Issues and Challenges on Adapting Green 

Human Resource Management Practices

  

Green Human Resource Management offers the opportunity to accompany and support long-term change of employees' mindset and behaviors, which are a precondition for environmental change in an organization. Ecological sustainability matters from an economic viewpoint, as it saves organizational costs, increases employee motivation and opens up new markets. Green Human Resource Management has become important when it comes to developing businesses in an ecologically sustainable manner.

A green organization is a workplace that is environmentally receptive, resource well-organized and socially responsible. The impression of green management for sustainable development to look for to clarify the required for balance between organizational growth for wealth design and protection of the natural environment so that the future making may succeed. In the past, economic performance of the organization was estimated to undertaking corporate success by organizations and its shareholders, but now it is no longer suitable. Profitable and financial outcomes need to be attended by minimization of environmental footprints and improved awareness to social and environmental phases.

Fig. 1. Green Human Resource Management: Challenges and Issues

Green recruitment in attracting advanced and active staff is a key Human Resource challenge. It is not possible that every employee gets motivated toward green aspects of job description, selecting and appointing employees and take time to adopt new environment accordingly.

Aside from Green recruitment, there are various Issues and Challenges concerning to the adaptation of the Green Human Resource Management. These include:

 

• 1.      Provide leadership and resources for going greening - Assign a respected executive-level person to head up going Green/Organizational Sustainability initiatives. Including “going green” in company’s mission statement and business plans.
• 2.      Get employees involved - Create a team to lead the company’s eco-efforts.
• 3.      Communicating about Going Green issues - Inform suppliers and customers about your efforts. And get in touch with local regulatory agencies, many of which offer financial incentives to businesses that implement green initiatives. Keep employees and shareholders/ investors informed about going green progress.
• 4.      Going paperless - Encourage e-mailing.
• 5.      Conducting the surveys annually will enable the organization to assess going green progress and provide information, suggestions and insight for future actions. It is important to Survey employees to assess how well the organization is doing with regard to implementing green business practices The survey should request suggestions. for becoming a greener organization. This can be a separate survey focused on going green issues only, or it can be added as part of an employee opinion/satisfaction survey.
• 6.      Conducting an energy audit - Most local utilities offer businesses free on-site consultations on how they can reduce usage and save money. Frequent suggestions include: Improve insulation, install timers to automatically turn off lights, use energy efficient light bulbs, keep temperatures at comfortable ranges that are not excessively cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
• 7.      Going paperless - Encourage e-mailing.
• 8.      Buying green - Tell suppliers that you’re interested in sustainable products and set specific goals for buying recycled, refurbished, or used Make the environment, and not just price, a factor when purchasing.
• 9.      Recycle - Recycle glass, paper, plastic, metal trash and manufacturing waste materials. Go through your trash. You’ll get a new sense of how much it costs to buy, store, and dispose of stuff. Eliminate unnecessary photocopying and reuse packaging for shipping.
• 10.  Explore opportunities for implementing alternative energy sources- Evaluate opportunities for using solar energy, biofuels, wind power and other alternative energy sources.
• 11.  Save water - Monitor sinks and toilets for leaks that waste water. Eliminate water waste in manufacturing processes and in watering the company’s lawns.
• 12.  Implement green manufacturing processes - Use energy-efficient equipment, and streamline processes to use fewer steps and less materials and packaging.
• 13.  Detoxify - Many offices have toxic substances, such as used batteries and copier toner, on hand. Talk to suppliers about alternatives to toxics, and make sure you properly dispose of the ones you can’t avoid using.

 

Fig. 2. Green Human Resource  Practices and Approach.

At most organizations, earth-friendly perks emerge from an overall effort to green the business. As companies begin recycling, upgrade to energy-efficient heating/air conditioning the systems and seek production efficiencies that save energy or reduce carbon emissions, it’s natural to consider green benefits. It is high time to make environmental management an integral part of their way of doing business so HR professional can provide a constant calendar of activities. Going green also helps companies enhance their public relations, and improved public relations and positive public perception can have a strong impact on company profit.

The ultimate aim of green Human Resource Management practices is to improve the organization’s sustainable environmental performance. And the purpose of going green is to use products and methods that would not negatively impact the environment through pollution or depleting natural resources. Green Human Resource Management involves environmentally-friendly human resource policies and practices that will help organizations achieve its monetary goal through environmental branding as well as to protect the environment from any negative impacts that might cause by the policies & actions by the organizations. Human Resource Management practices are the actual human resource programs, processes and techniques that actually get implemented in the organization or business unit. On the same way, a green Human Resource Management practices are the actual green HRM programs, processes and techniques that actually get implemented in the organizations in order to reduce negative environmental impacts or enhance positive environmental impacts of the organizations. 

****

 

 

References:

 

Daily, B.F. and Huang, S. “Achieving Sustainability through Attention to Human Resource Factors in Environmental Management”. 2001

Cherian, J., & Jacob, J.  “A study of Green HR practices and its effective implementation in the organization: A review. International Journal of Business and Management”, 2012

Marhatta, S., & Adhikari, S. “Green HRM and sustainability”. 2013

Anton Arulrajah, Dr. N.N.J.Nawaratne. “Green Human Resource Management Practices”, 2015