SUBJECT : Human Resource Management

TOPIC : Green Human Resource Management

SUBMITTED TO,

Dr. Normala S. Govindarajo

Deputy Dean,
IQRA Business School
Geomatika University College

SUBMITTED BY,
Zinat A Tabassum

Passport No: BB0008537

Date of Submission: 28/03/2017

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CONTENT

No Content Page

1 Introduction 3

2 Green Human Resource Management 3-4

3 Green job design and analysis 4

4 Green Human Resource Planning 5

5 Green recruitment 5-6

6 Green selection 6

7 Green induction 6

8 Green performance evaluation 6-8

9 Green training and development 8-9

10 Green reward management 9

11 Green health and safety management 9-10

12 Green employee discipline management 10

13 Green employee relations 10

14 Green HR in Grameenphone 10-12

15 Conclusion 12

16 Recommendation 12-13

17 Reference 14

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Introduction:
Green HR is the use of HRM policies to promote the sustainable use of resources within
business organizations and, more generally, promotes the cause of environmental
sustainability. Green HR involves two essential elements. They are Environmentally-friendly
HR practices and the preservation of knowledge capital. Nowadays it seems that a
considerable number of organizations practice green human resource management practices
in the global context. Exploring and synthesizing about these green HRM practices which are
being practiced and are to be practiced by the business and other organizations will contribute
significantly to the HRM field academically and practically. Green human resources refer to
using every employee touch point interface to promote sustainable practices and increase
employee awareness and commitments on the issues of sustainability. It involves undertaking
environment-friendly HR initiatives resulting in greater efficiencies, lower costs and better
employee engagement and retention which in turn, help organizations to reduce employee
carbon footprints by the likes of electronic filing, car sharing, job-sharing, Tele-conferencing
and virtual interviews, recycling, telecommuting, online training, energy-efficient office
spaces etc. The HR function will become the driver of environmental sustainability within the
organization by aligning its practices and policies with sustainability goals reflecting an eco-
focus. It involves undertaking environment-friendly HR initiatives resulting in: 1) greater
efficiencies, and 2) lower costs and better employee engagement and retention. With this brief
introduction, this assignment introduces green HR and then deals with green HRM practices,
next section provides a brief discussion and final section presents the conclusion.

Green Human Resource Management:

Green management initiatives become an important factor in forward thinking business

houses around the world. Green HR initiatives help companies find alternative ways to cut
cost without losing their top talent; furloughs, part time
work, etc. There is a growing need for strategic Green HRM the integration of
environmental management into HRM. HR professionals indicated that encouraging
employees to be more environmentally friendly in the workplace was the top practice for
their organizations. This means that organizations are encouraging their employees to
perform activities such as making double-sided photocopies, powering down computers after
a few minutes of inactivity, using energy-efficient bulbs for desk lamps, ensuring blinds are
lowered in the summer to conserve energy, donating / discounting used office furniture /
supplies to employees or local charity was the top environmentally responsible practice.

Nowadays companies are implementing EMS (Environmental Management System) a

strategic tool, to gain competitive advantage. This system provides better control of firms
environmental impacts. It includes commitment, policy, planning, implementation,
measurement and evaluation, review and improvement of HR systems that fit with
organizations culture and long-term goals.

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From recruitment/onboarding to exit of an employee, Green HR policies can touch upon
every facet of an employee career cycle. Let us see how!

Marketing your organization and its policies not just as 'Employee friendly' but also as 'Eco
friendly' can bring in lots of high potential candidatures during recruitment. Survey data in
the United Kingdom shows that high-achieving graduates judge the environmental
performance and reputation of a company as a criterion for decision-making when applying
for jobs. Moreover, using technology for pre-screening, interviews, joining formalities, etc.
can save lots of paperwork, travelling and time ultimately reduces the carbon footprints for
both the employer and the job seekers. Induction for new recruits is seen to be needed to
ensure they understand and approach their corporate environmental culture in a serious way.
Therefore sustainable development issues must be integrated into the recruitment process.

Green job design and analysis:

In general, job descriptions can be used to specify a number of environmental protection

related task, duties and responsibilities (Wehrmeyer, 1996; Renwick et al, 2008 and 2013).
These days, some companies have incorporated environmental and social tasks, duties and
responsibilities as far as possible in each job in order to protect the environment. In some
companies, each job description includes at least one duty related to environmental protection
and also specifically includes environmental responsibilities whenever and wherever
applicable.

Job descriptions and person (job) specifications may include environmental, social, personal,
and technical requirements of the organizations as far as possible. For example,
environmental protection duties should be included, along with the allocation of
environmental reporting roles and health and safety tasks (Crosbie and Knight, 1995;
Wehrmeyer, 1996; North, 1997; Revill, 2000). In addition, some companies use teamwork
and cross-functional teams as job design techniques to successfully manage the
environmental issues of the company (May and Flannery, 1995; Florida, 1996; Clement,
1997; Palmer and Andrews, 1997; Beard and Rees, 2000; Griffiths and Petrick, 2001; Daily
and Huang, 2001; Govindarajulu and Daily, 2004; Jabbour, Santos, and Nagano, 2010). It is
because of the reason that environmental protection task of a company requires or demands
multi-disciplinary team works.

Nowadays many companies have designed environmental concerned new jobs or positions in
order to focus exclusively on environmental management aspects of the organizations. From
the perspective of HRM, it is really a valuable initiation and practice to protect the
environment. Moreover, some companies have involved in designing their existing jobs in a
more environmentally friendly manner by incorporating environmental cantered duties and
responsibilities. These are some of the best green HRM practices which can figure out under
the functions called green job design and green job analysis.

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Green human resource planning

At present, some companies engage in forecasting number of employees and types of

employees, needed to implement corporate environmental management
initiatives/programs/activities (e.g. ISO 14001, cleaner production, responsible care etc.).
These are good practices some leading companies have adopted to manage their
environmental issues. The corporate environmental management initiatives demand some
new job positions and specific set of skills. Green human resource planning gets required in
this context. In addition these companies engage in deciding strategies to meet the forecasted
demand for environmental works (e.g. appointing consultants/experts to perform energy or
environmental audits) and sometimes they are outsourcing. As far as existing literature is
concerned, it did not clearly specify the practices under the function of green human resource
planning. However, based on the observations of the industries and organisations, it is
possible to identify certain green human resource planning practices.

Green recruitment

In general, environment concerned companies have their own environmental policy

framework. In materializing the established environmental policies, companies need
environmentally oriented workforce. In creating environmental oriented workforce,
companies have two options: First is focusing on green recruitment. Second is providing
required environmental protection related awareness, education, training and development to
the existing workforce. The first option is more proactive and cost effective than the second
option. Hence, searching best green recruitment practices is important to organizations. In the
recruitment context, what some companies are doing is that they integrate corporate
environmental policy and strategies with the recruitment policy of the company. A survey by
the British Carbon Trust confirms that most of the employees (more than 75%) considering
working for an organisation perceived it as important that they have an active environmental
policy to reduce carbon emissions (Clarke, 2006).

On the other hand, potential employees also search and want to work in the environmental
concerned organizations. In United Kingdom environmental issues have an impact on
organizations recruitment efforts, and according to a survey high-achieving graduates judge
the environmental performance and reputation of a company as a criterion for
decisionmaking when applying for job vacancies (Wehrmeyer, 1996; Oates, 1996). The
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) believe in that becoming a green
employer may improve employer branding, company image and is a useful way to attract
potential employees who have environmental orientation (CIPD, 2007).

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Attracting environmentally aware talent might be facilitated by pro-active branding of the
organization as a high-quality green employer of choice (Renwick et al, 2008; Jackson et
al, 2011). Increasingly, firms are beginning to recognize that gaining a reputation as a green
employer is an effective way to attract new talent (Phillips, 2007; Stringer, 2009). Really, Sri
Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management Vol.5, No.1, 2015 5 environmentally
responsible employers can attract talent that they needed to implement corporate
environmental management initiatives and ultimately it contributes to achieve organizations
environmental goals.

Additionally, in order to attract environmentally concerned people for job vacancies, job
advertisements of some companies express certain environmental values (e.g. be a part of the
green team of ABC.. or we are a socially and environmentally responsible employer) in their
job advertisements. Some companies also express their preferences to recruit candidates who
have competency and attitudes to participate in corporate environmental management
initiatives too. These are some of the green recruitment practices an organisation can have.

Green selection:

In the selection context, when making selection for the job vacancies some companies
consider candidates environmental concern and interest as selection criteria. When
interviewing candidates or evaluating them for selection, environmental-related questions are
asked by those companies (Crosbie and Knight, 1995; Wehrmeyer, 1996; North, 1997; Revill,
2000). Really, these are some of the good green selection practices any organisation can
adopt to select environmental friendly people in addition to the normal selection criteria
relating to the specific duties of the job being concerned. Table 4 shows a list of the existing
HRM practices under the green selection.

Green induction:

Induction for new employees seems to be needed to ensure they understand and approach
their corporate environmental culture in a serious way (Wehrmeyer, 1996). Companies can
adopt two approaches in respect of green induction. They are general green induction and job
specific green induction. Some companies practice general green induction. After selecting
the candidates for the posts, these companies provide necessary basic information about the
corporate environmental management policy, system and practices. In some instances, certain
organizations do specific green induction as well to their new recruits. They induct new
employees about environmental orientation programs specific to their jobs. In general, these
two green induction practices are important for any organization nowadays.

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Green performance evaluation:

Measuring employee green performance of job is one of the key functions in green HRM.
Without this practice any organisation cannot ensure the realistic environmental performance
(firm level) in long term basis. Evaluation of green performance of employee must be done
separately or at least as a part of the performance evaluation system of the organisation. The

Sri Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management Vol.5, No.1, 2015

measurement criteria of employee green performance of job must be carefully aligned with
the organizations criteria of environmental performance.

In order to sustain good environmental performance, organizations must establish

Environmental Management Information Systems (EMIS) and environmental audits. Many
organizations have established environmental management information systems (Wells et al,
1993), and environmental audits (Carpenter, 1994). Schwalm (1994) states that the aim of an
environmental management information system is to effectively monitor the large number of
pollution, resource usage, energy and regulatory requirements an organisation encounters.
Milliman and Clair (1996) state that when an EMIS has been developed, it is important that it
is not just used for reporting purposes, but should also be integrated with performance
appraisals of managers as well as employees. Incorporating corporate environmental
management objectives and targets with the performance evaluation system of the
organisation is a must for any organization nowadays. Organizations must include
environmental issues as well as environmental incidents, take-up of environmental
responsibilities and the success of communicating environmental concerns and policy within
the performance evaluation system of the company (Wehrmeyer, 1996).

Installing corporate-wide environmental performance standards is also a must in the green

performance evaluation context. Firms like Amoco in the United States (U.S.) have tackled
them by installing corporate-wide environmental performance standards (which cover on-site
use, waste management, environmental audits, and the reduction of waste) to measure
environmental performance standards, and developing green information systems and audits
(to gain useful data on managerial environmental performance). The Union Carbide
Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, that includes a
green audit programme that contains field audits which are seen as important, as they can
give employees a mechanism by which they can raise any recurring problems, and gain
information and feedback on past and future environmental performance of their firm
(Milliman and Clair, 1996).

Installing corporate-wide environmental performance standards or establishing green

performance indicators into performance management system, and appraisals is not adequate.
Communication of green schemes, performance indicators and standards to all levels of staff
through performance evaluation system and establishing firm-wide dialogue on green matters

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are also needed to materialize targeted environmental performance (Renwick et al, 2008;
Renwick et al, 2013).

Managers must set green targets, goals and responsibilities for their sections or divisions or
departments, they should assess number of green incidents, use of environment responsibility,
and successful communication of environmental policy within their scope of their operations
(Renwick et al, 2008; Renwick et al, 2013).

For example, some companies have environmental goals (targets) for each employee or group
(team) or department or division to achieve in a given period of time. Those companies
formally evaluate the extent to which each employee, group (team), department or division
has achieved environmental goals (targets). And also supervisors and managers of those
companies give regular feedback to the employees or teams to achieve environmental goals
or improve their environmental performance. Table 6 shows a list of the existing and certain
new HRM practices under the green performance evaluation.

Green training and development:

Providing environmental training to the organizational members (non-managerial employees

and managers) to develop required skills and knowledge is an important function of green
HRM. This will be helpful to implement corporate environmental management programs of
the company (Cook and Seith, 1992). Providing training to encourage recycling and waste
management, supporting flexible schedules and telecommuting, and reducing long-distance
business travel (Jackson et al, 2011) are very useful to reduce the negative environmental
impacts of the organisations.

Creating environmental awareness among the workforce by conducting seminars and

workshops at organizational level is also important to achieve good environmental
performance. Providing environmental education that will result in a change of attitude and
behaviour among managers and non-managerial employees (North, 1997) is also needed to
the organisations. For example, in Fuji Xerox Singapore, every staff goes through
ecoawareness training, as well as the sales forces receive education on the green aspects of its
product and supplies. Apart from these, some organizations celebrates annual environmental
day at company/organization level by organizing many competitive programs for
nonmanagerial employees, managers and children of employees. This is also a good practice
to inculcate certain key eco-values among the workforce as well as their family members.

Renwick et al, (2008 and 2013) suggest certain green training and development practices
such as training staff to produce green analysis of workspace, application of job rotation to
train green managers of the future, provision of specific training on environmental

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management aspects of safety, energy efficiency, waste management, and recycling,
development of green personal skills, and re-training of staff losing jobs in relevant polluter
industries.

Environmental related education, training and development are key areas of green HRM in an
organisation. Without proper education, training and development, materializing targeted
environmental performance of a firm is very difficult to achieve. Therefore, it seems that
certain companies have actually realized the importance of green education, training and
development in their organizational setting. Nowadays, some companies seriously analyse
and identify environmental training needs of employees in order to make them more
environmental concerned workforce. Really, these are good practices and also needed to
implement corporate environmental management initiatives. Based on environmental training
needs analysis of the workforce, these companies conduct serious and systematic education,
training and development programs which are given to the employees for the purpose of
providing needed knowledge, skills and attitudes for good environmental management.

Green reward management

Green reward management is another key function of green HRM. The sustainability of
organisations environmental performance is highly dependent on the green reward
management practices of the organisations. To motivate managers and non-managerial
employees on corporate environmental management initiatives, green reward management
has significant contributions. Organizations can practice it in two ways such as financial and
non-financial. In some companies employees are financially (e.g. incentives, bonuses, cash)
rewarded for their good environmental performance. In some other companies, employees are
non-financially rewarded (awards/special recognitions/honors/prizes) for their good
environmental performance.

Green health and safety management :

The green health and safety management is really beyond the scope of traditional health and
safety management function of HRM. It really includes the traditional health and safety
management and some more aspects of environmental management of an organisation. That
is why nowadays many organizations are redesigning post of health and safety manager as
health, safety and environmental manager. This post includes a wider job scope when
compared with traditional post of health and safety manager in an organisation. For example,
it includes biodiversity protection and community support initiatives etc. The key role of
green health and safety management is to ensure a green workplace for all. Green workplace
is defined as a workplace that is environmentally sensitive, resource efficient and socially
responsible (SHRM, 2009). At present there are companies where traditional health and
safety function was extended to include environmental management/protection. These
companies have continually endowed to create various environmental related initiatives to
reduce employee stress and occupational disease caused by hazardous work environment.

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In order to improve health and safety of employees, some companies have really created
strategies (e.g. green factory/green zone) to maintain a conducive environment to prevent
various health problems. These aspects can be considered as some examples for green health
and safety management practices of the organizations. Some proactive companies (3M,
DuPont, Allied, Signal, Amoco, and Monsanto) in environmental management found that
management of environment and its cost lead to improvements in the health of employees
and local communities, enhancing the image of the company as a desirable employer and
corporate citizen.

Green employee discipline management:

Wehrmeyer (1996) stated explicitly that green discipline management is a pre-requisite in

corporate environmental management. In ensuring green employee behaviour in the
workplace, organizations may need green discipline management practices to achieve the
environmental management objectives and strategies of the organisation.

Green employee relations:

The evolution of green HRM has penetrated into the employee relations and union
management activities of the organisation. In green HRM, employee relations and union
support (in a unionized workforce context) are critical in implementing corporate
environmental management initiatives and programs. Some companies have strategies (joint
consultations, gain sharing, recognizing union as a key stakeholder in environmental
management) to get the expected support of trade unions for corporate environmental
management initiatives. Really it a good practice to increase firms environmental
performance.

Green HR in Grameenphone:

Company Introduction: Grameenphone the leading telecommunications operator of

Bangladesh is part of Telenor Group which has presence in 13 markets across Europe and
Asia.

Before Grameenphones inception, the phone was for a selected urbanized few. The cell
phone was a luxury: a flouting accessory for the select elite. The mass could not contemplate
mobile telephony as being part of their lives.

Grameenphone started its journey with the Village Phone program: a pioneering initiative to
empower rural women of Bangladesh. The name Grameenphone translates to Rural phone.

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Starting its operations on March 26, 1997, the Independence Day of Bangladesh,
Grameenphone was the first operator to introduce GSM Technology in this country.
Grameenphone pioneered the then breakthrough initiative of mobile to mobile telephony and
became the first operator to cover 99% of the countrys people with network.

Company Size: Since its inception Grameenphone has built the largest cellular network in
the country with over 9700 base stations. Presently, nearly 99 percent of the country's
population is within the coverage area of the Grameenphone network. Grameenphone has
always been a pioneer in introducing new products and services in the local telecom market.

Grameenphone was also the first telecommunication operator in Bangladesh to introduce the
pre-paid service in September 1999. It established the first 24-hour Call Center, introduced
value-added services such as VMS, SMS, fax and data transmission services, international
roaming service, WAP, SMS-based push-pull services, EDGE, personal ring back tone and
many other products and services. In October 2013 the company launched 3G services
commercially. The entire Grameenphone network is 3G/EDGE/GPRS enabled, allowing
access to high-speed Internet and data services from anywhere within the coverage area.

Customers: There are currently over 2.2 million Internet users in the Grameenphone
network.

Today, Grameenphone is the leading and largest telecommunications service provider in

Bangladesh with more than 55 million subscribers as of October, 2016.

Company Values: Grameenphone is promising the following 5 values:

Make It Easy

They are practical. Everything they should be easy to understand and use. Because they never
forget they are trying to make the customers' lives easier.

Keep Promises

They are creative. They bring energy and imagination to the work. They want to be a partner
in the development of their community. They are passionate about business, customers and
country.

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Be Inspiring

Everything they set out to do should work. If it does not, they put things right. They are about
delivery, not over promising - actions not words.

Be Respectful

They acknowledge and respect the local culture. They are respectful and professional in
regard to all our interactions, both internally and externally. They are open, helpful and
friendly.

Green HR Practices: Grameenphone has some additional features in comparison to its

competitors. It is playing a vital role to increase the subscribers of Grameenphone. Another
important thing is that GP is practicing green HR.

Their all activities are online based. They provide their in computerized way. Especially their
customer service, they dont use any paper based system which is not friendly for
environment. They are providing their 3G large coverage throughout the country. Using their
internet other Organization are contributing for green HR.

Conclusion:

The future of Green HRM appears promising for all the stakeholders of HRM. Socially
responsible and sustainable service sector organizations that employ green HRM practices
reap benefits by attracting and retaining good employees. Improved employee retention
translates into low replacement costs. Many green companies these days boast low employee
turnover rates compared to their non-sustainable counterparts. Green HR emphasizes the
importance of the decisions, processes and choices organizations make about managing
people and shows how workforce management directly affects strategic organizational
outcomes. It provides guidance for managers on how to make better human capital decisions
in order to achieve strategic success more effectively.

Recommendation:

Green HRM policies encourage the sustainable use of resources within business enterprises to
promote the cause of environmentalism and in the process, create improved employee morale
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and satisfaction. The topic of green HRM is attracting increased attention among
management scholars and entrepreneurs especially related to service sector to use as a tool for
their competitive advantage. The slogan should be-

GO GREEN AND STAY AHEAD

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