Employee perception of Green HRM practices in manufacturing sectors: A survey-based Analysis

Employee perception of Green HRM practices in manufacturing sectors: A survey-based Analysis

1Monika Chauhan, 2Nisha Agarwal

1Research Scholar, Department of Business Management, School of Business Management, IFTM University, Moradabad-244102, India

2Department of Business Management, School of Business Management, IFTM University, Moradabad-244102, India

1chauhanmonika62@gmail.com, 2nishagarwal@iftmuniversity.ac.in

Corresponding Author: Monika Chauhan

Mail ID: chauhanmonika62@gmail.com

AbstractWith the issues of environmental sustainability emerging as a major strategic focus for organisations, human resource management (HRM) has evolved from requiring administrative management to becoming a driver for organisations' environmental performance. Although the idea of Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) is widely accepted, few research studies focus on the personal experiences of employees regarding the particular practices. This study addresses the identified research gap by conducting a pilot study to examine employee perceptions of three major Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) practices: Green Recruitment, Green Values, Green Selection, and Green Training. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire designed using a five-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. The questionnaire was administered electronically through Google Forms, and a total of 50 responses were collected from employees working in manufacturing industries. The pilot study was undertaken to obtain preliminary insights into employees perceptions of GHRM practices and to assess the suitability of the questionnaire for further research. The results clearly show that Green Training has been endorsed the most consistently among all the employees, as there were not many positions of disagreement when examining the items in this practice; Green Recruitment and Selection has also been well received by the employees as the positions of the employees have been aligned with the values, even though there were positions of uncertainty about the items related to long-term benefits and innovation; and Green Values was the most polarizing practice as overwhelming support meant the promotion of sustainability adds meaning, but there was a moderate level of neutrality regarding transparency and personal impact.

This study indicates that the best GHRM practices for employees are those experienced personally and concretely, whereas what requires perceptions of authenticity or sustained employee involvement creates more uncertainty. The study provides a practice level, comparative analysis of how employees react to GHRM and provides practitioners with suggestions on how to increase the credibility and effectiveness of their green HR efforts.

Keywords: Green Human Resource Management, Green recruitment, Green Training, Employee perceptions.

1. Introduction

   Organizations in all sectors are facing escalating regulatory and stakeholder pressure, environmental issues, and a depleting resource base, prompting sustainable issues to creep their way into the very bones of doing business. From its traditional administrative and transactional role, human resource management (HRM) is now more and more seen as a strategic tool for integrating environmental issues into the daily operations of the organization. This shift has led to Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) a study which looks at how HR policies and practices can be made to align with and promote an organisation's environmental goals (Mohammed A.; Al Doghan, 2024) .

   A clear stream of research provides evidence on the effect of GHRM on organizational level outcomes like environmental performance and corporate reputation; however, research that examines individual employees' perception and reaction to specific GHRM practices in their daily work experiences is relatively limited. Although there has been substantial research that demonstrates the influence of GHRM on organizational level outcomes such as environmental performance and corporate reputation, comparatively less research exists that addresses how individual employees perceive and react to specific GHRM practices on their daily work experiences. This awareness becomes significant because these GHRM programmes are passed on to the employee level and thus the actual practice and the employees' perception of how authentic, relevant and meaningful the GHRM is to them will make all the difference for the practices to be accepted and implemented. This research fills the void in this research arena by focusing on employees' perceptions regarding three important GHRM practices: Green Values, Green Selection and Green Training, whilst employing scales of Likert with the responses from employees. Second, the relevant literature pertaining to each practice was synthesized in each review below and the study was placed in the context of the overall research agenda in the field of GHRM.

   1. Theoretical foundation of GHRM

      GHRM is generally understood as organized and planned integration of traditional HR practices to the environmental objectives of an organization (Jabbour 2013). The most influential conceptual framework from the literature was developed by (Renwick, 2012) and was based on Ability MotivationOpportunity (AMO) theory, which proposed that three focal mechanismscreating green abilities, incentivizing employees to engage in green behavior and providing them with green opportunitieshad an impact on environmental outcomes. On top of this(Opatha & Arulrajah, 2014) put forward a more simplified, practical and GHRM conceptualisation aligning with the traditional HR value chain recruitment and selection, training, performance management and rewards by replacing each practice with an environmentally friendly alternative. Recent literature refers to GHRM as a growing managerial instrument those who will reduce organizational carbon footprints and to incorporate sustainability in the management of organizations' workforces (Yong, 2020). Among these, Green Values, Green Selection and Green Training constitute three related, but nonetheless distinct practices that are all associated with distinct employee-level psychological mechanisms.

   2. Green Recruitment and employee outcome

      Green recruitment is a process of adopting environmental issues into the recruiting process so that the organization can persuade and attract candidates with environmental consciousness and values that are aligned with the organization's sustainability goals. Based in the concept of PersonOrganization Fit Theory (AMY L. KRISTOF, 1996), the matching between environmental values and organisational values can enhance organisational identification, job satisfaction and commitment. Additional research by Spence (1973) indicates that the message of green values during recruitment, sends signs or signals to the prospective employees about the true commitment of the organization towards environmental issues. In their comprehensive literature review study on green recruitment and selection, (Pham, N. T., Tuckova, Z., & Chiappetta Jabbour, 2020) found that advertising of green values can create positive impressions on job seekers regarding organisations' environmental commitment. Likewise, (Ignuta-Ciuncanu et al., 2026) reported that a recruitment message which draws attention to sustainability has the potential to make employers more attractive, especially for people with high environmental values. Therefore, from an employee-outcome point of view, green recruitmnt could be associated with more positive outcomes, such as increased organisational commitment, increased personorganisation fit, perceived authenticity of the organisation, and willingness to support the organisation's environmental efforts.

   3. Green values and employee outcomes

      Green Values is the degree to which an organisation's identity and services communicate the extent of its commitment to environmental sustainability in a genuine manner to its employees. Adopting Social Identity Theory (Sapthaswaran et al., 2025), researchers suggest that perception of organizational strong, authentic green values is a positive predictor of employees' perception of their identity with the organization and their experience of valued work meaning. Glavas (2012) identifies that if employees think that the

      organization is committed to social and environmental issues they perceive a higher level of engagement in the organization, and a higher sense of value congruence with their employers. The positive relationship between perceived green HRM and affective organizational commitment is however contingent upon authenticity, as (Kozar & Oleksiak, 2025) showed that this connection was significantly stronger when "green commitment to the organization" is perceived as being authentic (ie, "real") and not performative. This last point of authenticity is particularly relevant to the present investigation which not only sought to determine whether employees think the organization is green, but also whether they think the organization is authentic and consistent.

   4. Green selection and employee outcomes

      Green Selection is about taking environmental criteria into account when recruiting and selecting candidates in order to target, attract and select candidates who have personal values that match the organisation's environmental goals. Theoretically, this practice rests on the PersonOrganization Fit theory (Li et al., 2023) , which postulates that the greater the congruence between values at the personal and organizational levels, the stronger the psychological attachment, as well as on the Signaling Theory (Benevene & Buonomo, 2020) emphasizing that the visible environmental criteria for hiring the message they send regarding a credible commitment to the prospective and current employee. (Gyensare et al., 2024) conducted a systematic review of papers addressing the issues of green recruitment and selection and found that communicating an organization's green values during recruitment is worth doing, but the success depends on the consistency of its implementation. Likewise, (Pham et al., 2020) have concluded that green recruit messages can be useful to improve the perceived attractiveness of the employer, especially when dealing with those with an environmental mindset. For current employees, the process of green selection can also communicate conviction with regards to the desired organisation and authenticity of the implementation of the organisation's overall sustainable commitment, a process that needs to be caught up from the employee's eye rather than the applicant's.

   5. Green Training and employee outcomes

      Green Training refers to a continuous and systematic training program that aims at enhancing the knowledge, skills and competencies of employees to achieve environmental management goals like waste minimisation and efficient energy use (Amrutha & Geetha, 2020) . According to (Paul et al., 2014) , the practice most directly linked to equipping employees' hands with the practical skills needed to make the organizational environmental intentions reality is green training. Many empirical studies revealed the connections between green training and positive human resources outcomes: (Dilip Maruthi & Rashmi, 2015) identified positive connections between green training and organizational citizenship behavior toward the environment, while (Ghazilla et al., 2015) confirmed that green training positively affects human resources' affective commitment to environmental goals; green training interacts with organizational culture and increases affective commitment of human resources to environmental goals. However, (Seliger et al., 1994) warns that a lot of this evidence comes from contexts in developed

      countries, and that the effectiveness of green training might differ with the context's starting level of environmental awareness, which is relevant for the interpretation of survey results from any one organizational context.

   6. Research gap and study objectives

      The literature implies three different pathways for each of these practices: Green Values (psychological identification and meaningfulness), Green Selection (person/organization fit and signaling), and Green Training (capability-building), but with most current studies examining particular practices without considering the others under their umbrella or examining the direct perception of the practice. There have been few empirical comparisons of the responses of employees at the practice level in one organizational survey across all three practices.

      This study aims to fill this gap by capturing levels of agreement for each of three structural items in a survey concerning employee perceptions of: Green recruitment, Green Values, Green Selection, and Green Training relative to a sample of the practices being implemented and the employees targeted by these practices.

   7. Demographic Data and Sample collection

      Data for the study was obtained by means of a structured self- administered questionnaire that was mailed to the employees in manufacturing firms. An Industrial setting was chosen as the context for the study because manufacturing firms are a significant sector of the industrial energy use, waste generation and emission of carbon, hence green human resource management (GHRM) in manufacturing is more relevant. Table 1 gives the profiles of the respondent of the survey analysis.

      Table 1: Demographic Profile

      Respondents	Categories	Percentages
      Gender	Male	63.7 %
      	Female	36.3 %
      	Under 26	16.1 %
      	27-35	30.6 %
      Age	36-45	30.1 %
      	46-55	17.1 %
      	Above 55	6.2 %
      Design	Manager	13.2 %
      ation	Supervisor	22.8 %
      	Employee	64.0 %
      Qualifi	Graduation	44.6 %
      cation	Post-Graduation	35.8 %
      	PHD	4.1 %
      	Other	15.5 %

      Profile

      A structured questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale was used to capture the attitudinal data in the assessment of the Green Values, Green Recruitment and Selection, and Green Training perceptions of employees which are widely applied in conducting GHRM studies. For each item, it had an associated statement associated with a particular green HR practice, and the respondents marked a response on a five- point scale ranging from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. This ordinal format collected both the specifically directional and intensity aspects of employee perceptions but did not require respondent restriction. The degree of overall

      cosistency in the scales of the three GHRM practices also allowed for comparisons to be drawn between GHRM responses to individual items.

2. RESULTS

   1. Green Recruitment

      Table 1: Survey outcomes of the Green Recruitment GHRM Practice QUESTIONS Survey outcomes

      Green Recruitment	Green recruitment of employees has contributed to the development of a more sustainable culture at manufacturing unit
      	Green recruitment contributes to suggesting ways to reduce waste and pollution in the manufacturing unit.
      	Green mindset employees are more likely to suggest and innovate cleaner manufacturing technologies
      	I believe that green recruitment practices enhance a company's image as an eco- friendly organization

      Table 1 presents survey results on one particular Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) practice Green Recruitment and its impact on employees' perceptions in a

      	The organization's dedication to sustainability adds significance to your work.
      	Your personal actions at work can support the organization's overarching environmental objectives.

      manufacturing organisation. It is organized into three columns: the GHRM practice that it is trying to examine, the query question or statement being given to participants, and the survey result, presented as a pie graph showing how participants had rated the question on the Likert-type scale (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). The table, as a whole, is providing a set of evidence for a research study (probably about GHRM/grading HRM's effects on sustainability results). What is seen, is that employees are more certain and comfortable with the operational impact of green recruitment, such as encouraging innovation and influencing work culture, whereas they are less certain or divided on the indirect and reputational impact of green recruitment, such as tackling environmental issues and the public image. This type of question-by-question analysis is especially popular in survey-based organisational research as it allows the researcher to identify which specific statements around a practice are supported by the perception of employees and which are more controversial, instead of considering them in one big lump: 'green recruitment'.

   2. Green Values

      Table 2: Survey outcomes of the Green values

      GHRM

      Practice

      QUESTIONS Survey outcomes

      The pie chart is used as an instrument to measure the outcomes of the survey (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree) of employees in the four questions listed below on the practice of GHRM (Table 2). Here, opinions were divided on whether it was a primary motivator for employees selecting the company; 'Agree' topped the list, but there were significant percentages in 'Disagree' and 'Strongly Agree'. The views of the employees on how transparent the business is about its achievements and issues in relation to sustainability were split, Neutral making up the largest proportion, and only small sections having strong responses either way.

      Green Values	One of the main reasons you chose to work for this company was its dedication to green values.
      	You believe the business is transparent about its green value achievements and problems.

      The most positive response was on the question if the sustainability commitment of the organisation makes their work meaningful again this question had no dissenters, with only positive responses of Agree and Strongly Agree. Last, on the contribution that personal actions can make to the company's environmental goals, neutral continue to outpace, indicating that many employees remain unsure of what they can do individually to help the company achieve these goals, rather than their giving them a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Overall, the table suggests that employees feel the concept of sustainability is meaningful to them personally, but less confident about transparency and the part they play in advancing environmental results in the context of their company.

   3. Green Selection

      Table 3: Survey outcomes of Green Selection

      GHRM

      Practice

      QUESTIONS Survey outcomes

      A second GHRM theme (Green Selection) is covered for five questions in the survey, each displayed using a percentage chart of the levels of employee agreement (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree). Opinion is divided nearly evenly on whether the green process is an indicator of a sincere long-term sustainability initiative with "Neutral" representing approximately 50 % and "Agree"/"Strongly Agree" the remaining responses. Basically, the desire to lessen environmental impact is high enough for a majority, "Agree" outweighing "Neutral" and the smaller "Disagree" and "Strongly Agree" percentages, a nationwide pattern of; broadly positive, if not predominately positive. Asking people to work toward saving the environment seems to be strongly associated with them agreeing to the concept, with only a sliver of Neutral and a thin Disagree column (the best outcome in this column). Patterns exist in deciding whether green selection makes the company more desirable to work for: the largest portion of the pie is "Agree" and "Neutral" with small pieces of "Disagree" and "Strongly Agree. Finally, there was some mixed sentiment about the effect of green recruitment on bringing more environmentally responsible, innovative solutions, with "Agree" being the largest, but also large percentages of "Disagree" and "Neutral," along with a small "Strongly Agree" share because there was more uncertainty about this than anywhere else. In general, green selection practices are perceived relatively positively, particularly in terms of personal values, as well as desirability as an employer, while they remain relatively neutral (or moderate) on the issue of whether these practices truly contribute to long-term innovation or foster a commitment to the environment when hiring. Like Table 2, there are no numeric percentages marked and only a value of a slice size taking up a larger proportion compared to the others, not absolute numbers.

   4. Green Training

      Table 4: Survey outcomes of Green Training

      GHRM

      Practice

      QUESTIONS Survey outcomes

      Green training helpful for understan d and contribut e to the company' s overall environm ental goals.

      Green Selectio n	The organizatio n's "green selection" process signals a genuine and long-term commitmen t to environmen tal sustainabilit y.
      	Your green selection criteria ensure that new employees are dedicated to reducing the company's environmen tal impact.
      	Your company attention on hiring environmen tally aware individuals aligns with your own values.
      	he company is a more desirable place to work because of its green selection procedure.
      	I believe that more innovative and environmen tally friendly solutions depicted from your green hiring practices.

      Green Trainin g	I believe that the training supported you enhancin g particular skills for waste reduction or energy conservat ion.
      	You feel confident on your ability to apply the skill learned from your green training to your work.
      	You are more committe d to your work and the company' s mission as a result of the training.

      This is a third GHRM (Green Human Resource Management) theme (Green Training) presented through a series of 4 survey questions displayed as a pie chart of the level of agreement among the employees (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree). Overall this table had the highest proportion of positive responses of the three tables examined to date with no more than 80% for either 'Strongly Agree' or 'Agree'. The greatest share is for "Strongly Agree" that green training helps employees understand and contribute to the company's environmental goals, followed by "Agree", and a small number of employees say "Neutral" or "Disagree", showing that there is a strong understanding that such training is effective in enhancing understanding of the environment and contributing to it. On the question whether the training helped to improve specific skills such as waste reduction or energy conservation, responses are very positive: "Strongly Agree" and "Agree" divide the responses almost equally, and the small amount that says "Neutral" is followed by nobody saying "No" (the best possible answer in the table). On confidence in applying the skills acquired in the green training to their work, the largest proportion was "Agree", followed by "Strongly Agree", before decreasing with "Disagree" and "Neutral.

      The distribution of confidence employees are able to put the skills learned in the green training into practice is "Agree", followed closely by "Strongly Agree", and the portion is small in both cases of "Disagree" and "Neutral", showing that employers feel more or less able to do this. Lastly, did the training boost their commitment to their work and company's objectives, with "Agree" taking the lead followed closely by "Strongly Agree" and minor portions of "Disagree" and "Neutral. In general, it appears that the training in green subjects is the most positively perceived among the GHRM practices analysed as can be seen in the Table 4 below, where there was not too much disagreement (very little) in all four questions. Again, not the actual sizes of each slice are indicated but rather its relative size to the others on the pie chart.

3. Conclusion

Three Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) practices Green Values, Green Recruitment and Selection, and Green Training have been examined in this study through survey data gathered in a series of items measured on a Likert scale. The results show that there is a definite order of employee endorsement of these practices.

1. The feedback on Green Training was consistently positive with all respondents showing high degrees of approval that it increased in their understanding of environmental goals in their work, their practical skills in reducing waste and conserving energy, and in their confidence and commitment at work.

2. Green Recruitment and Selection yields more moderate results: the participants agree that it is related to their personal values and that it could make the company a good employer, but are less polarized on the idea that it is an indicator of an employee's sincere long-term commitment or on perceived implications for innovation.

3. Green Values had the most mixed responseCPC employees strongly agreed that their jobs have meaning because of the organization's commitment to the environment, but found mixed responses regarding organizational transparency and whether their individual actions make a difference.

All of this indicates that GHRM practices that are directly experienced and tangible (e.g., training) have a more favorable effect on employees, whereas GHRM practices that rely on the perception of authenticity (e.g., values communication) or those that should be followed in the future more or less in line with actual processes (e.g., selection-driven innovation) lead to more uncertainty on the part of employees. This corresponds to the theoretical separation of capability building' versus identity/signal' based HRM mechanisms presented in the literature review.

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