The Match of Non-Environmental Preferences of Job Interviewers and Job Applicants: A Descriptive Analysis of Natural Resource Intensive Businesses in Turkey

Abstract

This study explores the extent to which the environmentally-friendly job preferences of human resource managers (interviewers) and job applicants (interviewees) match in case of Turkey’s resource-dependent business organizations. The study covers 63 human resource managers from 11 medium/large-sized businesses that have several joint-plants producing cement and variety of sorts of metal/mineral supplies in different cities in Turkey and 75 job applicants that these human resource managers interviewed. Consequently, 138 participants were asked to quantitively rank the importance of 22-item criteria when they choose where to work. The comparison of the mean scores demonstrates that both interviewers and interviewees are not that concerned with the green workplace, green business, and eco-friendliness. Rather, salary and other benefits, promotion and career opportunities, organizational reputation, and match of skills/qualifications to job requirements are found as the key factors affecting the work/job decisions of both interviewers and interviewees. Moreover, the only demographic difference is found in gender among interviewers that female managers more tend to prefer environmentally-friendly jobs/works. Emphasizing the roles of regulations and environmental standards to make business organizations greener, the study concludes with recommendations for practice within the green human resource management and green business perspective.