Revisiting Current HR Roles to Promote "Green HRM" in the Engineering Industry Sector of Bangladesh: A Conceptual Mapping

Md. Rabiul Islam, Md. Abu Bokar Siddique

Abstract

The concept of Green HRM is gaining popularity as organizations increasingly strive for sustainability. In contrast to conventional HRM, which generally emphasizes corporate objectives and operational requirements, Green HRM incorporates environmental sustainability into the framework. The key lies in integrating environmental principles into recruitment, training, performance evaluation, employee relations, and exit management. The study has reviewed the Resource-Based View and Stakeholder theories, and related scholarly publications in the domain of Green HRM to develop a conceptual mapping. Thereby it interviewed 30 persons responsible for HR functions of the Engineering Industry to identify current HR strategies and challenges associated with transition from traditional HRM to Green HRM. The results indicate that the sample industries are performing traditional HR functions although they are performing sustainable goals in isolation. Improper leadership approach, maintaining status quo, improper environment knowledge, improper innovation capability, traditional marketing and over profiting mentality are impacting implementation of Green HRM. To promote Green HRM, corporate-level strategy need to integrate Sustainable Performance Goals concerning the United Nations SDGs.

Conclusion

It is crucial to transition from traditional to Strategic Green HRM to tackle global environmental sustainability, particularly in developing countries such as Bangladesh. This study demonstrates that implementing Green HRM enables organizations to comply with legal obligations and satisfy stakeholders' expectations regarding environmental issues. By harmonizing human resources activities, such as recruiting, training, and performance management, with environmental objectives, firms can establish a staff that promotes sustainability and minimizes environmental harm. Integrating sustainability into HR processes improves business image and attracts and maintains environmentally aware personnel, increasing workforce morale and involvement. The RBV emphasizes the strategic value of human capital, and Stakeholder Theory focuses on achieving stakeholder expectations for environmental responsibility. Both theories aligned with Green HRM empower organizations to simultaneously attain commercial success and environmental objectives, augmenting their competitiveness and making valuable contributions towards global sustainability goals.

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