(PDF) An Evaluation of Green Human Resources and Employees' Behavior in the Hotel Industry

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background Of The Study

Green management has grown in popularity among industry and academia as a way to mitigate the impact of industrial waste and the harms caused by conventional organizations and products. 2020 (Li et al.). Stakeholders and scholars have pushed business organizations to develop policies that advance social, economic, and environmental goals. Kim, Y. J., et al., 2019). In accordance with the efforts of business organizations to reduce waste and industrial hazards. Environmental concerns have compelled businesses to implement environmentally friendly practices and place a premium on their overall environmental performance. 2021) (Ahmed et al. Tourism, which includes the hospitality industry, has grown to be one of the most valuable commercial activities on a global scale due to its ability to stimulate economic development (Bhutto et al., 2021; World Travel & Tourism Council, 2020). The tourist industry has transported 1.5 billion foreign travelers in the previous 60 years, growing at a 3.8 percent annual rate. This amount increased global tourism spending by 1.5 trillion dollars from 495 billion and contributed 7% to goods and service exports (UNWTO, 2019, 2020). The hotel industry is becoming an increasingly important component of worldwide tourist development. The hospitality industry has been clearly identified as one of the most energy-intensive industries. Due to the hotel’s activities, it uses a significant quantity of resources and generates an excessive amount of waste, resulting in an undesired carbon imprint (Farooq et al., 2021). Parallel to the immense advantages that this industry has offered, the rise of the hospitality industry as a worldwide behemoth industry has also endangered the environment (Ahmed et al., 2021). The breadth of the global hospitality industry’s operational scope, value chain, and company scale raises awareness of the need to mitigate the industry’s negative impact on the natural, economic, and social environment via the idea of green hotel management (Nisar et al., 2021). As with other service sectors, the hospitality industry is evolving into a commercial entity that places a premium on human resources, with some literature focused on frontline workers whose function is critical to the hotel firm’s success (Amaral et al., 2018; Cheng & Chen, 2017). The importance of these workers, particularly in service delivery, personalization of hotel services, and customer retention, all of which are fully dependent on the quality of service offered, has prompted several researchers to perform scientific studies (Karatepe, 2013). In response to increasing demand to operate an environmentally friendly organization, the global hospitality industry has tried to incorporate green human resource management (GHRM) practices into its resources. The acronym GHRM stands for green human resource management. GHRM include efforts to recruit and retain environmentally conscious employees, as well as environmental training; performance evaluation of employees, which includes an assessment of their contributions to environmentally friendly acts (Guest, 1997). GHRM practices are necessary to forecast environmentally friendly performance and to have an impact on the supply chain, manufacturing, waste management, culture, values, strategy, and employee behavior (Benevene & Buonomo, 2020). Numerous researchers have examined green human resource management strategies in the hospitality industry, including organizational commitment, environmentally conscious behavior, and hotel environmental performance. (Y. J. Kim et al., 2019; Shafaei et al., 2020), corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Bohdanowicz et al., 2011; Beda-Garca et al., 2021), the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) theory (Pham, Vo Thanh, et al., 2020), and enforcing an environmentally friendly culture among hotel industry workers (Stalcup et al., 2014). Several of these studies demonstrate that the use of GHRM has a high correlation with not just individual workers, but also with corporate organizations’ strategic policies toward other stakeholders, the environment, and their consumers. Attainment of personal competency by hotel workers in the form of cognitive, motivational, and conative abilities as defined by social cognition theory (Farooq et al., 2021) in relation to green work behavior shows the organization’s performance in implementing sustainable tourism business. Additionally, as a result of some of the results above, it is clear that CSR allocation that prioritizes the natural and social environment’s sustainability becomes the key concern for employees when evaluating their company’s alignment with a more comprehensive green management system. Despite the widespread recognition of the relevance of GHRM from a sustainability standpoint, little study has been conducted on GHRM in a hotel setting. The creation of research on GHRM in the hotel industry a decade ago paves the way for the establishment of a new framework. The past five years have seen a rise in publications on green human resource management. The condition is likely related to an understanding of the critical nature of developing a stronger hospitality industry during pandemics. Several key reasons for a comprehensive examination of GHRM in the hospitality industry include the following: To begin, human resource management is critical in implementing environmentally conscious organizations’ policies and practices through recruitment, selection, training, development, performance assessment, awards, compensation management, and exit policies, as well as in communicating the company’s values and culture. (Renwick et al., 2013); Second, changing organizational behavior to be more environmentally green begins with the people who work there, via mutual commitment and influence amongst important stakeholders (Dubois & Dubois, 2021); Thirdly, GHRM becomes a symbol for commercial organizations that attempt to prevent business practices that harm the ecological, economic, and social environment on a systematic basis (Rubel et al., 2021). Given the above, this study focuses on green human resources and employee behavior in the hotel industry.

Statement Of The Problem

GHRM practices are characterized as an organization’s commitment to environmental conservation. They include a range of human resource management practices that are all concerned with the ecosystem’s instability and the ecological consequences of an organization’s economic activities (Nisar et al., 2021). Previously published research has omitted from consideration the application of GHRM to green recruitment and selection (Yusoff et al., 2020), green training and development (Nisar et al., 2021), green performance management (Chen et al., 2018), and green reward and remuneration (Yusoff et al., 2018). (Arasli et al., 2020). Employing and choosing environmentally conscious workers via the use of test instruments to determine employees’ optimism towards environmental concerns and inquiries about environmental beliefs, values, and knowledge are examples of green recruitment and selection (Renwick et al., 2013). The green training program is intended to develop employee awareness, knowledge, and ability to engage in green activities, as well as to foster an atmosphere that encourages all workers to participate in environmental awareness programs. (2003) (Fernandez et al.). According to Renwick et al. (2013), green integrated training entails the development of a complete green program and its integration with a performance management system, a strategy for fostering a green atmosphere. The significance of GHRM as a fundamental predictor of employee behavior stems from the fact that it is a critical component of an environmental insight-driven strategic plan aimed at establishing, maintaining, and strengthening sustainable environmental performance in the tourism and hospitality sectors. 2021) (Farooq et al. The global tourist industry’s stakeholders have committed to achieving a sustainable tourism sector as a shared duty with the world’s population (Hall, 2019). In this regard, GHRM plays a critical role in regulating employee conduct in the tourist business, particularly in the hotel sector. As a result, this research will concentrate on green human resources and employee behavior in the hotel business.

Objectives Of The Study

The overall aim of this study is to critically examine green human resources and employees’ behavior in hotel industry. Hence, the study will be channeled to the following specific objectives;

Ascertain the impact of GHRM on employees’ behaviour towards organizational environmental sustainability.
Ascertain the impact of GHRM on employees environmentally friendly behaviour.
Ascertain impact of GHRM on employees’ behaviour towards organizational environmental culture.

Research Question

The following questions will guide this study;

Significance Of The Study

This study will be most relevant to key authorities in the hotel industry, including the managers. The study as a matter of fact enlighten them on the importance of GHRM as a fundamental determinant of employee behaviour stems from the fact that GHRM is a critical component of an environmental insight oriented strategic plan to build, maintain, and strengthen sustainable environmental performance in the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Additionally, subsequent researchers will use it as literature review. This means that, other students who may decide to conduct studies in this area will have the opportunity to use this study as available literature that can be subjected to critical review. Invariably, the result of the study contributes immensely to the body of academic knowledge with regards to green human resources and employees’ behavior in hotel industry.

Scope Of The Study

This study is structured to generally examine green human resources and employees’ behavior in hotel industry. However, the study will further ascertain the impact of GHRM on employees’ behaviour towards organizational environmental sustainability, ascertain the impact of GHRM on employees environmentally friendly behaviour, and ascertain impact of GHRM on employees’ behaviour towards organizational environmental culture. The study will be delimited to three selected hotels in Lagos State.

Limitation Of The Study

Like in every human endeavour, the researcher encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. Insufficient funds tend to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size. More so, the researcher simultaneously engaged in this study with other academic work. As a result, the amount of time spent on research will be reduced.

Definition Of Terms

Human resource management is a discipline, a professional speciality that has emerged in recent years as a broad spectrum, including and synthesising diverse fields such as people management, organizational behavior, industrial and labor relations, and so on.

Green Human Resource Management; represents various aspects of human resource management (HRM) aimed at developing environmentally minded employees, namely employees who are sensitive about the importance of activities related to environmental protection.