Green employee empowerment: The missing linchpin between green HRM and sustainable organizational performance

Abstract

Healthcare waste is one of the prime issues that occur all around the globe, including Pakistan. The waste generated from the hospitals degrades the environment, spreads toxic diseases which impacts the employees as well as the hospital performance. To overcome this issue and to enhance hospital performance, this study draws attention towards the green side of human resource management to generate green behaviour among hospitals employees and to improve sustainable performance of the hospitals. The objective of this study was specifically to see how green HRM practices can contribute in improving sustainable organizational performance of Pakistani hospitals. An important intervening factor green employee empowerment is suggested, connecting green HRM with sustainable organizational performance in the light of two lenses: Ability, Motivation, Opportunity (AMO) and Social Exchange Theory (SET). To determine the mass of the intervening factor, this study used mixed-method approach. The quantitative approach used to see potential intervening mechanism and relationship between variables by structural equation modelling technique. The qualitative approach (i.e., Interviews) used to have a richer view of the data analyses. The qualitative data analysis provided additional support to the quantitative part. The quantitative data of 547 hospital managers through questionnaires followed by 11 semi structured interviews from public sector hospitals of Pakistan were conducted. Quantitative data was analysed through SMART PLS 3.0.9 and qualitative data was analysed through NVIVO12. Thus, the findings revealed that green HRM practices are positively related to sustainable organizational performance and green employee empowerment mediates the relationship between green HRM and sop. Consequently, qualitative data findings revealed that themes of green HRM and green employee empowerment were explaining sustainable organizational performance.