Green human resource management and green environmental workplace behaviour in the eThekwini municipality of South Africa

Abstract

Conversations on green human resource management (GHRM) are relatively new in the canon of human resource discourse. Existing studies have been focused on industrial and service industries of the private sector leaving a research gap in the public sector establishment, especially at the municipality level of governance. This study aims to address this gap by interrogating the perception and understanding of green behaviour and the evaluation of green behaviour performance. A total of 12 unit managers and employees of the human resource management department of the eThekwini municipality were purposively recruited based on existing knowledge of the green behaviour concept. The semi-structured interview approach was used in eliciting qualitative data. The NVivo (v.12) qualitative software was employed for the identification of themes and the content qualitative analytical tool was employed to make sense of the various themes. The findings show a range of perceptions and understanding of green behavior including change in management behaviour towards environmental sustainability goals, moving towards a paperless environment, re-engineering and automation of work process and safeguarding the environment through pro-environmental behaviours. The evaluation of employees’ green behaviour performance can be achieved through regular introspection and monitoring of the operations of green environmental activities, the integration of green behaviour targets with key performance indicators (KPI) and the benefits of green behaviour to the organisation. The study echoes the need for robust managerial support and massive organizational awareness of the importance of green behaviours for a sustainable work environment.