Fostering sustainability in the healthcare organization through green HRM practices: the mediation analysis of perceived organizational support
| Date | 03 October 2024 |
| Pages | 1666-1688 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-07-2023-0368 |
| Published date | 03 October 2024 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Adnan Sarwar,Saqib Shahzad |
Fostering sustainability in the
healthcare organization
through green HRM practices:
the mediation analysis of perceived
organizational support
Adnan Sarwar
Department of Economics and Business Management,
University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, and
Saqib Shahzad
Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to investigate the influence of green human resource management (GHRM)
practices on healthcare organization sustainability performance in Pakistan. It explores how perceived
organizational support (POS) mediates the relationship between GHRM practices and healthcare
organizational sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach –In the quantitative method, a questionnaire was used to acquire the
perception of individuals via a simple random method. A total of 320 questionnaires were collected from the
employees in the healthcare organizations of Pakistan, with a 47.70% response rate. Hypotheses were tested
using SmartPLS (PLS-SEM).
Findings –The results reveal a positive relationship between GHRM practices and healthcare organization
sustainability performance. POS partially mediated the relationship, strengthening the effectiveness of GHRM
practices in boosting organizational sustainability.
Originality/value –The present study contributes to the understanding of GHRM practices in the healthcare
industry, particularly in the context of emerging nations like Pakistan. It demonstrates a novel mediation role
of POS to bolster the effectiveness of GHRM practices for gaining sustainability performance. The research
proposes significant insight for both scholars and practitioners on how supportive corporate cultures affect
the GHRM initiatives that foster economic, environmental and social sustainability.
Keywords GHRM practices, Healthcare organizations, Perceived organizational support,
Sustainability performance
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The healthcare sector is one of the world’s largest and most extremely resource-intensive
sectors, having significant societal and ecological concerns (Hu et al., 2022;Pichler et al., 2019;
Lenzen et al., 2020;McGain et al., 2014). Global warming, ozone layer depletion, air pollution
and the occurrence of toxic medical waste are some of the environmental challenges (Soutter
and M~
ottus, 2020;Neale et al., 2021). Healthcare organizations are facing intense pressure
from the public and environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to incorporate
sustainable practices (Calabrese et al., 2023). Green human resource management (GHRM) is
a modern concept for the management of human resources, it integrates environmental
management in staffing, selection, development and evaluation, with the ultimate goal of
ER
46,8
1666
Funding: No financial support is received by the authors for the research.
Disclosure statement: No conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 24 July 2023
Revised 30 January 2024
11 June 2024
6 September 2024
Accepted 9 September 2024
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 46 No. 8, 2024
pp. 1666-1688
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-07-2023-0368
improving organizational performance (Yasin et al., 2023;Renwick et al., 2013). GHRM
transforms HRM culture, strategy and organizational norms for the organization’s
sustainable success (Tanova and Bayighomog, 2022). Human resources (HR) plays an
essential role in promoting and pursing green initiatives, focusing on organization
sustainability (Tang et al., 2018). Literature revealed the positive influence of GHRM
practices on healthcare sector sustainability (Khan et al., 2024;Mousa and Othman, 2020;
Pinzone et al., 2016). Fostering favorable working conditions together with an environment
management program demonstrates the company’s commitment to GHRM practices and its
mission to promote sustainable behaviors in its employees (Saeed et al., 2019). Perceived
organizational support (POS) means “the extent to which the organization recognizes their
work in the pursuit of sustainability” (Kurtessis et al., 2017;Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002;
Eisenberger et al., 1986). The POS is crucial to measuring the association between GHRM
practices and long-term performance as it influences employee attitudes and behaviors (Joo
et al., 2015). The POS leads to the integration of green practices and the development of
employee engagement, commitment, and a working culture that is aligned with the green
vision (Mayes et al., 2017;Dumont et al., 2016). POS is an important factor that will help to
build a positive environment wherein GHRM practices may foster and help to increase
corporate sustainability (Aboramadan et al., 2022;Lamm et al., 2015). The term
“sustainability” appeared first in the Brundtland Report of 1987, stating that
“sustainability is the development that can meet the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of the following generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987).
Besides this, Agenda 2030 was also proposed which aimed at the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) to inspire societies, institutions and countries towards the concept of
sustainability (SDGs; Pedersen, 2018).
Through the perspective of the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) and social
exchange theory (SET), particularly leveraging the AMO theory (Appelbaum et al., 2000), we
propose that GHRM practices use POS to encourage employees to participate in green
initiatives. GHRM practices build green abilities (green recruitment and selection (GRS),
green training and development), motivation (green reward system, green employee
involvement (GEI)) and opportunities (green performance management (GPM)) (Hameed
et al., 2020;Renwick et al., 2013). GHRM practices influence employees’ perceptions of
organizational support. POS reflects how much employees perceive the business and
recognize their contributions to the organization’s sustainability. Ramus (2011) stated that
POS is critical for motivating employees to engage in eco-friendly behaviors and become
environmental innovators. Moreover, employees who are enthusiastic about innovative eco-
friendly behavior might affect their organizations’ sustainability performance (Pham et al.,
2020). Drawing upon the theoretical rationale and (Pinzone et al., 2019), conclude that GHRM
practices act as a stimulant for POS toward firm sustainability. These practices signify the
importance of employee contribution to sustainability efforts and fostering the basis of POS.
Numerous studies have brought attention to the need for more investigation into the effects
of GHRM in the Asian region (Cooke et al., 2020). Consequently, the present research
responses to conduct more investigation analyzing the impact of GHRM practices on
Pakistani healthcare sustainability performance via POS.
Pakistan, the sixth most populous country in the world and one of the most urbanizing
and population-growing nations in Asia, produces approximately 0.8 million tons of waste
per day from the healthcare sector (Zeeshan et al., 2018;Ali et al., 2016), which fails to be
properly managed and disposed of. Hospital waste affects the sustainability of healthcare
organizations and causes a danger to the environment and people in Pakistan. Hospital poor
performance results in worsening of the environment, such as air quality degradation,
deterioration in water quality effects and land degradation. Green HRM practices have the
potential to boost sustainable performance in the healthcare industry of Pakistan. As the
Employee
Relations: The
International
Journal
1667
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