1. INTRODUCTION:

GHRM is a revolutionary concept in the academic world as well as the practical world of HRM (Stojanoska, 2016)¹. The term “Green HRM” was coined by Wehrmeyer in 1996². Most of the people don’t know about the concept of GHRM and those who know also, having lesser knowledge about it. Further, there are some developments with respect to GHRM concept but they are not related with the Indian context. Since Green HRM is considered a new and emerging field in Management domain and specifically HRM literature there is need for more research to create deep understanding and awareness on GHRM. Now a days, GHRM will play an important role in every industry to resolve environmental related issues by adopting green HR policies, practices and providing training and awareness programs among everyone. This make changes in organizational climate and culture and also it reduces waste management, pollution, reduction in carbon footprints etc. It leads to maximum utilization of resources by employees, increases level of awareness among employees about energy conservation, reduction in carbon emission, and also it will inspire and encourage them to use eco-friendly products³.

“Green HRM” is the use of human resource management policies to promote the sustainable use of resources within business organizations and more generally, promotes the cause of environmental sustainability” define by (Mandip, 2012)⁴. Green HRM practices are not only related to companies or corporation. Educational institutions can also do a lot in this regard. Typical green activities of an educational institution include electronic documentation/E-filing, Online teaching materials, Examinations and result processing, Recycle and double side use of paper, folders, files, furniture and other possible resources, Reduce commuting - Encourage carpooling, Save electricity through (Early attendance, Running computers after few minutes sleep, Switch of ACs, lights, projectors after use, Replacing old and damaged ACs and other power consuming electronic its Video recruiting or the use of online and video interviews, to minimize travel requirement and many more. Awareness among the employees and students about this concept is very important as an educational institution, the college administration can take this as a policy matter and awareness programmes should be given for staff and students. Green HRM practices not only make our environment green and eco-friendly, but it will also help us to reduce the wastage of resources. GHRM is responsible in creating green workforce that understands, appreciates, and practices green initiative and maintains its green objectives all throughout the HRM process of recruiting, hiring, training, compensating, developing, and advancing the firms’ human capital⁵. It refers to the policies, practices, and systems that make employees of the organization green for the benefit of the individual, society, natural environment, and the business.

Green HRM involves two essential elements: environment friendly HRM practices and preservation of knowledge capital Green HRM also involves reducing carbon footprint via less printing of paper, video conferencing and interviews, etc.⁶.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To identify the level of Green HRM awareness among students.

2. To examine the preference of students to work for a Green company.

3. To explore the Students perception about the reasons for the companies to follow Green HRM

3. LITERATURE REVIEW:

Milliman and Clair (1996) stated that HRM plays a great role in environmental management. Environmental HRM practices model has been developed in four main steps. First, a firm requires an environmental vision as a guideline for shaping its strategy. Second, employees must be trained to understand the firm’s philosophy of environmental vision through its goals and strategy. Third, employee environmental performance needs to be evaluated using an appropriate appraisal system in line with these goals. Four, recognizing pro-environmental activities carried out in the workplace.⁷

Shrivastava and Berger (2010) stated that harmful consequences due to industrial pollution and waste materials, governments and NGOs around the globe has started framing regulations and policies to protect the natural resource to safeguard the society.⁸

Renwick et al. (2013) stated that there are three core components of the HR aspects in environmental management (EM). The first core component is related to the development of green practices such as selecting, recruiting, training and developing environmental knowledge, and encouraging EM leadership. The second core component is related to the motivation of green employees and implies appraisal and rewards. The third core component is related to the stimulation of employee involvement and implies valorising tacit knowledge, empowering employees, and creating a green organizational culture.⁹

Yusoff, Othman and et al (2015) found that most of the companies are focusing on Green HRM with special attention on five concepts namely: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Electronic HRM (E-HRM), Work-life Balance (WLB), Green Policies and Extra Care Program.¹⁰

Sakhawalkar, and Thadani (2015) found that companies are going towards the environmentally friendly initiatives that reduce an employee's carbon footprint. The results included: electronic data filing, Vehicle sharing, video conferencing and virtual interviews, recycling, telecommuting, online training, Work at home and developing more energy efficient office spaces. The study also found that respondents are aware about the electric and hybrid vehicles; but having less awareness about Green HRM.¹¹

Pillai and Sivathanu (2014) focused on the GHR Practices followed by the organizations globally. The study also highlighted the challenges and benefits of green HRM.¹²

Marjan, Saeed, Zahra and Shahbazmoradic (2014) found that there is lack of comprehensive plan to implement green HRM and ambiguous Green values were considered as barrier to Green HRM. Addition to this, study also reveals that staff resistance had the lowest importance.¹³

Kim (2005) found that performance levels of green practices implemented by hotels were lower than the importance levels of those same green practices as perceived by hotel employees. The study also reveals that there is positive correlation between organizational commitment and green practices.¹⁴

M W Shaikh (Shaikh, 2014) pointed out the importance of Green HRM based on the Save Earth Planet movement. He explains that Green HRM can help the employer and industrialists in image branding and strictly implementing the Green Audit ISO 14000.¹⁵

Parida et. al., (2015) revealed that IT companies are adopting various methods towards sustainable development like double-sided printouts, less use of paper, encouraging carpooling, switching off lights and other power consuming resources like A.C after 6 pm, encouraging online application for jobs and conducting interviews through video conferencing etc. The findings further revealed that majority of the employees are aware of the practices followed and they follow such practices because of the sense of responsibility towards the environment. The HR managers agreed that GHRM policies had contributed in increasing the profit share of the company.¹⁶

Pavitra Mishra (2017) suggest that the organizations have certain existing practices of GHRM, but these practices are neither formally organized under GHRM initiatives nor diligently followed. It further reveals though there are instances of organizations making efforts to increase awareness through informal means, only a few provided environmental training.¹⁷

Pooja Popli (2014) revealed that most of the organizations in Nasik are well versed about the Green HR concept to keep the environment green but still few companies are not able to put it into practice in all functional areas of HRM.¹⁸

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Students of various Management Institutes in Coimbatore city were chosen as respondents of our research. To conduct this research primary sources of data are used. A structured questionnaire has been developed based on the literature study and experts’ opinion and survey has been conducted among students. Simple random sampling is used. The collected data is analysed through SPSS software. Frequency table is prepared to analyse the number of respondents ‘responses. Cross tabulation technique is applied to joint frequency distribution of cases based on two or more categorical variables. Reliability and internal consistency of data is checked through the measurement of Cronbach Coefficient Alpha.

5. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

The data thus received from respondents about GHRM companies were analyzed using descriptive statistics and percentage analysis and ANOVA. The results of the analysis are as detailed below.

1. Awareness about Green HRM among students:

Table 1: Green HRM Awareness among students

		Frequency	Present	Valid Percent	Cumulative Present
Valid	Yes 1	101	83.5	83.5	83.5
	No 2	20	16.5	16.5	100.0
	Total	121	100.0	100.0

Interpretation: It is observed that 83.5% of the students were aware about GHRM practices.

2. Students preference to create or work in Green Companies

Table 2: Preference to work in Green companies

		Frequency	Present	Valid Percent	Cumulative Present
Valid	Yes 1	95	78.5	78.5	78.5
	No 2	26	21.5	21.5	100.0
	Total	121	100.0	100.0

Interpretation: It is observed that 78.5% of the students were preferred to work in green companies.

3. Institution having plan of following GHRM:

Table 3: Cross-tabulation

		Does your company planned to follow GHRM in future?		Total
		1(Yes)	2(No)	Total
Does your Company hold any formal policies to execute the GHRM practices?	1(Yes)	72 15		87
	2(No)	20 14		34
Total		92 29		121

4. Reliability/internal consistency:

The multi-item scales for the construct is measured by using Cronbach coefficient alpha. The alpha value for this study is .96 (table 6) which is highly reliable. The minimally acceptable reliability for primary research should be in the range of 0.50 to 0.60 (Nounally, 1967).

Table 4: Reliability Statistics

Cronbach’s Alpha	Cronbach’s Alpha Based on Standardized Items	No. of Items
.960	.960	11

Table 5: Green HRM activities in the Organization

Opinion	Scale	Frequency	Percent
Strongly Disagree	1-1.99	9	7.4
Disagree	2-2.99	15	12.4
Moderate	3-3.99	68	56.2
Agree	4-4.99	24	19.9
Strongly Agree	5.00	5	4.1
		Total 121	Total 100

It is observed from the above-mentioned table 7 that around 24% Managers agree and strongly agree to practice Green HR activities in the organizations. Majority of the respondents are neutral in their response regarding Green HR practice in the organizations.

6. FINDINGS:

1. 84% of the respondents are aware about GHRM

2. 78% of the respondents prefer to work in Green companies.

3. 60% of the respondents says that the institutions having a plan of implementing GHRM.

4. By using Cronbach coefficient alpha 24% Students agree and strongly agree to practice Green HR activities in the organizations.

7. CONCLUSION:

This study represents that majority of the students from different management institutes are aware of GHRM. However, proper GHRM activities are not yet practiced in the institution. To enhance the GHRM practices, Government should incorporate GHRM practices as a law. In addition, Universities should introduce green HRM in their syllabus to increase the responsibility of students towards green companies. Through this research paper it is important to note that the awareness of Green concept and Green HRM is amongst College students and their desire to work for Green companies. This act as positive impact towards GHRM.

8. REFERENCES:

1. Stojanoska, A. (2016). Green Human Resource Management: The Case of Gorenje Group. Univerza v Ljubljani, Ekonomska fakulteta.

2. Wehrmeyer, W. (1996). Greening people: Human Resources and Environmental Management. G. Mandip, Green HRM: People management Commitment to Environmental Sustainability, Research Journal of Recent Sciences, 2012; 1: 244-252.

3. Sharanya SR, R. Radhika, A Study on Green Human Resource Practices in IT Sector with Special Reference to Technopark, Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Volume 9 Issue 1, January-March 2016.

4. Mathapati, C. M. Green HRM: A Strategic facet. Tactful Management Research Journal, 2013; 2(2): 1–6.

5. Poonam Amrutia, Darshana Dave. Prevailing Tenor for Ayurveda in Views of Ayurvedic Practitioners. Asian J. Management; 2017; 8(4): 1029-1036.

6. Opatha, H. H. D. N. P. and Anton Arulrajah, A. (2014), Green Human Resource Management: A Simplified General Reflections, International Business Research, 7(8): 101-112.

7. Milliman, J., and Clair, J. (1996), Best environmental HRM practices in the US. In W. Wehrmeyer (Ed.), Greening People: Human Resource and Environmental Management, 49–74, Sheffield, UK: Greenleaf Publishing.

8. Shrivastava, P., and Berger, S. (2010). Sustainability principles: A review and directions. Organization Management Journal, 7: 246–261.

9. Pratibha Barik, B.B. Pandey. The Key Role of Human Resource Management in Corporate Social Responsibility (Environmental Protection) in Chhattisgarh State. Asian J. Management. 2016; 7(3): 201-206.

10. Renwick, D.W.S. Redman, T. and Maguire, S. (2013), Green Human Resource Management: A Review, and Research Agenda, International Journal of Management Review, 15: 1-14.

11. Suman Dhar. Taming the Tide: Employee retention as HRM Practice of Generation Y Employeesin Asian Context. Asian J. Management. 2016; 7(4): 159-163.

12. Mohammed Farzana Begum. An Overview of Digital Financial Services in India: Concept, Initiatives and Advantages. Asian Journal of Management. 2018; 9(3): 1139-1144.

13. Yusliza Mohd Yusoff, Nur Zahiyah Othman, Lilis Surienty, Yudi Fernando, Azlan Amran, T. Ramayah (2015). Green Human Resource Management: An Exploratory Study. The 2015 WEI International Academic Conference Proceedings Harvard, USA.

14. Sakhawalkar, A., and Thadani, A. To Study the Current Green HR Practices and There Responsiveness among the Employees of IT Sector in Pune Region.

15. Pillai Rajasshrie and Sivathanu Brijesh : Green Human Resource Management. Zenith International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research ISSN, 2014; 4(1): 2231-5780.

16. Marjan Fayyazia, Saeed Shahbazmoradib, Zahra Afsharc and Mohammad Reza Shahbazmoradic (2014). Investigating The Barriers of the Green Human Resource Management Implementation in Oil Industry. Management Science Letters, 2015; 5: 101–108. Doi: 10.5267/J.Msl.2014.12.002.

17. Kim, S. H. : An Investigation into Hotel Employees' Perception of Green Practices. (2005).

18. Shaikh, M. W. (2014). Green HRM, A Requirement of 21st Century. Abhinva Journal of Research in Commerce and Managemant, 122-127.

19. Parida R, Raj S, Sharma P, and Yadav V, Green HR: Analysis of Sustainable Practices Incorporated by IT firms in India, Journal of Management Research, 1, 2015.

20. R.K.pavithra Mishra et al., Green HRM: Innovative Approach in Indian Public Enterprises, World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, 2017; 11(1): 26-42.

21. Pooja Popli, A study of Green HR Practices, Its Awareness, and implementation in the industries in Nashik, Global Journal of Commerce and Management Perspective, 2014; 3(1): 114-118.

Received on 03.01.2024 Accepted on 09.03.2024

Int. J. Tech. 2024; 14(1):1-5.

DOI: 10.52711/2231-3915.2024.00001

R. Yasodha*, S. Shanthi

5. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

The data thus received from respondents about GHRM companies were analyzed using descriptive statistics and percentage analysis and ANOVA. The results of the analysis are as detailed below.

**R. Yasodha*, S. Shanthi**