Green Human Resource Management: An Evidence-Based Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The United Nations’ report “Our Common Future” contributed to underline the crucial role of human resource management in strategically greening the organization and, in turn, economics and society at large. This awareness gave birth to green human resource management (GHRM). Despite the high number of papers addressing GHRM, this topic lacks a proper theoretical, methodological, and empirical systematization. A possible step towards a better understanding of GHRM is an evidence-based analysis of its practices’ outcomes. Developing these reflections and considerations, we conducted a systematic literature review on the evidence-based literature about the antecedents and outcomes of GHRM practices, following the PRISMA guidelines. We selected 48 papers. Most selected studies (n = 25) did not tackle single GHRM activities and processes. Studies considering specific GHRM areas tackled some dimensions more frequently (e.g., “training and development”, “performance management and appraisal”), while underrepresenting others (e.g., “Job analysis and description”). At the same time, selected studies focused on GHRM consequences for organizations, showing a high adherence to the ability, motivation, opportunity (AMO) theoretical framework. Suggestions for future research are provided.