Abstract
As organizations continue to respond to the existential challenge that is climate change, the extent to which employees engage in environmental sustainability is critical to that response. This study introduces new measures of pro-environmental employee engagement, pro-environmental job resources and pro-environmental meaningful work. Based on engagement theory, a model is tested that shows how perceived corporate environmental responsibility, pro-environmental job resources (supervisor support, involvement, information) and pro-environmental meaningful work (a personal resource) influence pro-environmental employee engagement. Online self-report survey data were collected through convenience sampling from 285 full-time and part-time employees (aged 18–89 years) working across a range of occupations and organizations in Australia. Data were analyzed using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). In support of the proposed model, CFA and SEM results generally yielded a good fit to the data. Eight of nine proposed direct effects involving corporate environmental responsibility, pro-environmental job resources (modelled as a higher-order construct), pro-environmental meaningful work, and pro-environmental engagement, were significant. All proposed indirect effects within a re-specified model were significant. The final model explained 51% of the variance in pro-environmental job resources; 20% in pro-environmental meaningful work; and 71% in pro-environmental employee engagement. Overall, the results indicate that perceived organizational, job and personal resources play a motivational role in enhancing pro-environmental employee engagement. The study contributes a theory-based model and new measures of employee pro-environmental resources and engagement. The model can be applied to help organizations assess and develop interventions to address the critically important issue of environmental sustainability. Future research directions and study limitations are discussed.
Highlights
Pro-environmental employee engagement, as a domain-specific analogue of employee engagement, can be defined as “an enduring and positive work-related psychological state characterized by a genuine enthusiasm and willingness to support, adopt and promote work-related environmental sustainability”
The proposed measurement model, with each construct modelled as a first-order construct, did not yield a fully acceptable fit, χ2 = 767.334, df = 215, p > 0.001, χ2 /df = 3.569, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = 0.892, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.908, SRMR = 0.06, root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.095
The respecified model yielded an improved fit, with all indices at or close to their recommended criterion, χ2 = 322.227, df = 120, p > 0.001, χ2 /df = 2.685, TLI = 0.937, CFI = 0.951, SRMR = 0.0452, RMSEA = 0.077
Summary
Participants and Procedure: Using convenience sampling, participants from the researchers’ professional networks were invited via social media or email to participate in an online survey on environmental sustainability and work. Inclusion criteria required participants to be aged 18 years or over, to work a minimum of 15 hours per week, and to have worked for at least three months within an Australian organization of 15 or more employees. Of the 594 responses, 309 participants did not complete more than 10 items before discontinuing the survey, or did not meet the inclusion criteria. Age ranged from 18–89 years (M = 35.7), organization size ranged from 15 to 500,000 employees, and employee job tenure ranged from three months to 30 years. Respondents reported their occupational category as a manager or professional (50%), service/administrative (11%), sales (10%), technical/trades (4%), operator/driver/laborer (2%) and other (22%).
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