government of UAE is operating with the vision to convert traditional economy into green economy, therefore, the government is developing and implementing policies at strategic and organizational levels to attain sustainability,
using Green practices. Considering the
government vision and policies in this regard, the following hypothesis is developed.
Hypothesis 4: Government vision and policies about Green Environment moderate relationship between GHRM practices and organizational sustainability.
II.
M
ETHODS/M
ATERIALSThis research study is conducted in various stages, including a comprehensive literature review to have more acumens on prevailing practices in green human resource management. Based on positive epistemology in this deductive research four main hypotheses are developed. The theoretical model shown in (Figure 1) is developed based on detailed literature review.
The theoretical framework is showing
interconnectivity and the relationship of four independent, two mediating, one moderating and one dependent variable.
Figure 1. Theoretical framework
A. Questionnaire
The questionnaire for this research study is designed based on the instrument used by preceding studies for green HRM, scale items are adapted from [29], for other variables questions are developed based on literature review. 28 closed ended questions are used to measure responses about five variables. Questionnaire was
comprised upon nominal, ordinal and scale data items, while five-point Likert scale is used to give more options to the respondents.
B. Pre-Pilot and Pilot studies
Pre-pilot study is conducted to test the validity of scale. For the content validity of the items, index of Item Objective Congruence (IOC)
developed by [6] is used. By following the authors’ suggestions questionnaire was given to five experts of the filed to rate each item statement based on their importance as (1 = appropriate, 0 = less appropriate, and -1 = not appropriate). The responses were analyzed using formula (IOC = sum of appropriate statements / number of experts). Items scoring value (0.5) and more are counted in the final version of questionnaire. Total 28 statements were included in pre-pilot form of the scale to measure the five variables, only two statements were rated less than one, however there was no value less than (0.5), hence all items are considered for the pilot study. The pilot study was conducted on primary data collected from 36 employees working in DEWA, overall data reliability for 28 items is (α = 0.721). Following the recommendations of experts during pre-pilot study and respondents of pilot study, sequence of few questions and wording were tweaked as per the culture and norms of the region.
C. Data collection
The questionnaire for this research study is designed based on instrument used by preceding studies for green HRM, scale items are adapted from [29], for other variables questions are developed based on literature review. To examine the current position of the green activities in the organizations primary data in this cross-sectional study was collected using closed ended questionnaire comprised upon 28 items to measure five variables. The questionnaire was comprised upon nominal, ordinal and scale data
Table 1. Response Rate Organization Question-naire distribution Responses Response Rate
1 Real Estate sector 50 41 82.0 2 Banking and Finance sector 50 34 68.0 3 Telecommunicati on sector 50 38 76.0 4 Education sector 50 35 70.0 5 Transportation sector 50 33 66.0 6 Health sector 50 30 60.0 Total, 6 sectors 300 211 70.3
items. Scale data were measured using a five-point Likert scale to give more options to the respondents. Using stratified random sampling technique 300 employees working in different
industries of public sector were give
questionnaires, 211 (70 %) responded. The data
collection period was three months starting from 10th October, 2018 till 10th January 2019. Industry-wise questionnaire distribution and responses are given in Table 1.
III.
R
ESULTS ANDD
ISCUSSIONCollected data were coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, linear regression in addition to testing mediation and moderation models in SPSS 22.0.
A. Reliability
To test the reliability frequently applied method Cronbach coefficient alpha is used. Coefficient alpha value (0.7 or more) is considered as decent reliability, (0.6) is considered as poor, while reliability value (0.5 or less) shall not be considered for analysis [14]. In this study reliability value for green HRM (
0
.
782
), organization and employees’ readiness (
0
.
745
), employees’ readiness touse GHRM (
0
.
831
), government vision and policies about green environment (
0
.
662
), organizational sustainability (
0
.
753
) and overall reliability for all items (
0
.
938
) are evidencing a decent reliability. Therefore, to test the propose hypothesis collected data can be analyzed.B. Correlation
To investigate the relationship among variables Pearson product movement correlation is used. Correlation for tested variables with
organizational sustainability are; Green
recruitment and selection
(
r
0
.
456
,Mean
4
.
171
,SD
0
.
573
,01
.
0
valueP
), Green training and development(
r
0
.
585
,Mean
3
.
396
,SD
0
.
691
,01
.
0
valueP
), Green performance management,(r = 0.594, Mean = 3.457, SD = 0.862, p value <
0.01), Green compensation and benefits
(
r
0
.
814
,Mean
3
.
995
,SD
0
.
667
,01
.
0
valueP
), Green HRM, Organization andemployees awareness about GHRM
(
r
0
.
810
,Mean
3
.
627
,SD
0
.
573
,01
.
0
valueP
r = 0.810, Mean = 3.627, SD =0.756, p-value < 0.01), and Employees readiness to use GHRM. This positive and significant relationship of variables amongst each other shows their direction and strength. Mean, standard deviation, and correlation values for each variable are given in Table 2.
Mean, Standard Deviation and Correlation Values
Mean SD GRS GTD GPM GCB GHRM OEAGHRM ERGHRM OS GRS 4.171 0.573 1 GTD 3.936 0.961 .643** 1 GPM 3.457 0.862 .208** .508** 1 GCB 3.955 0.667 .444** .354** .320** 1 GHRM 3.880 0.578 .720** .866** .727** .664** 1 OEAGHRM 3.627 0.756 .407** .638** .583** .477** .720** 1 ERGHRM 3.974 0.709 .777** .957** .566** .411** .919** .654** 1 OS 3.708 0.686 .456** .585** .594** .814** .812** .810** .603** 1
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
C. Regression analysis
Data is regressed to test the first hypothesis (Green human resource management (GHRM)
practices are significantly related with
organizational sustainability), analysis results for GHRM practices (β = 0.812, p-value = 0.000), and sub hypothesis; Green training and development (β = 0.250, p-value = 0.000), Green performance management (β = 0.266, p-value = 0.000), Green compensation and benefits (β = 0.665, p-value = 0.000) are evidencing the acceptance of first main and three sub hypothesis
(Hypotheses 1b, 1c and 1d), while Green
recruitment and selection are showing
(
0.055,P
value
0
.
187
), hence (hypothesis 1a) not accepted. It can be said that organizations interested to maintain sustainability need to change the traditional working mechanism of HRM functions to green HRM functions by introducing green training and development, green performance management, and green compensation systems in the public sector organizations of UAE. Detailed regression analysis results are given in (See Table 3).Table 3.
Regression analysis
Standardized β T Sig. Adjusted R2 F value Sig. GHRM 0.812 20.093 0.000 0.657 403.736 0.000
GRS -0.055 -1.325 0.187
0.817 for all sub variables
235.026 for all sub
variables
0.000 for all sub
variables
GTD 0.250 5.610 0.000
GPM 0.266 7.399 0.000
GCB 0.665 19.461 0.000 Table 4.
Mediation - organization and employees’ awareness
Model 1 Standardized β T Sig. Adjusted R2 F value Sig. GHRM 0.812 20.093 0.000 0.657 403.736 0.000
Model 2
Standardized β T Sig. Adjusted R2 F value Sig.
OEAGHRM 0.425 9.680 0.000 0.763 For both variables 338.248 For both variables 0.000 For both variables GHRM 0.562 9.787 0.000 Table 5.
Employees’ readiness to use GHRM
Model 1 Standardized β T Sig. Adjusted R2 F value Sig. GHRM 0.812 20.093 0.000 0.657 403.736 0.000
Model 2
Standardized β T Sig. Adjusted R2 F value Sig.
ERGHRM -0.921 -11.461 0.000
0.789 393.467 0.000 GHRM 1.658 20.631 0.000
Table 6.
Moderation-government vision and policies about Green Environment
Standardized β T Sig. adjusted R2 F value Sig.
D. Mediation analysis
For testing mediation of organization and employees’ awareness data is regressed using Model 4.
While analyzing data for Hypothesis 2 (organization and employees’ awareness about GHRM mediates the relationship between green
HRM and organizational sustainability)
mediation is tested using Baron R. M. and Kenny D. A. Model [5], it is found that the beta value is
reduced form (
0.812 ), while(
P
value
0
.
000
) remained same, additionallymediating variable OEA is showing significant results (
0.415,P
value
0
.
000
). Therefore, it can be concluded that detailed results given in (Table 4) are evidencing partial mediation.To the mediation of second variable; employees’ readiness to use GHRM, again data is regressed using Model [4]. Furthermore, to test hypothesis 3 (employees’ readiness to use GHRM mediate relationship between GHRM and organizational sustainability) data is regressed again and it is found that beta value is increased from (
0.812 ), while (P
value
0
.
000
)remained same, and mediating variable
employees’ readiness to use GHRM is showing results (
0.192,P
value
0
.
000
), hence it can be concluded that this variable is not contributing as mediator. However, while testingthis variable as independent
variable(
0.583,P
value
0
.
000
) values are found that are indicating significant contributionof test variable towards organizational
sustainability. Detailed results of the second mediating variable are given in (Table 5)
E. Moderation analysis
To test Hypothesis 4 (Government vision and policies about Green Environment moderate relationship between GHRM practices and organizational sustainability) moderation is tested using Model [4]. During this process, the third variable is created and then tested for moderation effect and found that the values (
0.554 ,000
.
0
value
P
) are evidencing strongmoderation effect. Detailed results of moderation analysis are given in (Table 6).
C
ONCLUSIONThis research study examined the importance and impact of green human resource management practices on organizational sustainability in government sector organizations of the United Arab Emirates. The literature review undertaken
highlighted the growing importance of the green
economy, green HRM practices and
organizational sustainability, however, there is a gap identified related to empirical testing of these concepts in the region, more specifically, related to the United Arab Emirates. The present research also explores the moderating role of government vision about the green environment and the mediating role of employees’ readiness to use green HRM practices and organizations' awareness. While testing these concepts, it has been identified that organizations are inspired by the government's vision about the green
environment, however, the Government
organizations are required to create more awareness about the green human resource management practices, to establish much needed green culture in any organization for its
sustainability. The present study further
contributes to the ecological theory, by identifying the importance of organizations’ awareness and employees’ readiness to use GHRM, and how it contributes in a positive way
towards organizational sustainability if
formulated and implemented appropriately. In addition, the study concludes that Government sector organizations, opting for green HRM practices, to create a green environment will be social contributors, in addition to, entertaining unique identity and low operating costs, leading towards long term organizational sustainability.
Needless to mention that organizational
sustainability and related profitability, not only contributes to the nation’s economy but also to national sustainability.
The findings suggest that not only the GHRM practices were unexplored, but also reveal the unawareness of the top and middle-level
management (supervisors), to motivate
employees for pro-environmental actions in the organizations, and hence suggests the scope of future studies, taking into account other HR dimensions, in line with the nation’s agenda on sustainability. This study accomplishes the need to alarm the managers and policymakers about environmental concerns while suggesting to initiate and mandate the GHRM practices for sustainability.
Recommendations
The present paper denotes the need to not only orient the employees about the green HRM practices and related benefits leading to organizational sustainability but also calls for a need to create a culture of sustainability missing in the public-sector organizations and henceforth
hindering the aspirations of organizational and national sustainability:
The adoption of Green HRM practices is for green performance, green behaviors, green attitude, and green competencies of human resources. Hence the authors recommend that the policymakers attend to the critical subject of ensuring the greening of HRM functions for eradicating negative environmental impacts at all levels across all sectors.
For the sustainability of the nation and the organization, the policymakers/government can formulate an inclusive strategy to bring forward all the stakeholders, including the business leaders, academicians, and industry experts on a common forum to frequently discuss the impact of destabilization that could result if the environment needs are not addressed through green HRM practices.
Identification of thresholds of each
organization’s environmental aspects to minimize the impact of organization on the environment.
The authors further recommend that the organizations should be equipped with tools and techniques to identify the risks associated with the unawareness and non-implementation of green HRM practices and this requires awareness through forums and conferences and regular training sessions.
Both public and private sector organizations should build corporate culture of sustainability and not only appoint sustainability leaders in each organization rather denoting clear KPIs to assess and value organization’s ecological impact.
An annual survey and/or annual audit is highly recommended to ensure effectiveness and efficiency of organizations pertaining to GHRM practices.
Organizations to ensure integrating the green element into all HR functions including recruitment, selection, training and development,
compensations and benefits, performance
management, employee relations and work life balance.
The organizations should also promote
pro-environmental practices by incentivizing
employee and ensure such green HRM practices are implemented and an award or positive incentive declared by the leaders to be implemented for sustaining the efforts to implement such practices.
It is vital to establish green objectives and green responsibilities for each unit and offer frequent feedback to make certain that the employees are conscious of their duties pertaining to environmental aspects.
Last, but not the least, while the commitment of the management is critical in the entire process of policy formulation to warrant employees’ capability and empowerment for ecological accountability, it is worth mentioning that the role of HR is vital in employee engagement for the implementation of GHRM practices.
It is worth mentioning that there is an immense need to explore further, other dimensions of green HRM practices in the UAE with clear key performance indicators established for each unit.
