Turning HR Green Can Boost Innovation In Organisations, Research Shows

Companies which can create and maintain green human resource management (HRM) practices are more likely to foster green creativity amongst their employees, boosting their capacity for innovation and overall competitiveness, as well as doing good for the planet, according to new research from Durham University Business School.

The study, conducted by Professor Zhibin Lin, alongside Xiaoqin Liu and Yanling Sun from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China sought to investigate the link between sustainably-focused HRM activities and staff-led efforts to create green solutions and innovations within their organisations.

Companies are under increasing pressure from industry bodies, governments and customers to act more responsibly in regards to the planet. The researchers state that embedding a green culture within the ethos of an organisation is the most reliable way to ensure companies can remain compliant and innovative.

Professor Lin says,

“Embedding sustainability in the culture of an organisation has emerged as a critical factor for organisational success due to the impact it has on employees. Through staff initiative, companies may benefit from more efficient product designs, better methods to reduce waste or the creation of entirely new green products and practices. Employee green creativity is therefore a key driver of firm performance and competitive advantage.”

To foster this, he continues, many organisations are aligning HR activities such as recruitment, training, incentive schemes and performance management with environmental objectives.

However, despite such efforts, the researchers say there exists a limited understanding of the psychological link for employees between green HRM practices and green creativity. Understanding, he says, is a crucial step in ensuring companies can do better by people and planet whilst creating profit.

To resolve this, the study analysed responses from a survey answered by 319 employees working within the financial, internet and IT sectors in developed coastal regions of China. The companies in which these respondents worked had placed sustainability as a core organisational priority as their locations had urgent ecological needs to be addressed.

The surveys asked respondents to comment on the organisation, the level of creative leadership they’d experienced, their own green behaviours and their work vigour.

The researchers used the data from these responses to identify a link between upticks in green creativity and the implementation of green HR practices. When companies made sustainability a part of their core mission and tied it to employee progression, staff actions followed suit.

However the key to driving such innovations was found in the leadership styles of managers. Creative leadership, the researchers say, is a vital means for strengthening these efforts.
Employees who reported experiencing high levels of creative leadership were found to better connect green HRM practices to green creativity, boosting the capacity for sustainable innovation.

Ensuring that core company aims and values are embedded within every part of an employee’s experience with a company will encourage them to undertake their responsibilities with those values at heart. And in encouraging idea generation, inspiring and engaging staff through creative leadership will encourage others to follow suit.

The study “Where there is a thriving, there is a green way: cultivating employee green creativity through green HRM and creative leadership” is published by and available to read in Employee Relations: The International Journal



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