Human Resource
Management
Management School,
University of Sheffield
Green (Environmental) HRM
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Green HRM Processes:
Recruitment
• Green/EM (Environmental Management) job descriptions
for employees
• And green goals included into managerial job descriptions
• Graduate perceptions of EM practises (use of Green
criteria)
• Green job candidates use Green criteria when applying for
jobs
• Recruitment of employees who are ‘Green aware’
becomes part of the interview schedule
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Green HRM Processes:
Recruitment
•Green employer branding (green employer of choice)
• Green intro. to inductions (familiarisation)
e.g. Health & Safety
• Becoming a green employer may produce other HR
benefits, such as:
• increased staff motivation and/or engagement
• reductions in labour turnover and
• increasing workforce health (CIPD research)
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PMA - Performance Mgmt. &
Appraisal
• Green performance standards & indicators in PMA at all
dept. levels
• Communication of Green schemes for all via
procedures/auditing to all levels in PMA scheme, est. firmwide dialogue on green matters
• Managers are set green targets, goals and responsibilities
• Roles of managers in achieving Green outcomes included
in appraisals (e.g. familiarisation, & encourage EM
learning)
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PMA - Performance Mgmt. &
Appraisal
• Green standards for all dept’s in on-site use, waste
mgmt./reduction (e.g.’s EG&G, Kodak, BFI)
• Mgmt. appraisals assess no. of green incidents, use of
environment responsibly, & successful communication of
environmental policy
• Penalties for non-compliance on targets in EM
•Link EM in PMA to Pay & Reward, stop EM as a ‘fad’
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Training & Development (T&D)
•Train front-line teams to analyze their work areas in EM
•Train to > staff concern for & emotional attachment to EM
impact
•Integrating EM training, & processes/material use, use
TNA in EM
•Integrating training on instruction and generation of ecovalues
•Development of employee skills, and competence building
in EM
•Socialisation in Green values/management, use of Green
teams in EM
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•Train staff to produce green analysis of workspace
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Training & Development (T&D)
• Job rotation to train green managers of the future
•Integrating training to increase staff knowledge in EM
•Use discussion packs (GEC), suggestions, interactive media
(ICI) as tools for EM training
•Training in EM aspects of safety, energy efficiency, waste
management, & recycling / Safety rep’s to give data on green
courses
•Develop Green personal & tacit skills, & knowledge in7 EM
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Training & Development (1)
•Re-train staff losing jobs in polluter industries (union role)
•EM affects job skills, so union role here
•Employers to develop EM training/skills in renewable
sector (e.g. T&G at Mill Chemicals)
•Union rep’s need time to attend Green training
•Unions include EM in training of union activists (e.g.’s
T&G, AMICUS, TUC, TUSDAC)
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Training & Development (1)
•Lack of take-up in training/education in EM
•Low level of management eco-literacy (hence IEM, UN, &
UK courses in EM, and this topic being taught to you
today!
•Line managers enact Green “learning cascade” (Rover
Group allocated 350 working days to such an initiative)
•Educate & train employees in EM business practices
(CIPD/KPMG)
•HR at E.ON/first direct are seen to be key to embed an EM
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culture
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Training & Development (2)
•Theory: Advanced EM is people intensive, meaning needs
employee development to increase tacit skills in EM
•Need to broaden EM specialists into managers (e.g.’s
DuPont, Unisor Sacilor), but how to do this is problematic
•EM problems are complex, so knowledge is important to
understand & utilise (e.g. mobile phones, pollution in 14
production areas!)
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Training & Development (2)
•Challenge is to install eco-values as there are few models
out there to support eco-investment (similar issues to HRM
& Org. Perf. case)
•Few Green courses at Universities – poses recruitment
issue for some firms, e.g. those in ‘clean coal’ such as
Babcock
•EM focus on developing personal skills/team-building in
global firms
•Unions want sustainability included into apprenticeships
(e.g.’s AMICUS, T&G).
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Training & Development (3): E.g.
Kent County Council (KCC)
KCC faces barriers to increased ownership in EM:
• Lack of commitment/will by seniors
• Cynicism of importance/relevance of issues
• Lack of resources/time
• Green fascism/policing
• New bureaucracy
• Cost constraints
• Communication/mentoring issues
• Lack of training
• Knowledge gaps
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Training & Development (4): KCC
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(1)
KCC faces problems such as:
• Few staff being trained effectively
• Green teams view other staff not resp. in EM
• Staff give token response/hostile rejection to EM
• Difficult to maintain EM due to other priorities
KCC is scoring some success, such as:
• Est. EM onto dept agendas, plans & projects
• Embracing EM agenda (achieving culture change)
• Helping dept’s to gain access to funding
• Implementing programmes in EM (like
water/energy efficiency, green purchasing, < paper
consumption, transport & waste, promoting
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resource efficiency.
Training Needs Analysis (TNA)
• Is useful to assess training required in EM (what
Green knowledge & skills staff need)
• Options include using specialists or survey staff
• Org’s may est. firm EM training committee to
alert managers that EM is imp. & has resources
dedicated to it, e.g. Duke Power, & combine
knowledge categories (contextual processes/intraorg) to develop less toxic cleaners - e.g. NUMMI
But problems here include:
• Extra work for operations mgrs/workers (new
rules/ restrictions); ensuring mgrs release staff for
EM training; integrating training into PMA; gaps
in mgmt decisions/branch performance (technical
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inadequacy, ignorance, mis-use of time), e.g. ESB
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Employment Relations
•Employee Involvement & Participation (EI&P) in EM
suggestion schemes/problem-solving circles (encourages
concern/applies skills)
•Staff independence to form & experiment with green ideas
•Integrate EI&P to EM - productive maintenance (cleaning,
greasing)
•Employee help-line for guidance in Green matters
•Tailor Green EI scheme to industry/firm standards (esp.
SMEs)
•Increase line/supervisory support behaviours in EM 15
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Employment Relations
•Unions EM agreements (TUSDAC) train union rep’s
(GMB, T&G)
•Green elements into Health & Safety, < exposure to
fumes/chemicals
•Encouraging U.K. employees to use green transport
(CIPD/KPMG)
•Set-up low carbon champions (CEO/Board) e.g. E.ON, <
footprints
•Introduce EM whistle-blowing help-lines, EM grievance &
discipline procedure, dismissal for EM breaches (& U.K.
legal position)
•Use/develop social capital in EM, networks, resources 16(e.g.
NUMMI)
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Employment Relations (1)
•
EI&P to cut waste, as employees have:
(i) the most knowledge of work processes/products,
(ii) can manage such complex work well, and
(iii) doing so builds their pride & commitment to work, e.g.
SMEs
•
•
•
EI&P to < pollution, and > revenue
Problem is mgmt record is low on linking EM to H&S
EI to motivate workers in EM (detect leaks), & to
develop worker EM schemes (recycling), e.g.’s Argos &
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first direct
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Employment Relations (1)
Barriers to > EI in EM:
•Lack of management support for EM (e.g.
Rover/KCC/Accenture)
•Unions may lack access to EM information, and education,
& training in EM – all of which undermine union bargaining
power
•Workers may not see EM as an issue ‘for them’, unlike pay
which may be a more direct concern
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Employee Relations (ER)/Involvement (EI)
Firms may use EI to generate revenue & reduce pollution:
• e.g. 3M, (2,500 solutions/waste release halved/saved
$300m, & later estimates of 4,750 projects
globally/preventing £1.7bn of pollution/ saved $850m
pollution control/raw material costs)
• e.g. American Airlines flight attendants recycled
616,000 pounds of aluminium cans (gain of $40,000)
• e.g. Dow Chemicals 173% ROI in 1st year.
• Other examples include schemes at Chrysler/Jeep,
AT&T, Wheeling-Pittsburgh
Firms may establish firm policies to support employee ecoinitiatives, & use supervisors to support employee EM
actions:
• e.g. GE Plastics, Lucent Technologies, Neste Oy 19
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Employee Involvement (EI) (1)
Firms may use EI as it can motivate workers in EM, by:
• Allowing them to detect leaks in production processes
• Increase team knowledge of causes of waste, & how to
reduce these (as this is delegated to them). E.g’s:
• Chrysler/Jeep (recycling)
• AT&T (waste disposal)
• 3M/Kodak/DuPont/Procter & Gamble (all waste
reduction)
• See gains from EI in improvements in EM & workers
H&S, & the development of more knowledgeable
employees/supervisors in EM as a whole
• Est. & use worldwide Green forums to share info. Re.
EM processes, &/or offer help-line for staff - e.g.
Cable & Wireless
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Union Role
• Unions may act as allies to Environmental
Managers (EM’s) to generate self-directed Green
initiatives from workers, e.g.
NUMMI & Dunlop
• Campaign in EM to incl. co-operation with green
groups, & focus on H&S concerns re.
Hazardous/damaging substances & refusal to handle
toxic waste - e.g. Unions & Greenpeace
• Seek legal rights for workers to paid time-off to
attend training in EM, & be informed of outcomes
on monitoring discharges/emissions
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Union Role
• Employers may encourage union members to be
involved in
Green programmes, e.g. Sony, who do
this to < glass
defects/waste glass & < energy use
• Be reluctant to involve unions in EM as they see
EM as a mgmt issue (e.g. U.K. CBI oppose
mandatory Green audits/union role in them, & see
them as tools for mgmt control/assessment)
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Jobs & Employment
Unions may be caught in contradiction of looking to
support staff on opposite sides of EM conflicts:
• e.g. Welsh dockers refusing to handle toxic waste
were represented by the same union as others at
incineration plants asked to dispose of such waste!
• Jobs growth may occur from focus on EM, e.g.
DTI see future for power/wind generation & EM
control systems
• U.K. forecasts – up to 1,000 skilled jobs from
using wind technology, & 10 jobs per megawatt of
renewable power used
• 30,000 jobs forecast in UK renewables sector
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before 2015, & job gains from using bio-mass too
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Jobs & Employment (1)
Recycling:
May have created 35-78,000 new U.K.
jobs by 2010, & complex schemes may create more
skilled employment than landfill
• e.g. DTI, estimate up to 35,000 working on ‘green’
jobs in UK by 2020!
Areas of job growth related to EM include:
• In the energy industry (up from 8k in 2007), & in:
• solar power/hydrogen/biofuels/coal-to-liquid tech.
• Issue of labour re-allocation from non to Green
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employment (see ILO)
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Pay & Reward (P&R)
•Need for a Green pay/reward system to < waste, e.g.
DuPont/3M, & gain knowledge (such as chemistry re.
emissions), e.g. Bhopal
•Tailor packages to reward green skills acquisition (3M pay
for them)
•Use of monetary-based EM rewards (bonuses, cash,
premiums)
•Use of non-monetary based EM rewards (sabbaticals, leave,
gifts) & recognition-based ones (awards, publicity, external
roles, daily praise)
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Pay & Reward (P&R)
•Develop negative reinforcements (criticism, warnings,
suspensions for lapses) NB: negatives teach little about
waste disposal/disclosure
•Develop positive rewards in EM (e.g. feedback)
•Establish PRP in EM to gain stewardship/citizenship (esp.
seniors)
•Link EM suggestion scheme to reward system &
participation in EM initiatives to career gains (mgrs.
advance by helping staff in EM)
•Use green tax breaks, Line have rewards to motivate
employees in EM
•Difficult to assess staff efforts/results in EM, & to reward
it
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Pay & Reward (1)
Use monetary-based Green reward systems:
• E.g. BFI, imp. % of mgmt monthly pay bonuses
dependent on outcomes achieved in EM
• DuPont & Neste Oy use exec pay/bonuses for
middle mgrs/seniors partly based on stewardship
practices/perf. goals in EM - part of bonus system
• ICI set EM targets for senior mgmt PRP grading
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Pay & Reward (1)
Use recognition-based rewards for mgrs:
• E.g. Monsanto/Dow/ICI/Coors (present awards at public
meetings)
• Duke Power (awards publicised via news articles)
Make recognition at different levels:
• E.g. at EG&G for individual/team/division contributions
to waste <
• Xerox company-wide team excellence awards
• Body Shop pay staff to complete Green community
service/events
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• FedEx give 3 months paid leave to work on EM projects
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P&R (2)
Issues:
• Need to develop rewards to motivate juniors, &
link promotions to staff outputs in EM. E.g.’s:
• Amicus/Legal & General annual Green awards
scheme (open to all non-mgmt staff)
• BSkyB: staff build points for Green behaviours on
firm credit card to earn > benefits
• Sky: £1,300 cash incentive for hybrid cars (UoS?)
• first direct First direct: annual awards dinner
recognises EM behaviours
• CIPD/KPMG: 8% of UK firms reward Green
behaviours with non-cash rewards
• Shell: view (& reward?) staff highly with
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knowledge / experience in bio-fuels
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P&R (3)
Organisations may provide EM incentives. E.g.’s:
• Car mileage for company cars can be extended to
cover bike journeys/loans.
• Staff can be offered financial substitutes for car
allowances encouraging car pooling/sharing.
• Company cars can be limited to journeys beyond
public transport.
• Tax incentives/exemptions can be used to loan
bikes/safety equipment to staff.
• Organisations can use a less polluting car fleet.
• E.g. Rover, used suggestion scheme where if
savings made by staff were over a certain level,
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reward for them was a new car! Hence…
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Exit
• Dismissal/exit de-briefings could include an EM
dimension, as mgrs need to know why staff leave
• Employers formulate & use whistle-blowing codes, &
provide legal protection for users of them
• Employers avoid stereotyping of whistle-blowers & use of
‘reverse’ whistle-blowing practices
• Managers to ask if Green issues are reasons for
resignations (too little EM? moving to a more Green
employer?)
• Exit interviews & whistle-blower accounts to gauge firm
Green-ness
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Exit
CIPD:
• Equality Act (2006) – Tribunals to decide if ‘Green
beliefs’ are grounds for protecting employees against
discrimination in employment/vocational training
• - similar to those on ‘religious belief’, are such beliefs
respected?
• Employers may need policy in EM & to respond to ‘Green
belief’ requests by employees
• (e.g. for less travel, more recycling facilities, more flexible
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Discussion
At present:
• Employees’ personal values aren’t fully exploited
towards achieving corporate EM initiatives
• Personnel/HR function appears under-rated and
needs to interact with others re. EM matters
• Many orgs do not use an integrated approach to
implement EM programmes & achieving it is
difficult due to changing unsustainable practices
that staff have learnt over decades
• Issues arise in changing the approach of some HR
staff to green issues – as a minority are actively
hostile to EM & feel it detracts from HR being
taken seriously as a business partner (CIPD) 33
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Discussion (1)
Some British HR mgrs question EM, saying:
• The existence of global warming is not proven,
and there is a need for debate on Green issues
• The EM case is ‘not proven’, & ‘a lot of hype’
• Green employers are a form of ‘Green extremism’
• HR should not jump on ‘political bandwagons’, as
this does the HR profession ‘no good’ when
‘striving to be taken seriously by business’
• Problem: HR’s professional identity is close to
mgmt. Hart: it is ‘an ally to the present economic
system that is destroying the environment itself’
• Also, need to monitor all mgmt styles used in EM,
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& to engage mgrs in EM (as mgrs may not care)
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Green HR Roles
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HR Generalists
(Today?)
Light Green
HR Environmental
Generalists
(Tomorrow?)
Green
HR Non-Environ.
Specialists
(Yesterday?)
Non-Green
HR Environmental
Specialists
(Tomorrow?)
Dark Green
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Discussion (3)
HR role could be to:
• Guide line mgrs to gain staff co-operation to
implement EM policies & seek out allies to
change the status quo
• Integrate HRM & EM, E.g NUMMI use
knowledge mgmt, EI, EP, employment screening,
training, redundancy, < status differentials, &
mgmt style to > EM in practice
• Use org. culture to create climate of support for
participation/collaboration. E.g. NUMMI use of
employee screening for co-operative people,
socialisation via intensive training to remove
adversarial mind-sets, a no-lay off policy, and
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reductions in status differentials to generate trust
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Discussion (4)
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Many U.K. HR staff embrace EM today. Examples:
• HR at Cable & Wireless implementing EM
programme through global H&S function.
• E.ON optimise desk space – encourage working
from home (if feasible), use online (live) meetings
(to < staff travel between offices), & car-sharing
• Sky campaign to turn off power sources when
staff leave offices, using 100% renewable energy,
& introducing solar lighting.
• First direct travel policy to promote car sharing,
and > use of public transport.
• Boots < car journeys by 20%, use of intranet carpooling scheme, e-HR helps staff track emissions37
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CIPD survey: Discussion (5)
• 23% of HR professionals see HR as having
ownership of environmental issues
• 40% see HR should take facilitator role in EM
• 23% see HR should take an assist others EM role
• HR are well-placed to lead on introducing EM, as
have experience in communication/culture change
• HR role - HR can develop a report in EM, (incl.
policy statement, targets, progress measures,
impact assessment), & a policy framework to bind
together EM initiatives in transport, flexible
working, energy efficiency, & recycling.
• Use of EM reports may encourage line managers
& employees to take pride in EM in their firms 38
Discussion (6)
• Successful EM seen to be underpinned by
understanding of work attitudes & personal
motivation of staff towards job/org/colleagues
• E.g. Neste Oy: EM motivators = gender (women
more), & professional values, but not pay!
• Hence importance of intrinsic motivation &
vocational call as employee motivators to EM
• & not ethical concern &/or family/religious values
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Discussion (6)
• Emphasis on designing HRM policies that tend to
promote worker co-operation/involvement with
firm EM objectives
• extrinsic factors that centre on EM policies, &
intrinsic ones on staff skills/values
• Firms need to offer staff motivating devices of
immunity & protection when reporting EM issues
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Conclusions
• EM in HRM – Green HRM – can be understood through
using a process model (detailed above)
• Green HRM is relatively new, as the HR function is one
of the last management functions to ‘go green’
• A future research agenda in Green HRM could include
trying to understand what drives Green mgmt./employee
behaviours (fear? guilt? other?)
• Read our SUMS Discussion paper on Green HRM, at:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/management/research/papers/abstracts/200801.html
& click on PDF in ‘Downloads/download the file’
• See CIPD publication People Management for details of
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their ‘HR goes Green’ campaign
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Initial Readings
• Renwick, Redman and Maguire (2008)
• Jabbour and Santos (2008)
• Brio, Fernandez and Junquera (2007)
(see Module Pack for full details)
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