Green HRM as an Emerging Theme in Modern Human Resource Management

 

Introduction

This blog examines the strategic role of Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) in fostering environmentally responsible workplaces and promoting sustainable organizational practices. It explores how key HR functions such as green recruitment, training, performance management, leadership, and rewards contribute to environmental sustainability while enhancing employee engagement and organizational performance. Additionally, the discussion highlights regulatory frameworks, supporting institutions, and practical strategies to overcome challenges in implementing GHRM effectively.

Green Human Resource Management (GHRM)

Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) incorporates environmentally friendly ideas into human resource activities in order to foster a sustainable organizational culture (Aggarwal & Agarwala, 2023). It is an important green business strategy that improves environmental performance and promotes long-term sustainability (Afriha, 2024). GHRM promotes sustainability and provides an environmentally responsible workplace (Opatha & Arulrajah, 2014). Distinguished policies connect human management to an organization's environmental goals through HR planning, recruitment, training and development, performance evaluation, and compensation (Uddin et al., 2020). Furthermore, E-HRM promotes environmental sustainability by reducing paperwork, avoiding waste, lowering carbon footprints, and utilizing technological solutions for HR operations, which greatly strengthens an organization's Green HRM policies (Alabaddi et al., 2020).

Key Functions of Green HRM

Green recruitment and selection : Green recruitment and selection involves discovering and selecting candidates who share the organization's commitment to sustainability. According to Fernando & Perera's (2019) research, Sri Lanka's industrial sector has gradually incorporated green recruitment strategies, resulting in a sustainable workforce. Implementing green recruitment tactics leads to high employee involvement in sustainability activities, leading in improved environmental performance . According to Masri (2017), green recruiting and selection procedures strive to choose candidates who are environmentally conscious and promote sustainable practices.

Green Rewards : Implementing Green Rewards can significantly improve company sustainability by improving environmental results, reducing operational costs, and increasing employee happiness. Jabbour et al. (2013) found that providing financial incentives for sustainability milestones led to considerable improvements in environmental performance, including reduced waste and energy usage. A study conducted in Sri Lanka (Silva & De Silva, 2020) found that offering non-financial incentives for environmentally friendly acts boosted employee engagement and involvement in sustainability programs.

Green Training and Development: Green Training and Development equips staff with the information and skills to help the firm accomplish its environmental goals. Perera and Gunawardane (2021) studied the impact of green training programs on environmental awareness among employees in Sri Lanka's textile sector. The study found that these sessions significantly improved employees' comprehension of environmental issues. The study indicated that employees who received green training were more likely to participate in sustainability projects, which improved the organization's overall sustainability efforts. Green training improves employee knowledge, promotes energy saving, reduces waste, and raises environmental awareness (Zoogah, 2011).

Green Performance Management: Green Performance Management (GPM) involves incorporating environmental objectives into organizational performance evaluations. GPM aims to align employee performance with organizational environmental goals, leading to greater sustainability. According to Govindarajulu and Daily (2021), GPM practices include setting environmental performance objectives, incorporating sustainability measurements into evaluations, and recognizing eco-friendly initiatives. Recent research highlights the importance of Green Performance Measurement (GPM) in fostering organizational sustainability, especially in businesses with a significant environmental impact (Mousa & Othman, 2022).

Green leadership : Green leadership is critical to developing Green HRM because it inspires employees to adopt environmentally responsible behaviors throughout the organization. Leaders set the tone by demonstrating environmentally friendly habits, incorporating sustainability goals into HR policies, and encouraging involvement in green activities. Green leaders foster a culture of conservation and appropriate resource use by communicating effectively and motivating others. They also promote green training, reward systems, and environmentally conscious innovation. Overall, green leadership improves an organization's ability to meet long-term sustainability goals.

Green orientation : Green orientation is the process of introducing new employees to an organization's environmental ideals, rules, and required green behaviours. During orientation, employees learn about sustainability goals, waste-reduction techniques, energy-saving behaviors, and environmentally friendly workplace norms. This early exposure promotes favorable environmental attitudes and ensures that employees understand their role in supporting green projects. Green orientation also raises knowledge of the organization's environmental responsibility and compliance needs. Overall, it promotes a culture of sustainability from the start of employment.

Green discipline management : Green discipline management entails establishing defined behavioral rules to guarantee that employees follow ecologically friendly activities in the workplace. It entails monitoring compliance with green initiatives such as energy conservation, waste reduction, and responsible resource use. When employees break environmental rules, disciplinary actions and guidance are given to encourage expected green behaviours. This method helps to ensure consistency and accountability in sustainability activities. Overall, green discipline management improves organisational environmental performance by ensuring that everyone follows eco-friendly practices.

 Green health and safety management : Green health and safety management aims to create a safe, healthy, and ecologically responsible workplace for employees. It combines standard health and safety procedures with environmentally friendly methods such as decreasing harmful substances, increasing indoor air quality, and fostering energy-efficient workplaces. To protect both people and the environment, organisations use green materials, sustainable waste management systems, and pollution-free procedures. This method also encourages employees to participate in green wellbeing programs and environmentally responsible practices. Overall, green health and safety management promotes long-term sustainability while ensuring employee well-being.

Importance of Green Human Resource Management 

Sustainable Environmental Practices: Green HRM decreases environmental effect by implementing online recruitment, e-training, and paperless practices, hence minimizing carbon emissions. It protects natural resources like forests, rivers, and wildlife. These strategies enable long-term organizational operations while also helping to achieve environmental goals.

Employee Wellbeing and Eco-conscious Learning: A green workplace that includes plants, smoke-free zones, and healthy food improves employee health and morale. Reducing paperwork reduces stress while increasing involvement. Green HRM also promotes environmental education, influencing eco-friendly practices at work and elsewhere.

 Cost Efficiency and Resource Optimization: Green HRM reduces resource waste, such as paper and electricity, resulting in lower operational expenses. Reduced absenteeism and turnover also improve efficiency. Optimizing resource usage contributes to long-term financial sustainability and organizational performance.

Enhanced Corporate Image and Compliance: Adopting green HRM boosts corporate social responsibility (CSR) and enhances organizational reputation. It gains a competitive advantage over competitors by implementing responsible practices. Proper green management also lowers the danger of government and regulatory interference.

Innovation and Sustainable Growth: Green HRM promotes innovative, environmentally sustainable concepts that improve processes and product quality. It fosters a culture of sustainability and raises staff environmental awareness. The method maximizes natural resources while minimizing waste, so promoting organizational growth and long-term sustainability.

Regulatory and Support Bodies for Green Initiatives

The Central Environmental Authority: Oversees environmental protection by establishing standards and conducting impact assessments. It monitors projects to verify that they comply with sustainability standards. By implementing these standards, CEA promotes environmentally friendly practices.

The video below demonstrates how the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) promotes green practices by regulating environmental protection, enforcing sustainability standards, and ensuring that projects follow environmentally responsible procedures.

                              (Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14910tWV_CI)

Green Building Council Sri Lanka: GreenSL accreditation promotes innovation in sustainable building practices. It assesses and encourages environmental performance across energy, water, materials, and indoor quality. The certification ensures projects follow environmentally friendly, efficient, and socially responsible procedures. It establishes standards for developers, designers, and occupiers to reduce environmental impact while improving occupant comfort, health, and overall resource efficiency.

The below image shows green building rating system. Green building rating system is a framework for assessing and certifying the environmental performance of structures. It evaluates important factors such as energy efficiency, water conservation, material utilization, indoor environmental quality, and sustainable site layout. The system promotes environmentally sustainable design, building, and operational practices, setting standards for developers, architects, and inhabitants. Certification is given to buildings that fulfill high sustainability criteria, stimulating innovation, decreasing environmental impact, and increasing tenant health and comfort.

                        (Source : https://www.srilankagbc.org/green-rating-system-for-built-environment/)

Ceylon Chamber of Commerce: It promotes corporate sustainability and green finance awareness in Sri Lanka. It facilitates capacity-building programs for financial institutions on sustainable operations and serves as a platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration on green initiatives. By helping companies implement environmentally responsible practices, it strengthens the overall sustainability ecosystem and advances the country’s transition toward a greener economy.

United Nations Development Programme: It provides technical support for implementing Sustainable Finance Roadmaps and contributes to the integration of ESG principles into banking operations and policies. UNDP also supports capacity building by training staff in environmental and social risk management. These efforts strengthen the adoption of sustainable finance practices within Sri Lanka’s financial sector.

Asian Development Bank: It finances green and climate-resilient projects across various sectors while providing technical guidance and advisory support to promote environmentally responsible practices. It supports capacity building for bank staff and encourages the wider adoption of sustainable finance initiatives. Overall, it plays a key role in advancing environmentally friendly and climate-conscious practices across Sri Lanka’s financial industry.

The Global Green Growth Institute: It is an intergovernmental organization that helps countries transition to a low-carbon, green economy by providing policy assistance, technical support, and mobilizing green investments. In Sri Lanka, GGGI supports the government's climate finance readiness, carbon market development, and sustainable transportation efforts. It has collaborated with the Ministry of Finance to train stakeholders on carbon trading under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, thereby increasing the country's capacity to participate in international carbon markets. GGGI also works with local banks to assist them establish green bond frameworks and expand their green and blue financing portfolio.

Main Theories Supporting Green HRM

Ability-Motivation-Opportunity Theory: The AMO principle contends that employees perform best when they have the ability, motivation, and opportunity to participate. Green HRM theory highlights how organizations can develop green skills through environmental training, increase green motivation through rewards and recognition for eco-friendly behavior, and create chances for employees to participate in sustainability initiatives. Strengthening these three factors encourages employees to exercise environmentally responsible behaviour and enhances the organisation's overall environmental performance.

                         (Source : https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/amo-intern-rahul-choudhury-1f)

Resource-Based View: According to the Resource-Based View, organizations acquire a competitive edge by utilizing precious, scarce, and difficult-to-imitate resources. Green HRM contributes to this by training environmentally conscious personnel, cultivating a green organizational culture, and supporting sustainability-focused innovation. These green capabilities become strategic assets that competitors can't readily replicate. As a result, Green HRM practices boost environmental performance while also strengthening long-term competitiveness.

            (Source : https://www.vskills.in/certification/tutorial/resource-based-view-theory-2/)

Social Exchange Theory: According to Social Exchange Theory, when organizations offer assistance and pleasant treatment, employees feel obligated to return with positive behavior. In Green HRM, when organizations invest in environmental training, green awards, and supportive sustainability policies, employees frequently reciprocate by engaging in eco-friendly behaviors, demonstrating environmental dedication, and participating in green activities. This reciprocal interaction promotes a green organizational climate and enhances environmental performance.

Institutional Theory: Institutional Theory explains how organizations adopt specific behaviors in response to external forces such as government legislation, industry norms, and social expectations. Green HRM is ideally suited to this theory, as many organisations implement environmental training, green hiring, and sustainability policies in response to regulatory obligations, stakeholder demands, and societal pressure for environmental responsibility. These institutional pressures drive organisations to adopt Green HRM practices in order to maintain legitimacy and reputation.

Environmental Sustainability vs. Profitability: A Balanced Perspective

Businesses struggle to balance environmental sustainability and profitability because they believe green projects are expensive and provide limited short-term benefits, particularly for organizations with low margins or limited financial resources. Low customer demand for sustainable products in competitive markets drives corporations to emphasize pricing above environmental responsibility, while challenges such as "green myopia" and a lack of alignment between sustainability objectives and market needs impede effective implementation (Jerab, 2025). However, successful companies such as Procter & Gamble, which saved over $300 million and reduced GHG emissions significantly through Tide Coldwater, and General Electric, which invested heavily in eco-innovations that generated significant revenue, demonstrate that sustainability can drive both environmental and economic benefits (D. Smith et al., 2015). Overall, when effectively integrated, sustainability improves long-term profitability, competitiveness, and corporate image.

Obstacles to Green HRM Adoption

 

Managerial and Strategic Challenges: Top management commitment is essential for advancing environmental projects. When leadership fails to actively support or convey the benefits of sustainability, GHRM adoption is rendered ineffective (Sulistiawan et al., 2024). When GHRM is not strategically aligned, its influence becomes isolated, impeding the organization's capacity to implement green practices and create systemic change. Many businesses lack a coherent strategy or clear guidelines for incorporating green principles into their human resource systems, resulting in fragmented implementation (Fayyazi et al., 2015). Furthermore, insufficient managerial competency and limited awareness of sustainability methodologies restrict decision-making and long-term planning (Bombiak, 2020).

Employee Capabilities and Motivation Issues: According to recent surveys, many HR teams lack the technical and strategic expertise needed to incorporate sustainability into their tasks. Without enough environmental training, HR departments struggle to adopt and monitor green practices, leading to poor GHRM execution across industries (Yusliza et al., 2024). Successful GHRM requires staff who are both knowledgeable and skilled in environmental practices. However, talent shortages and a lack of understanding of sustainability ideas hinder their ability to participate effectively (Sulistiawan et al., 2024). Even when policies are adopted, insufficient incentives for participation diminish employee motivation to take environmentally responsible behaviors. Employees in many industrialized economies perceive little personal profit from sustainability initiatives, resulting in lesser participation (Bombiak, 2020).

Political, Regulatory, and Administrative Barriers: Inconsistent or inadequate environmental policies limit the execution of GHRM initiatives. Developing nations face higher political and regulatory gaps, which complicates and delays implementation .Weak environmental rules and administrative delays impede GHRM advancement in some economies (Kodua et al., 2022). Without strong legislative frameworks and supportive governance, businesses lack the external pressure required to embrace green HR practices.

Organizational and Cultural Barriers: Organizations frequently lack a supportive green culture, resulting in low acceptance and suspicion of environmental activities. Employees may fail to see the benefits of green practices, leading to behavioral resistance to change (Sulistiawan et al., 2024). In poor countries, environmental awareness and educational exposure are still minimal, making it difficult to incorporate sustainability into workplace policies. Furthermore, in many industrialized countries, enterprises continue to prioritize economic performance over sustainability, slowing the transition to effective GHRM implementation (Bombiak, 2020).

Financial constraints and Resource Allocation: Financial restrictions provide a substantial barrier to the successful implementation of Green HRM. Organizations generally resist investing in costly green efforts such as sustainability training, green recruitment, and eco-friendly technologies in favor of meeting short-term financial demands (Malik et al., 2020). Limited funds also hamper HR departments' ability to provide employees with the essential green skills and adequately analyze GHRM outcomes (Aggarwal et al., 2023). As a result, organizations must intentionally allocate resources to sustainability in order to ensure the long-term effectiveness of GHRM processes.

Overcoming Barriers to Successful Green HRM Implementation

Green Recruiting and Selection: Green hiring and selection are critical for developing an ecologically conscientious workforce. Organizations can ensure better alignment with sustainability goals by prioritizing candidates that have environmental knowledge, values, and attitudes (Hussain, 2018; Pham et al., 2019). Furthermore, clearly communicating the organization's environmental values and sustainability commitments during the recruitment process promotes employee-organization fit and encourages environmentally conscious behavior from the outset (Pham & Paillé, 2020).

Green Leadership and Top Management Support: Green leadership is crucial for guiding businesses towards good environmental management. Leaders with strong environmental values influence workplace behavior and encourage the adoption of sustainability into corporate decisions (Li et al., 2020; Peng et al., 2020). Furthermore, senior management support is essential for GHRM implementation since strong leadership commitment supports resource allocation, policy development, and strategy alignment with environmental objectives. Evidence from the manufacturing industry shows that green leadership, management support, and a strong emphasis on green health and safety all increase GHRM implementation (Ansari et al., 2024).

Green Compensation and Rewards Systems: Rewarding employees for their environmental performance is an effective motivator that boosts participation in sustainability initiatives. Green pay, both monetary and non-monetary, boosts motivation, dedication, and support for the organization's environmental objectives (Jabbour et al., 2013). Recognizing and recognizing environmental initiatives increases staff morale and fosters pro-environmental behaviour. Additional evidence shows that green pay and incentive systems increase productivity while stimulating sustainable innovation (Masri & Jaaron, 2017).

Green Training and Development: Effective training and development programs significantly improve employees' abilities to take part in environmental sustainability efforts. Green training improves knowledge, abilities, and awareness, allowing employees to implement environmentally friendly practices into their daily tasks (Opatha & Arulrajah, 2014). Organizations that invest in continuing environmental training programs are more likely to build a workforce that is actively engaged in the successful implementation of GHRM strategies (Suharti & Sugiarto, 2020). Furthermore, green training paired with performance appraisal develops a positive green culture, which immediately enhances environmental performance (Roscoe et al., 2019).

Government Regulations and External Pressures: External pressures like as government regulation, stakeholder expectations, and environmental rules all contribute significantly to the implementation of GHRM practices. Supportive legal frameworks enable enterprises to link their human resource practices to environmental standards and compliance requirements (Ansari et al., 2024). In parallel, societal concerns and competitive market advantages motivate firms to invest in sustainability initiatives such as green procurement and supplier management (Toke & Kalpande, 2017; Mittal et al., 2018). Access to cleaner technology and increased resource efficiency act as accelerators, supporting businesses in moving to green operations for long-term viability.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Green HRM is a vital approach for integrating sustainability into human resource practices, ensuring that environmental responsibility becomes an organizational priority. By leveraging green policies, training, leadership, and reward systems, organizations can overcome barriers, enhance employee participation, and achieve both ecological and economic benefits. Effective implementation of GHRM not only improves environmental performance but also strengthens corporate reputation, employee well-being, and long-term organizational competitiveness.

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