Effects of Green HRM Practices on Employee Workplace Green Behavior: The Role of Psychological Green Climate and Employee Green Values

• Author: Jenny Dumont,Jie Shen,Xin Deng
• Date: 01 July 2017
• Published date: 01 July 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21792

Human Resource Management, July–August 2017, Vol. 56, No. 4. Pp. 613–627

© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI:10.1002/hrm.21792

Correspondence to: Jie Shen, Professor of HRM, Shenzhen International Business School, Shenzhen University,

Ph: +86 18565856652, jie.shen@szu.edu.cn, shen1000@hotmail.com.

EFFECTS OF GREEN HRM PRACTICES

ON EMPLOYEE WORKPLACE

GREEN BEHAVIOR: THE ROLE OF

PSYCHOLOGICAL GREEN CLIMATE

AND EMPLOYEE GREEN VALUES

JENNY DUMONT, JIE SHEN, AND XIN DENG

As an emerging concept, green human resource management (green HRM)

has been conceptualized to infl uence employee workplace green behavior. This

research empirically tested this link. We fi rst developed measures for green

HRM, and then drew on the behavioral HRM and psychological climate literature

along with the supplies-values fi t theory, to test a conceptual model integrating

the effects of psychological green climate and individual green values. Results

revealed that green HRM both directly and indirectly infl uenced in-role green

behavior, but only indirectly infl uenced extra-role green behavior, through the

mediation of psychological green climate. Individual green values moderated the

effect of psychological green climate on extra-role green behavior, but it did not

moderate the effect of either green HRM or psychological green climate on in-role

green behavior. These fi ndings indicate that green HRM affects both employee

in-role and extra-role workplace green behavior; however, this occurs through

different social and psychological processes. ©2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: green behavior, green HRM, individual green values, psychological

green climate

Companies that have strong green policies

in place generally benefit from increas-

ing sales and branding recognition (Wee

& Quazi, 2005; Yang, Hong, & Modi,

2011) as well as desirable employee out-

comes (Salem, Hasnan, & Osman, 2012). As it is

employees who are the agents that implement

organizational green policies, it is necessary for

organizations to promote and ultimately change

employee behavior so that such behavior is

aligned with organizational green goals (Daily,

Bishop & Govindarajulu, 2009; Ones & Dilchert,

2012; Ramus & Steger, 2000). Increasingly, orga-

nizations are adopting green human resource

management (green HRM) practices, that is,

“HRM aspects of green management,” to pro-

mote employee green behavior in the workplace

(Renwick, Redman, & Maguire, 2013, p.1). Green

HRM is defined by Kramar (2014) as “HRM

activities, which enhance positive environmental