Green human resource management practices and employee innovative behaviour: reflection from Ghana

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between green human resource management (GHRM) practices and employee innovative work behaviour in the hospital. Although previous studies have examined the association between GHRM and various organisational outcomes, its nexus with employee innovative work behaviour has been largely unexplored.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a quantitative approach and tested hypotheses. The research design adopted both an explanatory and descriptive approach since there were limited past data or studies to reference. The study population was human resource and administrative managers at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital who have implemented GHRM practices. The sample size consisted of 264 respondents, selected using simple random sampling. Data were collected through structured questionnaires.

Findings

The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis. The results revealed that green training, green hiring and green compensation were significant predictors of innovative work behaviour among employees.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the understanding of the impact of GHRM practices on employee innovative work behaviour in the healthcare sector. The study recommends that organisations should view their training investments as financial investments and focus on hiring individuals with strong environmental sensibilities. Additionally, effective reward criteria should be developed to promote GHRM practices.

Citation

Mensah, L.E., Shukla, S. and Iqbal, H.F. (2023), "Green human resource management practices and employee innovative behaviour: reflection from Ghana", IIMBG Journal of Sustainable Business and Innovation, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 58-74. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSBI-02-2023-0002

Introduction

The healthcare industry is increasingly expanding in developing countries as medical tourism grows; however, the healthcare industry is one of the sectors that are significantly increasing the environmental burden. As a result of the large number of environmental concerns that the healthcare industry has faced, there is a rising pressure to respond appropriately to environmental issues and to introduce sustainable business practices such as green human resource management (GHRM). Given the relevance of green human resource practices in assessing a company's long-term viability, their antecedents and results have been thoroughly studied, with proposals to extend their scope (Renwick, Redman, & Maguire, 2013; Guerci, Longoni, & Luzzini, 2016). The relationship between green human resource practices, employee attitudes and organisational results has been explored in the literature on green human resource practices (Chaudhary, 2020; Saeed et al., 2019). Green human resource strategies, for example, have been found to positively impact pro-environmental psychological resources, which lead to employee pro-environmental behaviour, according to Saeed et al. (2019). The effect of green human resource practices on employee behaviour has been the subject of numerous studies (Renwick et al., 2013; Kim, Kim, Choi, & Phetvaroon, 2019). Dumont, Shen, & Deng (2017) created a green human resource practices measurement and evaluated its effect on employee green behaviour (Rubel, Kee, & Rimi, 2021). Employee’s in-role green behaviour is positively influenced by GHRM policies, and then psychological green environment indirectly influences employees’ extra-role green behaviour.

Today, innovation is a critical component in businesses to adapt to rapidly changing economic conditions and gains a competitive advantage. According to research, innovation helps organisations to perform better and respond to challenges faster with being better at exploiting new products and market opportunities (Jimenez Jimenez and Sanz-Valle, 2011; Waheed, Miao, Waheed, Ahmad, & Majeed, 2019). Despite the growing research interest in firm-level innovation, there is a paucity of knowledge about how to foster innovation at the individual level. This knowledge, on the other hand, is required if businesses are to pursue innovative strategies and align employee behaviour with those strategies. As per Agarwal (2014, p. 43), “One option for organisations to become more innovative is to encourage their employees to be innovative.” Thus, it would be interesting to see how GHRM practices are inculcating innovative work behaviour among employees of an African country.

One potential research gap in the study of GHRM practices and employee innovative behaviour in the healthcare sector is the limited understanding of the mechanisms that drive the relationship between these two constructs. While previous research has established a positive relationship between GHRM practices and employee innovative behaviour, the underlying processes that explain this relationship are still unclear. Number of studies (Aboramadan, 2022; Shah & Soomro, 2023) have found that Green human resource management practices positively influence employee green and innovative behavior in many sectors. However, the study did not explore the mechanisms through which GHRM practices influence employee innovative behaviour. To fill the void in research, upcoming studies can explore how employee motivation, job satisfaction and environmental consciousness mediate or moderate the relationship between GHRM practices and employee innovative behaviour. By identifying these mechanisms, healthcare organisations can devise more efficient strategies to encourage GHRM practices and foster innovative behaviour among employees.

The study aims to investigate how GHRM practices can promote innovative work behaviour among employees in the healthcare industry in an African country. Specifically, the study will examine the relationship between GHRM practices, green hiring, green training and their innovative work behaviour. The study is relevant in the context of the healthcare industry, which is increasingly expanding in developing countries and contributing to environmental burden, and the need to introduce sustainable business practices such as GHRM to address environmental concerns while promoting employee well-being and organisational performance. Based on above discussion, following research questions have been proposed:

1. What are the types of GHRM practices prevalent in the healthcare sector in Ghana?

2. How GHRM practices are influencing employee behaviour in hospital settings.

3. How green hiring and employee innovative behaviour at workplace are connected?

4. What is the relationship between green training and employee work innovative behaviours in hospital settings?

5. What is the extent to which green compensation shapes employee work innovative behaviours?

For answering the above research questions, this study constitutes the following research objectives:

1. To identify the types of GHRM practices that are prevalent in the healthcare sector in Ghana.

2. To examine the relationship between green hiring and employee work innovative behaviour.

3. To analyze the relationship between green training and involvement and employee work innovative behaviour.

4. To study the relationship between green compensation and employee work innovative behaviours.

This study will enhance management practices and the GHRM literature by exploring how GHRM practices impact employee innovation. The findings can guide healthcare policymakers to promote GHRM practices for better environmental performance and innovation. It can also serve as a reference for future research on GHRM.

Review of literature and hypothesis development

Several scholars have defined and conceptualized Green HR practices as practices that include green recruiting and hiring workers with green awareness and knowledge; green training to develop workers' green skills, proficiencies, and knowledge; and green performance appraisal with established green standards for assessing employees (Tang, Chen, Jiang, Paillé, & Jia, 2018; Dumont, Shen, & Deng, 2017). Green training and involvement, green hiring, and green performance and remuneration are all factors considered in this study.

Green hiring

Employing ecologically friendly, green methods might entice people to work for “green businesses.” As a result, establishing a reputation as a “green employer” is an effective way to recruit applications (Aranganathan, 2018). Additionally, businesses may employ advertising to promote their environmental performance, environmental policy, and environmental image, which can help persuade people to apply for open positions. Because of this, the job description for a particular position should explain the environmental responsibilities that go along with it as well as the abilities and information that candidates must possess to fulfil those roles (Chaudhary, 2018). Green recruiting emphasizes the necessity for establishing a workforce that is concerned about environmental issues and as a result, can improve their environmental performance (Zibarras & Coan, 2015), making it a crucial component of GHRM strategies.

Green hiring and employee innovative work behaviour

In GHRM techniques, green recruiting and selection has been seen as a critical component (Jackson, Renwick, Jabbour, & Muller-Camen, 2011; Ahmad, 2015). Green recruitment and selection may be characterized in three aspects: green employer branding, candidate green awareness, and green criteria to attract applicants, according to prior studies (Renwick et al., 2013).

First and foremost, candidates' green awareness is a key factor in green hiring and selection. This awareness encompasses personality attributes like conscientiousness, agreeableness, and green consciousness, as well as creative work practises that support organisations' environmental objectives. According to research, employees that value the environment actively advance their environmental knowledge while working, which enhances the environmental performance and innovation of their company (Morgan & Rayner, 2019; Eiadat, Kelly, Roche, & Eyadat, 2008).

Green employer branding, on the other hand, refers to a company's image and reputation in terms of environmental management, which may be shaped through GHRM techniques (Ahmed, Alzgool, & Shah, 2019). Job searchers can perceive a good fit between their own and an organisation's values through green employer branding, according to Jones and Willness (2013), and they may experience a feeling of satisfaction working for a firm with a strong environmental reputation. Job searchers frequently use information about a company's environmental performance and description as a criterion for judging how the company treats its employees. Organisations with good green signals might also attract job searchers (Jabbour, 2011). As a result, green branding by businesses is an effective way for employers to attract and choose potential workers who are concerned about environmental concerns and images.

Third, green criteria should be used to assess and hire people. In job descriptions and personnel criteria, for example, recruitment companies might stress environmental concerns. Environmental knowledge, values, and beliefs are all topics that may be explored (Hadjri, Perizade, & Farla, 2019; Hameed, Khan, Islam, Sheikh, & Naeem, 2020). Based on this, the study suggests that;

H1.

There is positive relationship between green hiring and employee innovative work behaviour

Green training and involvement

Green training and involvement are seen as a top priority for every organisation, as it helps to its long-term success (Pinzone, Guerci, Lettieri, & Huisingh, 2019). It is also necessary for carrying out successful environmental management and cleaner production activities (Jabbour, 2013; Diana, Jabbour, de Sousa Jabbour, & Kannan, 2017). According to Fernández, Junquera, and Ordiz (2003), adopting an environmental approach in organisations necessitates increasing employees' skills, awareness, and knowledge related to both materials and processes; this, in turn, necessitates environmental management training in order to achieve employee involvement and participation in environmental issues. As a result, employee engagement is critical for environmental and social responsibility because it encourages employee commitment to environmental goals, which is a major component in enhancing environmental management system outcomes (Ramachandran, 2011; Graci, 2013). Waste minimization, resource efficiency, and pollution reduction are all advantages of these systems. Staff engagement in green initiatives will assist to establish green aims, motivations, and capabilities among workers, which will improve chances to upgrade green management (Labella-Fernández & Martínez-del-Río, 2019).

Green training and involvement and employee innovative work behaviour

Employee training focuses on job-related skills and routine knowledge, which does not produce innovation in itself (Kianto, Sáenz, & Aramburu, 2017; Jiang, Lepak, Hu, & Baer, 2012). Employees, on the other hand, must have knowledge and skills regarding their present duties in order to analyze day-to-day operations. Employees can only reflect on their present duties and then develop process innovation when they are routine rather than disruptive (Donate & de Pablo, 2015). As a result, while training is essential for creative behaviour, it does not ensure it. Employee development that is broad in scope and unconnected to their work encourages employees to critically challenge current methods by allowing them to “transcend logical and sequential thinking, making the jump to creativity.” (p. 4042) (Jiang et al., 2012) this makes it easier to come up with new ideas. As a result, innovative behaviour may be improved by training and development, which includes a combination of foundational trainings to envision the present work environment and general staff development to enable employees to think beyond their daily routine. HRM must supply this mix in order to support workers' creative behaviour Bos-Nehles and Veenendaal (2019).

There's also a distinction to be made in terms of training and development. Individual practices, interpersonal practices, and organisational practices are separated into three levels (Sung & Choi, 2013). Individual practices seek to broaden the knowledge base by offering chances for self-learning as well as literature. Interpersonal techniques allow for cross-departmental contact and information exchange, which facilitates reciprocal learning and idea development (Chuang, Jackson, & Jiang, 2016). Cross-functional trainings, for example, “inspire employees to build innovative combinations of existing knowledge by bringing together knowledge that was not readily related in the past” (Sung & Choi, 2013, p. 398). Through task forces, information exchange systems, and organisation-wide learning practices, organisational practices provide an overall learning environment. Furthermore, when engineers, for example, cooperate with shop floor employees, innovation is made easier to execute.

Individual learning is simply a starting point for creativity; it does not, by itself, enhance idea development (Albrecht, Bakker, Gruman, Macey, & Saks, 2015). Employee creativity is improved through interpersonal training because mutual learning opens up new combinations of knowledge inside a firm (Ahmed, Hassan, Ayub, & Klimoski, 2018). This is especially important at the idea generation stage of the inventive process. Furthermore, horizontal communication fosters a feedback culture, which improves the chances of successful innovation implementation throughout the implementation stage. Organisational learning tends to follow the same logic as information sharing through, for example, IT systems or established information-sharing mechanisms that encourage flexibility, experimenting, and feedback – all of which are important elements in the idea generation and implementation phases of innovative behaviour (Kianto et al., 2017). To sum up, when task-specific training (which enables creative behaviour) is paired with general staff development, training and development improves inventive behaviour (stimulate innovative behaviour) De Jong et al., (2010). However, it is critical to urge employees to attend trainings because they are typically preoccupied with their daily tasks and overlook the importance of personal growth (Do & Shipton, 2019; Jiang et al., 2012; Rehman, Ahmad, Allen, Raziq, & Riaz, 2019). Based on these assertions, the study suggests that:

H2.

There is positive relationship between green training and involvement and employee innovative work behaviour

Green compensation

In essence, enhancing a company's environmental performance will improve its economic performance (Mousa & Othman, 2020). Adopting a green standard and predictor is therefore a top priority for improving a company's environmental performance (Tang et al., 2018; Guerci et al., 2016), where defining green targets for all workers will allow translating sustainability objectives into action plans for all workers (Siyambalapitiya, Zhang, & Liu, 2018; Guerci, Radaelli, Siletti, Cirella, & Shani, 2015). Ciocirlan (2018) emphasized the significance of environmentally influenced behaviours in achieving environmental performance. Firms could also support environmental efforts by rewarding staff based on environmental performance metrics. Indirect green pay advantages of sustainable initiatives were shown to be sufficient grounds for promoting employee dedication to green aims by Merriman and Sen (2012).

Green compensation and employee innovative work behaviour

Compensation positively impacts creative work behaviour, according to the concepts underlying social exchange theory, since employees who believe their efforts are being appropriately compensated feel obligated to pay back with discretionary extra role efforts, including innovative work behaviour (Janssen, 2000; Stoffers, Van der Heijden, & Jacobs, 2020). A sense of duty to give the employer with unique information and insight, as well as inventive recommendations for development, may arise as a result of perceptions of the organisation's remuneration package (Shanker, Bhanugopan, Van der Heijden, & Farrell, 2017; Bednall, Sanders, & Runhaar, 2014). Indeed, research findings demonstrate that a compensation system may have a substantial influence on creative behaviour (Sanders, Moorkamp, Torka, Groeneveld, & Groeneveld, 2010; Bysted & Jespersen, 2014; Zhang & Begley, 2011), both as a tool to encourage it and as a tool to deter other behaviours by solely rewarding inventive activities (Attiq, Wahid, Javaid & Kanwal, 2017).

Performance management is a company's method of evaluating, coaching, and developing personnel on a regular basis with the ultimate objective of improving organisational performance (in this case, creative behaviour) (Gorman, Meriac, Roch, Ray, & Gamble, 2017). Conducting evaluation interviews between line managers and subordinates is the most prevalent type of performance management (Boselie, Farndale, & Paauwe, 2018). Specific performance management needs develop as a result of the objective of promoting creative behaviour. Workers are more willing to demonstrate innovative behaviour if they articulate a desire for idea generation (Suseno, Standing & Gengatharen, 2017; Hammond, Neff, Farr, Schwall, & Zhao, 2011). It is clear that stating innovation as a goal encourages innovative behaviour by raising work motivation and motivating people to come up with new ideas. Furthermore, it is critical to recognize that the innovation process is unpredictable and innovation necessitates risk-taking. As a result, taking risks and being proactive should be encouraged and rewarded in an appropriate manner (Sirén, Parida, Frishammar, & Wincent, 2020). On this basis, the study presumes that:

H3.

There is positive relationship between green compensation and employee work innovative behaviour.

Based on above discussion, following is the proposed research model (See Figure 1);

Methodology

Study design

The study adopted a quantitative design because questionnaires were the primary data gathering tools utilized in this study. Studies like this focus on a specific scenario or issue to uncover connections between several variables. Accordingly, to shed light on the connections between various factors, the research employed a descriptive and explanatory approach.

Sample size and technique

The study's sample size is 300 people, which was calculated using the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sample size table out of the population of 7369. HR and administrative staff (Non Medical staff) have been taken into consideration for selecting the sample respondents. Simple random sampling strategy was used to ensure that no bias was introduced and the data were fairly represented in terms of which employees to include in the study. A total of 300 random numbers has been generated using the Microsoft excel and payroll list has also been used to identify the respective employee. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed to participants and found 264 (n) completed responses for further data analysis Krejcie and Morgan (1970).

Questionnaire and measures

There were three sections to the questionnaire. To begin, there were demographic questions to answer, followed by questions on GHRM methods (hiring, training, performance and compensation), and finally, a section for an innovative employee behaviour variable to complete.

Green HRM is a strategic approach that integrates environmental considerations into HRM practices (Ahmad (2015), Guerci et al. (2016), Peerzadah, Mufti, and Nazir (2018)). While there are many variables that could be considered in the context of Green HRM, Green training, green hiring, and green compensation are three key variables that have been shown to have a significant impact on employees' environmental attitudes and behaviours Chen, Jiang, Li, and Gao (2021). Literature review section has discussed the importance of these variables on employee behaviour and performance. Hence, we have used pre-existing scales of Green Hiring (Dumont et al., 2017), Green Training (Dumont et al., 2017) and Green compensation (Dumont et al., 2017) with few modifications on items scale to serve the purpose of the questions. For measuring the employee innovative behaviour Janssen (2000, 2003) scale adopted from Scott and Bruce’s (1994) has been used.

Ethical clearance and data collection

In administration of the data instrument, permission was obtained from the authorities of the case study organisation. After approval, respondents were therefore chosen randomly especially those that meet the characteristics of the population of the study. Respondents were assured of privacy and confidentiality of the data that was provided.

Data analysis technique

It is the major goal of data analysis in a research process to give the necessary empirical proof that research data may answer the research question based on the objectives set out by. This study's core data was broken down into two sections for analysis. In the first portion, descriptive statistics were used to calculate the average and standard deviation. It was shown that GHRM and employee innovative behaviour were linked using hierarchical regression analysis with demographic factors serving as control variables.

Data analysis and findings

Respondents’ demographics

Following Table 1 is the summarization of respondents’ profile. This suggests that the majority of the respondents were females and young. The study also shows that 50% of the respondents were single, 45.8% of the respondents were married and 4.2% of the respondents were divorced. This suggests that the majority of the respondents were single.

According to the correlational analyses (See Table 2), there is a statistically significant positive association between Green Hiring and Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour (r = 0.169), Green Training and Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour (r = 0.083), Green Compensation and Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour (r = 0.147). Therefore, an increase in Green Hiring, Green training and Green compensation in businesses will increase the innovative work behaviour of workers, who will be able to identify new ways to tasks and systematically bring innovative ideas into work practices as a result of the increased use of green hiring.

According to the findings reported in Table 3, on average, the majority of respondents stated that their organisation occasionally considers green hiring, with a mean score of 3.4116 and a standard deviation of 0.71304. Again, majority of respondents stated that their organisation occasionally considers green training, with a mean score of 3.5783 and a standard deviation of 0.74718. And finally majority of respondents stated that their organisation occasionally considers green compensation, with a mean score of 3.6742 and a standard deviation of 0.81698.

According to the findings reported in Table 4, on average, the majority of respondents stated that their organisation sometimes identifies new ways to tasks and systematically brings innovative ideas into work practices, with a mean score of 3.6742 and a standard deviation of 0.81698.

Control variables: Innovative work behaviour at work place may be influenced by many extraneous variables thus study proposed few control variables to reduce the confounding effect of these variables on dependent variable. Accordingly, age, marital status, gender and experience have been taken as control variables in analysis process.

Hypotheses testing

As discussed above, some control variables were considered, including age, marital status, gender, and years of working (experience) at the organisation. Hypotheses and the objectives of the study guided the rest of these parts.

Given that both outcome variables were statistically significant, the model summary findings for both regression equations were statistically significant (See Table 5). It is possible to explain a 4.3% variation in Innovative Work Behaviour with Green Training, which has an R-square value of 0.43, which indicates that, green training explains 43% of the variations in Employee innovative behaviour in the regression output. For the model, a P-value of less than 0.05 means at least one of the hypotheses is supported.

Relationship between green hiring and employee work innovative behaviour

Given that both outcome variables were statistically significant, the model summary findings for both regression equations were statistically significant. It is possible to explain 8.7% variation in Innovative Work Behaviour with Green Hiring, which has an R-square value of 0.087. For the model, a P-value of less than 0.05 means at least one of the hypotheses is supported.

The findings also indicate that Green Hiring predicted Innovative Work Behaviour (r = 0.230), which is consistent with previous research. Green Hiring and Innovative Work Practices, then, are moving in the same direction and for the better. Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour will grow by 8.7% if they receive one more unit of Green Hiring. Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour will improve, according to the study, if managers can use green employer branding to attract green employees.

Relationship between green training and employee work innovative behaviour

The findings also indicate that Green Training predicted Innovative Work Behaviour (r = 0.062), which is consistent with previous research. Green Training and Innovative Work Practices, then, are moving in the same direction and for the better. Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour will grow by 4.3% if they receive one more unit of Green Training. Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour will improve, according to the study, if managers can create environmental management training programs that boost environmental knowledge, skills, and competence.

Relationship between green compensation and employee innovative behaviour

Given that both outcome variables were statistically significant, the model summary findings for both regression equations were statistically significant. The explanatory variable (Green Compensation) explains a 5.5% variation in Innovative Work Behaviour with Green Compensation, which has an R-square value of 0.055. For the model, a P-value of less than 0.05 means at least one of the hypotheses is supported.

The findings also indicate that Green Compensation predicted Innovative Work Behaviour (r = 0.114), which is consistent with previous research. Green Hiring and Innovative Work Practices, then, are moving in the same direction and for the better. Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour will grow by 11.4% if they receive one more unit of Green Compensation. Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour will improve, according to the study, if there are financial or tax incentives (car loans, use of less polluting cars) in the organisation.

Discussion

Green hiring

Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour will improve, according to the study, if managers can use green employer branding to attract green employees. Green job descriptions with environmental components are increasingly being incorporated in the recruiting strategy for employees. Green recruiting is the process of hiring people who have the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and habits that align with an organisation's environmental management systems. Recruitment methods may promote good environmental management, according to Siyambalapitiya et al. (2018), by ensuring that new entrants are familiar with an organisation's environmental culture and capable of upholding its environmental principles. Companies may recruit and hire people who are committed to environmental concerns, which can aid in employee innovation (Yusoff, Nejati, Kee, & Amran, 2020). In GHRM techniques, green recruiting and selection have been seen as a critical component (Jackson et al., 2011; Ahmad, 2015). Green recruitment and selection may be characterized in three aspects: green employer branding, candidate green awareness, and green criteria to attract applicants, according to prior studies (Renwick et al., 2013). First, applicants' green awareness is a fundamental component of green recruitment and selection, and it includes personality traits like green consciousness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness, as well as innovative work behaviour, that help organisations to accomplish their environmental goals (De Spiegelaere, Van Gyes, De Witte, Niesen, and Van Hootegem (2014), Koednok et al. (2018), Muchiri, McMurray, Nkhoma, and Pham (2020)). Environmentally valuable employees are found to actively improve their environmental knowledge during the operational process, which improves their firm's environmental performance and inventiveness (Morgan & Rayner, 2019). Firms should thus use a variety of tests to attract and select individuals with green consciousness, ensuring that all workers are enthusiastic about environmental problems (Shah, 2019).

Green training

Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour will improve, according to the study, if managers can create environmental management training programs that boost environmental knowledge, skills, and competence. Individual learning is simply a starting point for creativity; it does not, by itself, enhance idea development (Albrecht et al., 2015). Employee creativity is improved through interpersonal training because mutual learning opens up new combinations of knowledge inside a firm (Ahmed et al., 2018). This is especially important at the idea generation stage of the inventive process. Furthermore, horizontal communication fosters a feedback culture, which improves the chances of successful innovation implementation throughout the implementation stage. Organisational learning tends to follow the same logic as information sharing through, for example, IT systems or established information-sharing mechanisms that encourage flexibility, experimenting, and feedback – all of which are important elements in the idea generation and implementation phases of innovative behaviour (Kianto et al., 2017). To sum up, when task-specific training (which enables creative behaviour) is paired with general staff development, training and development improve inventive behaviour (stimulate innovative behaviour). However, it is critical to urge employees to attend training because they are typically preoccupied with their daily tasks and overlook the importance of personal growth (Do & Shipton, 2019; Jiang et al., 2012).

Green incentives

Employees' Innovative Work Behaviour will improve, according to the study, if there are financial or tax incentives (car loans, use of less polluting cars) in the organisation. Workers who are not inherently motivated to participate in innovative work behaviour and see it as an extra-role behaviour, on the other hand, will expect to be compensated for their extra effort. Zhang and Begley (2011) demonstrated that, when businesses utilized pay systems to communicate to their workers that extra-role actions, such as innovative work behaviour, were acknowledged and appreciated, the employees involved regarded their participation in innovative work behaviour as valuable. Workers, according to Bysted and Jespersen (2014), want a clear signal before engaging in creative work behaviour because they perceive it as a hazardous activity that “must be commanded and compensated for by the system.” As a result, HR policies that reward employees with money are supposed to motivate them to innovate (Fernandez & Moldogaziev, 2012). Compensation positively impacts creative work behaviour, according to the concepts underlying social exchange theory, since employees who believe their efforts are being appropriately compensated feel obligated to pay back with discretionary extra-role efforts, including innovative work behaviour Janssen (2000), Bücker and Van Der Horst (2017). A sense of duty to give the employer with unique information and insight, as well as inventive recommendations for development, may arise as a result of perceptions of the organisation's remuneration package (Shanker, Bhanugopan, Van der Heijden, & Farrell, 2017). Indeed, research findings demonstrate that a compensation system may have a substantial influence on creative behaviour (Sanders et al., 2018; Bysted & Jespersen, 2014; Zhang & Begley, 2011), both as a tool to encourage it and as a tool to deter other behaviours by solely rewarding inventive activities (Attiq, Wahid, Javaid, & Kanwal, 2017).

Limitations and future directions

The study was limited to only Korle bu teaching hospital. Because of this, the findings cannot be generalized and can only be situated with KBTH. In addition, the study focused on only three measures of the GHRM practices, which predicted a maximum of 11.4% of innovative work behaviour. Taking these into considerations, the study suggests that future studies should focus on replicating this very research among other teaching hospitals in other regions of Ghana. Other studies in the future should also include other measures of the GHRM practices such as performance management and employee relations. Apart from it, study controlled few demographic variables (Age, Gender, Marital status, Experience) that can also be taken into consideration in future studies.

Implications and conclusion

The findings of the study indicated that green training, green hiring, and green compensation predicted innovative work behaviour. This suggests that these green human resource practices can boost employee competency and motivation while also allowing them to participate in environmentally friendly activities. The study, therefore, recommends that organisations should;

Treat training investments like other financial investments

Green training positively predicted employee innovative work behaviours. Organisations must begin approaching their training efforts as if they were any other financial investments that they are considering to enhance their return on investment. Evaluating both the organisational and individual needs of employees, ensuring that training design, content, and delivery will result in the greatest possible uptake in light of the organisation's characteristics, and evaluating the results of the training to ensure that the training met or exceeded the organisation's expectations.

Hiring of employees with strong environmental sensibilities

Green hiring positively predicted employee innovative work behaviours. An organisation's green objectives and positive employee attitudes and behaviours may be achieved by hiring individuals with strong environmental sensibility and developing training programs to boost staff abilities for effectively conducting green tasks and increasing environmental cognition.

Designing effective reward criteria

Green compensation positively predicted employee innovative work behaviours. Accordingly, management should develop attractive compensation criteria that apply to all individuals to attract and keep green skilled personnel since most of them consider the compensation system to be a top priority when considering whether or not to work for a company.

Figures

Figure 1

Proposed research model

Table 1

Respondents’ demographics

Demographic	Category	Frequency	Percentage
Gender	Male	90	34.1
	Female	174	65.9
Age	20-25 years	82	31.1
	26-30 years	55	20.8
	31-35 years	58	22.0
	36-40 years	42	15.9
	45 years and above	27	10.2
Marital status	Single	132	50.0
	Married	121	45.8
	Divorced/Separated	11	4.2
Years of working	3-5 years	31	11.7
	5-8 years	44	16.7
	8-12 years	140	53.0
	12-16 years	35	13.3
	More than 16 years	14	5.3
Availability of policy on GHRM practices	Yes	216	81.8
	No	23	8.7
	Not Sure	25	9.5
ISO14000 certification	Yes	186	70.5
	No	24	9.1
	Not Sure	54	20.5

Source(s): Prepared by Authors through Primary Field Data

Table 2

Correlation analysis results

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Gender	1
Age	−0.571**	1
Marital Status	0.677**	−0.315**	1
Years of Working	0.747**	−0.768**	0.729**	1
Green Hiring	0.064	−0.164**	0.174**	0.155*	1
Green Training	0.115	−0.085	0.120	0.190**	−0.358**	1
Green Compensation	0.111	−0.023	−0.022	0.052	0.025	−0.003	1
Innovative Work Behaviour	−0.009	−0.079	0.101	0.112	0.169**	0.083	0.147*	1

Note(s): *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01

Source(s): Prepared by Authors through Primary Field Data

Table 3

Descriptive statistics on independent variables

Independent variables	N	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
Green hiring	264	2	4.67	3.4116	0.71304
We attract green job candidates who use green criteria to select organisations	264	1	5	3.3	1.364
We use green employer branding to attract green employees	264	1	5	3.32	1.485
Our firm recruits’ employees who have green awareness	264	1	5	3.62	1.303
Green training	264	1.67	5	3.5783	0.74718
We develop training programs in environmental management to increase environmental awareness, skills, and expertise of employees	264	1	5	3.71	1.291
We have integrated training to create the emotional involvement of employees in environment management	264	1	5	3.5	1.485
We have green knowledge management (link environmental education and knowledge to behaviours to develop preventative solutions)	264	1	5	3.53	1.435
Green compensation	264	1.33	5	3.6742	0.81698
We make green benefits (transport/travel) available rather than giving out pre-paid cards to purchase green products	264	1	5	3.67	1.379
In our firms, there are financial or tax incentives (bicycle loans, use of less polluting cars)	264	1	5	3.67	1.329
Our firm has recognition-based rewards in environment management for staff (public recognition, awards, paid vacations, time off, gift certificates)	264	1	5	3.68	1.339

Source(s): Prepared by Authors through Primary Field Data

Table 4

Descriptive statistics on innovative work behaviour

	N	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. deviation
EMPLOYEE INNOVATIVE WORK BEHAVIOUR	264	1.40	4.70	3.6689	0.71721
Pay attention to issues that are not part of your daily work?	264	1	5	3.72	1.307
Wonder how things can be improved?	264	1	5	3.56	1.380
Search out new working methods, techniques, or instruments?	264	1	5	3.70	1.355
Generate original solutions for problems?	264	1	5	3.72	1.307
Find new approaches to execute tasks?	264	1	5	3.56	1.380
Make important organisational members enthusiastic for innovative ideas?	264	1	5	3.70	1.355
Attempt to convince people to support an innovative idea?	264	1	5	3.72	1.307
Systematically introduce innovative ideas into work practices?	264	1	5	3.56	1.380
Contribute to the implementation of new ideas?	264	1	5	3.70	1.355
Put effort in the development of new things?	264	1	5	3.72	1.309

Source(s): Primary Field Data (2022)

Table 5

Relationship between Independent variables and employee work innovative behaviour

Green hiring and employee innovative behaviour	B	SE B	β	t
(Constant)	4.762	0.445		10.705
Green Hiring	0.230*	0.062	−0.228	−3.696
R2	0.087*
F	4.913
Green training and employee innovative behaviour
(Constant)	3.661	0.402		9.112
Green Training	0.062*	0.06	0.065	1.036
R2	0.043*
F	2.295
Green compensation and employee innovative behaviour
(Constant)	4.118	0.397		10.367
Green Compensation	0.114*	0.054	−0.13	−2.098
R2	0.055*
F	2.988

Note(s): Dependent Variable: Innovative Work Behaviour

Source(s): Primary Field Data (2022)