Strategic HRM and environmental performance: the role of corporate environmental policies and employees' eco-initiatives

Abstract

Healthcare organisations that 'embrace' environmental sustainability tend to gain significant performance improvements and decrease costs related to waste recycling and disposal. This study examined the relationship between strategic human resource management, hospitals' environmental policies, nurses' eco-initiatives and environmental performance. Data were collected from all registered nurses who worked at three public and general hospitals located in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, numbering around 800 nurses. A total of 450 questionnaires were distributed among nurses, and 263 were returned. The main results indicated that nurses' eco-initiatives fully mediated the effect of strategic human resource management on environmental performance, and that hospitals' environmental policies moderated the effect of strategic human resource management on nurses' eco-initiatives. By implementing appropriate HRM practices at the strategic level that can help nurses to repeatedly engage in eco-initiatives, environmental performance of hospitals can be enhanced.