Green HR aims to make human resource policies and practices more environmentally friendly in order to promote sustainability. Some ways companies are going green include providing incentives for employees to use public transportation, installing more efficient cooling systems, and transitioning to paperless processes. Educational institutions are also helping by offering online degree programs to reduce commuting, paper usage, and other environmental impacts. Overall, green HR initiatives help companies reduce costs while preserving resources through small changes that can collectively make a significant difference.

1. Green HR: A Secret for Sustainability
The effort towards “Green HR” is creating a buzz in the business world. The
environment we create today is a cradle for the future generation, thus
efforts are required to make it cleaner, safer, greener, and sustainable1. An
effort made once, will surely make a difference. But if it sustains, it will
revolutionize the world.
You will be amazed to know that the amount of sunlight that reaches the
earth’s surface in a minute can solve the world’s energy problem for a year,
the energy cost for manufacturing a single computer is more than using it all
the years, even a single aluminum can when recycled saves adequate
electricity to power a television for 3 hours, and by recycling a ton of paper
you can save up to 17 trees and 7000 gallons of water. Though the list is
unending but the efforts made are few in number.
“Going Green” is the latest trend corporate is following to attract and retain
talent. They are adopting greener and sustainable ways to reduce cost and
at the same time saving the environment. For instance, a leading retail chain
is supplying 100 percent renewable energy and helps in reducing carbon
footprints through zero waste. Another Indian company started a
movement to reduce the impact of business on environment by providing

2. environment training to employees and conducting energy audits every
three years.
Green HR aims at preservation of knowledge capital through additional
incentives and perks along with eco-friendly HR policies and practices. The
functionality of the HR department starts with the hunt for the right talent.
So, green HR is now looking towards green collared jobs or employees.
Green collar employees are environmentally concerned employees who
direct their activities towards reducing their individual carbon footprints2.
But the most imperative thing to understand is how HR practices will
contributes towards “Green Organization”.
One such Canadian company motivates employees to travel by public
transport by providing an extra $90 per month, thus reducing pollution
caused by personal vehicles. Some of the companies are involved in
recycling and reusing of waste products, using eco-friendly products,
organizing virtual meetings to reduce travel cost and resultant pollution,
using automatic light system which shuts down when not in use, etc.
At Infosys, an India based IT Company, the team of engineers worked
towards designing a building with more sustainable cooling system (Radiant
Cooling) replacing air conditioners, which consumes almost 40% of their
electricity. This resulted in 33% saving in energy consumption.
Let’s now take a snapshot of how one can make HR functions green and
attain sustainability?
 Promoting online resumes for recruitment and procurement, to reduce
printing and usage of paper
 Selection criteria should comprise of factors to judge green efforts by
an individual
 Induction program should introduce new employees with ways to
reduce waste and benefits of green working conditions
 Include “green targets” as one of the indicators to judge performance
and appraising employees
 Training and development session must include seminars and
workshops on topics like waste management, energy efficiency, etc.
 Reward and recognize employees with initiatives towards
environmental sustainability

3.  Provide extra compensation and perks to employees for eco-friendly
initiatives
Apart from these, companies are now-a-days adopting following measures to
“Go Green”:
 Paperless organization (Electronic filing) and less printing of paper
 Meetings through video-conferencing and telecommuting, thus
reducing travelling cost
 Promoting the use of public transport or eco friendly vehicles like
bicycle
 Car pooling and sharing
 Work from home provisions to reduce commutation
 Waste management through recycling and reusing
 Use of energy saving light like CFL, etc.
Educational institutes are making effort towards the green HR initiatives
and are rolling their sleeves up to contribute through various online
programs. At ITM University Online, one can learn and study anywhere,
anytime. Under its Online MBA Program it gives opportunity to students to
educate themselves through online notes, discussion forums, etc. without
being physically present at the institute. This results in reduction of the cost
of commuting, pollution, use of paper, printing, etc.
Thus, by implementing these small changes you can bring about a
revolution. So, are you ready to “Go Green” and contribute your bit towards
your organization, your environment, and above all for yourself using Green
HR initiatives.