1. Introduction
With the development of modern industry, ecological environment problems are emerging globally, such as the rise of global temperature, resource shortages, and pollution of water and soil resources. Global environmental treaties and regulations have become increasingly stringent, putting forward higher requirements for enterprises to assume environmental responsibilities. The green development of enterprises plays a vital role in promoting the green development of social economy and ecological sustainability [
1,
2]. Therefore, an increasing number of enterprises are promoting green development by practicing corporate social responsibility [
3]. However, research has shown that the implementation of green measures in enterprises largely depends on the participation of employees [
4]. Therefore, employee green behavior (EGB), which refers to employees’ behaviors in the organization to promote environmentally sustainable development at work, has become the key factor in promoting the green development of enterprises [
5]. On the one hand, employees are the undertakers of corporate environmental responsibility. EGB can improve the environmental reputation of enterprises and help enterprises gain a competitive advantage [
6]. On the other hand, employees’ green behavior will also improve the living environment and contributes to the sustainable development of society [
7]. According to the standards of autonomous behavior (organizational requirements and individual autonomy), EGB can be divided into two aspects: one is task-related green behavior (TGB), which refers to the green behavior implemented by employees to complete the core tasks required by the organization (such as performing the environmental responsibility specified in the responsibilities, complying with the environmental standards, etc.). The other is voluntary green behavior (VGB), which refers to the autonomous and environmental behavior (such as double-sided printing, and reminding colleagues to save energy, etc.), and has not been clearly recognized by the formal reward system [
8].
Given the importance of EGB, scholars have begun to pay attention to which management measures can stimulate these behaviors [
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10]. One such measure, green human resource management (GHRM) is a series of human resource management activities such as training, performance management, and recruitment, which is consistent with the company’s environmental objectives [
9] and can motivate EGB [
10,
11,
12]. Therefore, GHRM practices are crucial to ensuring employees’ engagement in environmentally friendly workplace behavior. GHRM directly affects EGB and indirectly affects it through various potential mechanisms [
13]. Thus, exploring the mechanism between GHRM and EGB is of great theoretical significance. However, studies on the mediating mechanism of the impact of GHRM on EGB are few. Dumont et al. (2017) studied the impact of GHRM on EGB with the mediating role of psychological green climate [
10]. Zhang et al. (2019) proved that information needs to play a mediating role in the impact mechanism of GHRM on EGB [
14]. Furthermore, previous studies have not distinguished the impact mechanism of GHRM on employees’ VGB and TGB but have observed differences between VGB and TGB. Therefore, the impact mechanism of GHRM on VGB and TGB should be different [
15].
In order to make up for this research gap, we discuss how GHRM influences these two kinds of EGB through different mechanisms according to different theories. One mediating variable is environmental belief (EB). According to self-determination theory, GHRM will affect employees’ judgment criteria and behavioral motivations in dealing with environmental problems, thus increasing their EB and prompting them to actively practice VGB. Another mediating variable is green organization identity (GOI). According to the social identity theory, GHRM will improve employees’ recognition of the organization’s green goals, thereby enhancing employees’ GOI, thus enabling employees to show more TGB in their work.
To sum up, based on social identity theory and self-determination theory, this study constructed a dual-mediation model, which used EB as a mediating variable to explore the mechanism of GHRM’s impact on employee VGB and used GOI as a mediating variable to explore the transmission mechanism of GHRM to employee TGB. Empirical research was carried out with manufacturing companies as the research object, with a view to enriching the theoretical research on the relationship between GHRM and EGB, while simultaneously providing ideas for manufacturing companies to promote EGB and develop GHRM.
3. Methodology and Measurement
3.1. Data Collection and Sample
To examine the theoretical model, data were collected from employees of enterprises in China’s manufacturing industry. This study selected manufacturing industry enterprises for two reasons: First, China has a massive manufacturing industry. Second, in recent years, China has been committed to green transformation and upgrading the manufacturing industry.
We administered a questionnaire from June to August 2020. First, we identified 30 enterprises that belong to the manufacturing industry. Second, we contacted the human resource department directors of these enterprises and explained to them the purpose of data collection. Then we sent a private email to all participants several days before the questionnaire survey to explain the research procedure. The email emphasized that our survey was for academic research purposes only and promised complete confidentiality.
A total of 278 electronic questionnaires were collected from the questionnaire survey, and invalid questionnaires such as those with irregular answers were eliminated. Finally, 228 samples were used for research and analysis, and the questionnaire’s effectivity rate was 80.94%. Valid questionnaires were obtained from 118 males and 110 females. Among them, 21.1% were aged 25 or below, 24.6% were aged 26 to 30, 31.6% were aged 31 to 40, 15.8% were aged 41 to 50, and 7% were aged 51 or above. Overall, 17.1% completed high school education and below, 29.4% completed college education, 36.0% completed undergraduate education, and 17.5% completed graduate degree and above. Production positions accounted for 38.6%, technical positions accounted for 28.9%, and management positions accounted for 32.5%.
3.2. Variable Measurement
The variables included GHRM, EB, GOI, VGB, and TGB. In the questionnaire, the scale for these variables used the existing studies to ensure the rationality of the questionnaire structure. We applied the back translation method to translate the original items to Chinese and modified some items according to the Chinese context. All items were measured using a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) except for control variables.
3.2.1. GHRM
This study selected the scale of six items from Dumont et al.’s scale [
10] to measure GHRM. The six items are as follows: (1) My company sets green goals for employees. (2) My company considers candidates’ green attitudes in recruitment and selection. (3) My company provides employees with green training to develop the knowledge and skills required for green management. (4) My company considers employees’ workplace green behavior in performance appraisals. (5) My company relates employees’ workplace green behaviors to rewards and compensation. (6) My company considers employees’ workplace green behaviors in promotion. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was 0.940.
3.2.2. EB
This study selected six items from Kim et al.’s scale [
18] to measure EB. The six items are as follows: (1) We are approaching the limit of the number of people the Earth can support. (2) Humans interfering with nature produces disastrous consequences. (3) Humans are seriously abusing the environment. (4) The Earth is like a spaceship with very limited room and resources. (5) The balance of nature is very delicate and easily breakable. (6) If things continue on their present course, we will soon experience a major ecological catastrophe. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was 0.904.
3.2.3. GOI
Six items on GOI from Chen et al.’s scale [
29] were adopted. The six items are follows: (1) Senior managers, middle managers, and employees of the organization are proud of its history regarding environmental management and protection. (2) Top managers, middle managers, and employees of the organization are proud of its environmental objectives and missions. (3) Senior managers, middle managers, and employees think that the organization has maintained a significant position for environmental management and protection. (4) Senior managers, middle managers, and employees of the organization think that the organization has formulated well-defined environmental objectives and missions. (5) Senior managers, middle managers, and employees of the organization are knowledgeable about its environmental tradition and culture. and (6) Senior managers, middle managers, and employees of the organization identify that it provides considerable attention to environmental management and protection. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was 0.875.
3.2.4. VGB
VGB was measured based on a revised version of the scale developed by Bissing-Olson et al. (2013) [
8]. The revised scale included three items. The items were as follows: (1) I took a chance to get actively involved in environmental protection at work. (2) I took initiative to act in environmentally friendly ways at work. (3) I did more for the environment at work than I was expected to. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was 0.840.
3.2.5. TGB
TGB was measured based on a revised version of the scale developed by Bissing-Olson et al. (2013) [
8]. The revised scale included three items. The items were as follows: (1) I adequately completed assigned duties in environmentally friendly ways. (2) I fulfilled responsibilities specified in my job description in environmentally friendly ways. (3) I performed tasks that are expected of me in environmentally friendly ways. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was 0.890.
3.2.6. Control Variables
According to existing research, this study selected gender, age, education, job nature, and industry as the control variables. Generally, gender and age were the common control variables because these variables are regarded as the basic factors in predicting employee behavior in organizational behavior research. Education will affect employees’ environmental attitude. Post and industry also have their potential effects on EGB. Thus, this study controlled for employee gender (1 = male, 2 = female), age (1 = under 25 years, 2 = 26–30 years, 3 = 31–40 years, 4 = 41–50 years; 5 = over 51 years), education (1 = senior high school or below, 2 = junior college, 3 = bachelor, 4 = postgraduate), post (1 = productive post, 2 = technical post, 3 = management post), and industry, which mainly included 18 manufacturing industries.
3.3. Data Analysis
The statistical software SPSS 23.0 and Mplus 7.4 were used to analyze data. First, SPSS 23.0 was used to test the reliability of the five key variables involved in this study. Second, Mplus 7.4 was used for confirmatory factor analyses, which can test the discriminant validity and the common method variance. Third, SPSS 23.0 was used for descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. Finally, we used regression analysis and bias-corrected bootstrapping analysis to test the hypotheses.
5. Conclusions and Implications
5.1. Research Conclusions
In recent years, the academia pay more and more attention to the role of human resource management in environmental management. GHRM, which refers to the alignment of HRM practices such as recruitment, training, and performance appraisal with the enterprise’s environmental goals, was put forwarded, and GHRM is suggested to facilitate environmental management by stimulating employees’ workplace green behavior [
10,
12,
14]. However, studies on the relationship between GHRM and EGB are limited. Furthermore, previous studies have not distinguished the impact mechanism of GHRM on employee VGB and TGB. To achieve this research objective, based on social identity theory and self-determination theory, this study constructed a dual-mediation model, which used EB as a mediating variable to explore the mechanism of GHRM’s impact on employee VGB and used GOI as a mediating variable to explore the effect mechanism of GHRM on employee TGB.
The results firstly show that GHRM positively affects VGB and TGB. This finding agrees with those of Jiang et al. [
13] and Domont et al. [
10], showing the direct relation of GHRM and employee green behavior. Furthermore, the results revealed that GHRM has more substantial effects on TGB than on VGB. The reason may be that TGB is restricted by organizational performance appraisal and salary management, which are closely related to employees’ income and career development. By contrast, VGB is an environment-friendly behavior that moves beyond the realm of their required work tasks, and this behavior will not get rewards according to performance appraisal; thus, GHRM-related practices may have had less direct impact on VGB than on TGB.
Second, GHRM indirectly and positively affects VGB in part through the mediating effect of EB. In other words, through green recruitment, green training, and green performance appraisal in human resource management practices, enterprises convey to employees the values and corporate culture that enterprises attach importance to environmental protection, influencing employees’ attitudes toward environmental issues and building their EB. Through the influence of these factors, employees can actively display VGB consistent with this belief. Furthermore, this study also found that the indirect effect of GHRM on VGB via EB only accounted for 36.65% of the total effect. Given that the belief is stable and difficult to change, EB formation takes a long time.
Third, GHRM indirectly and positively affects TGB in part through the mediating effect of GOI. GHRM transmits the organization’s green values and environmental goals to the organization’s members through various practices. In this process, employees’ recognition of the enterprise’s environmental goals is improved, and they then hope to win more environmental benefits for the organization by performing their tasks in a more environmentally friendly way. Furthermore, this study also found that the indirect effect of GHRM on TGB via GOI accounted for 67.68% of the total effect.
5.2. Theoretical Contributions
This study contributes to the literature from several aspects. First, based on the literature analysis of green human resource management and employees’ green behavior, this study confirms that GHRM can positively predict VGB and TGB through the combination of theoretical model construction and empirical research. As GHRM is an emerging concept, its actualization in the literature is minimal, and there are few empirical studies that have explored the relationship between GHRM and EGB. This research adds to the GHRM literature in relation to employee workplace consequences of GHRM, as well as the motivational and cognitive processes through which it exerts influences on VGB and TGB.
Second, an interesting finding of this study is that both VGB and TGB are related to GHRM practices, but they are realized through different processes. The explanation for this result as follows: VGB is a voluntary behavior, which is mainly influenced by intrinsic motivation. According to the self-determination theory, GHRM stimulates employees’ intrinsic motivation of environmental protection by influencing EB, and then promotes their VGB. However, TGB is directly related to green training, green evaluation, and reward. Based on the theory of social identity, the GHRM practice of the organization makes employees form a consensus that the organization attaches importance to environmental protection. Therefore, employees show TGB that is beneficial to the organization. Existing studies have not distinguished the impact mechanism of GHRM on employee VGB and TGB. This study of GHRM on VGB and TGB is from two different perspectives, which enriches the research on EGB and expands the research in the field of green management.
5.3. Management Implications
In order to implement the basic state policy of “resource conservation and environmental protection” and realize sustainable development, enterprises must actively assume social responsibility and implement environmental management. In the aspect of enterprise environmental management, the human resource management department plays the most critical role. In order to integrate sustainable development, environmental management, and human resource management, the trend of enterprises developing GHRM is irreversible. The results show that GHRM can significantly affect EGB at work and organizations can effectively improve employees’ environmental behaviors by transmitting the organization’s green values through human resource management. Furthermore, GHRM has different impacts on employee VGB and TGB. Therefore, when enterprises practice GHRM, they should pay attention to improving employees’ EB and GOI, thereby promoting employee VGB and TGB at the same time.
First, employees’ green tendency should be given attention in recruitment and selection, which is helpful to improve the possibility of employees engaging in green behaviors, ensuring that companies recruit employees with a positive green attitude, emphasizing information about the green agenda in recruitment campaigns and striving to recruit employees with high EB. In the selection process, we should pay attention to the employees who can accept the green values of the enterprise, so as to ensure that they are more likely to have GOI after starting their work.
Second, comprehensive green training should be provided for employees to improve their environmental awareness and practical operation ability. To be specific, enterprises should guide employees to think and handle their work in a more environmentally friendly way while cultivating their professional skills and knowledge. The organization’s green values are conveyed to inform employees about the enterprise’s environmental culture and understand its environmental protection strategy, enhancing their green behaviors.
Thirdly, through performance evaluation, salary management, and employee authorization, employees’ environmental awareness should be strengthened and they should be stimulated to actively display green behaviors in their work. Organizations should take appropriate measures to evaluate EGB and link them with performance and salary, so as to motivate employees to participate in more green activities. By increasing employee empowerment, employees can realize the impact of the enterprise on the ecological environment, which is conducive to improving employees’ initiative to think about environmental issues and their belief in environmental protection, so that they will put forward more reasonable suggestions for environmental management.
5.4. Research Limitations and Future Prospects
First, more industries can be covered in future research. Due to the driving factors such as strategy and performance as well as the relationship between corporate culture and stakeholders, different companies choose different ways for employees to participate in the sustainable development of the environment [
35]. There may be great differences in GHRM practices among different industries. Future studies can be carried out in other industries and compared with this study. Furthermore, perceptions of HRM practices tend to be different between different organizations; consequently, employee outcomes of GHRM practices are subject to organizational contextual effects [
36]. There may be significant differences in GHRM practices among different enterprises. For the limited number of units in the sample, the multilevel method cannot be used in this study. We suggest that future research should consider a multilevel approach to explore the impact of GHRM on employee outcomes.
Second, in the selection of variables, the moderator variable should be appropriately increased. This study explored the mechanism of GHRM on VGB and GHRM on TGB, respectively, but lacked the analysis of boundary conditions. The research was conducted in China’s context, where the government’s environmental rules and regulations and consumers’ environmental demands have an important impact on corporate environmental social responsibility and employees’ environmental awareness. In the future, environmental regulations and environmental demands of stakeholders can be added as moderating variables to study the mechanism of GHRM on EGB in different situations and clarify the boundary conditions of GHRM on EGB.
Finally, as GHRM covers different management practices, it can be learned from theoretical analysis that different HRM practices focus on different directions and have different impacts on employees. In future studies, we can separately study the impact of green recruitment, green training, and green employee performance evaluation on EGB.