Employee green behavior in hotels: the role of green human resource management, green transformational leadership and value congruence

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the effects of green human resource management (GHRM) and green transformational leadership (GTL) on employees’ green work behavior. This study also tests the mediating role of environmental value congruence (EVC) on the relationship of GHRM and GTL with employees’ green work behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Responses were collected from 480 employees working in various Indian hotels using a two-wave survey design. The data was analyzed using Smart PLS 4.

Findings

The findings report significant indirect associations between GHRM and GTL on the one hand and in-role green behavior and extra-role green behavior on the other through EVC.

Practical implications

This paper highlights leaders’ focus on creating environmentally focused HR practices in hotels. As employees are the face for customers, particularly in the hotel industry, green behavior creates a green image of the organization in consumers’ minds, which may result in long-term sustainable competitive advantage.

Originality/value

This study makes two significant contributions; one, it explores the effect of GTL and GHRM on hotel employees’ green behaviors and second, it also tests the mediating role of EVC in explaining the relationship between the focal constructs in the Indian Hotel industry which has not been studied before.

Citation

Agrawal, S. and Pradhan, S. (2023), "Employee green behavior in hotels: the role of green human resource management, green transformational leadership and value congruence", Consumer Behavior in Tourism and Hospitality, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 241-255. https://doi.org/10.1108/CBTH-11-2022-0191