Green work climate, work meaningfulness and supervisor environmental priority: A social exchange perspective on employees' eco-initiatives

Abstract

Employees' pro-environmental behaviors (or eco-initiatives) are of paramount importance for embedding sustainability beyond symbolic commitments and compliance with formal procedures. Understanding antecedents of employees' eco-initiatives requires examining situation- and person-related factors, in order to shed light on interactions between the work environment, individuals' cognitive dynamics and supervisory behaviors that drive employees' proactive stance on environmental issues on the job. Drawing on a survey of employees in four large retail stores in Italy, the study examines green work climate and work meaningfulness as antecedents of employees' eco-initiatives, also testing the mediation of work meaningfulness in the relation between green work climate and eco-initiatives. In addition, the study explores the moderation of supervisor environmental priority on the relation between work meaningfulness and eco-initiatives. The results support the hypothesis of the study, highlighting green work climate and work meaningfulness as relevant workplace dynamics in stimulating employees’ eco-initiatives, also shedding light on the role of supervisors in managing conflicting priorities between sustainability and productivity. The findings contribute to the literature on drivers of green workplace behaviors, by emphasizing interactions between situational, personal and supervisory antecedents. Managerial implications and avenues for future research are also discussed.