The document discusses the integration of green human resource management (HRM) practices in India, emphasizing the shift towards sustainability within organizations. Green HRM aims to promote environmentally friendly practices among employees to reduce carbon footprints and enhance company image, while also addressing challenges like employee behavior change and investment costs. The study highlights the benefits of green HRM, including cost savings, improved morale, and competitive advantage, ultimately suggesting that organizations prioritize greening their HR functions to enhance their overall environmental performance.

1. Green HRM Practices in India
Abstract
The corporate world is changing the perspective from a business oriented financial
perspective to a competency based economy and green economy. As the world is
moving towards green economy, the responsibility of business has expanded to go
green. The term Green human resources refer to the promotion of sustainable
employee practices with the help of interface of every employee. It’s aim is to
increase the awareness among the employees on the issue of sustainability. Green
HR deals with the HR activities which are environment friendly and promote the
sustainable use of resources in the organizations. This in turn, help business
organizations to trim down employee carbon footsteps by the likes of
teleconferencing, sharing of car, telecommuting, filing electronically, virtual
interviews, recycling, online training, etc. This study focuses on various green
HRM practices followed in the organization. The paper largely focuses on the
various green HRM practices
Keywords: HRM, Green HRM, Needs of Green HRM, Impact and Benefits of
Green HRM
Introduction
Business organizations are nowadays realizing that, in addition to focusing on
financial profits, they must consider all social and environmental impacts for their
long term sustainability. Sustainability is “the ability to meet the needs of present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”
Organizations need to understand their responsibility towards social and
environmental risks and opportunities for all business decisions taken by them.
This simultaneous approach of delivering positive results for 3P’s- People, Planet
and Profit- is referred to as “triple bottom line.” HRM plays the critical role in
embedding sustainability strategy of the organization for creating the skills,
motivation, values and trust to achieve a triple bottom line. It ensures long term
health and sustainability of both the organization’s internal and external
stakeholders with policies that reflect equity, development and well- being; and
supports environmentally friendly practices. Thus there is a growing need for the
integration of environmental sustainability into human resource management
(HRM) - Green HRM. In a nutshell creating a green World where consumers and
employees force change. In fact the HR function can be renamed as “People and
Society”.
Green Human Resources Management
Green human resources refer to using every employee touch point / interface to
promote sustainable practices and increase employee awareness and commitments
on the issues of sustainability. It involves undertaking environment-friendly HR

2. initiatives resulting in greater efficiencies, lower costs and better employee
engagement and retention which in turn, help organizations to reduce employee
carbon footprints by the likes of electronic filing, car sharing, job-sharing, tele-
conferencing and virtual interviews, recycling, telecommuting, online training,
energy-efficient office spaces etc. The HR function will become the driver of
environmental sustainability within the organization by aligning its practices and
policies with sustainability goals reflecting an eco-focus. It involves undertaking
environment- friendly HR initiatives resulting in: 1) greater efficiencies, and 2)
lower costs and better employee engagement and retention.
Need of Green HRM1
Today the need for green human resource management is important for all over the
world. The ecological consciousness of each human drives the living style and
environment. The general employees are interested in green human resource
management because of its important and need in the current workplace. Our
personal and professional lifestyle is affected due to many consequences. The
corporate world is the most significant in enhancing the environment issues and the
corporate has to give solution to this hazards.
Benefits of Green HRM2
Green HRM has its prime importance in the achievement of broader objectives
such as cost saving, corporate social responsibility, talent acquisition and
management and gaining advantage over the competition. following benefits:
• It increases employee morale.
• It helps in employee retention and reduces labour turnover.
• It provides lucrative opportunities for quality human talent
• It helps in building company image to attract good human resource.
• Improves brand image of the company in the market.
• It can also be used as a marketing strategy.
• It improves the quality of the overall organization both internal and external.
• It reduces the overall cost of the company as costs are largely influenced by
the size of the company and steps taken to make it environment friendly.
• It provides competitive advantage to the company in industry as well as the
market.
• With increasing global issues, many organizations are becoming vigilant of
their activities and their impact over the environment.
1
Deepika R and Dr. KarpagamV, A study on green HRM practices in an organisation, International
Journal of Applied Research 2016; 2(8): 426-429
2
Dr. Parul Deshwal, Green HRM: An organizational strategy of greening people, International Journal of
Applied Research 2015; 1(13): 176-181

3. • Green management practices are also beneficial to the companies as it helps
to save money and reduces ill- effects on the environment, hence avoiding
much government interventions.
• It helps in efficient use of resources and manages risks more effectually.
• It develops green learning environment in the organization.
• It leads to refinement of employee behaviour in order to develop eco-
friendly habits in their private and professional lives.
• It serves as a helping hand in realization of the self- actualization needs of an
employee.
• It helps in generation of employment opportunities.
Challenges of Green HRM3
Apart from the above mentioned advantages or benefits, green HRM faces certain
challenges. The challenges of Green HRM are as follows:
• It is difficult to alter the behaviour of employees in a short span of time.
• Not every employee is equally motivated to participate in the promotion of
Green HRM practices in the organization.
• Developing the culture of Green HRM in entire organization is a
cumbersome and lingering process.
• It requires high investment at initial stage and comparatively slow rate of
return. Sourcing and recruitment of green employees with quality talents
is a challenging task.
• It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of green HR practices in
employees’ behaviour.
• HR professionals faced problems of being expected to provide the essential
green structures, green processes, green tools, and green thinking to make
the best selection and develop the future green leaders of the organization
Impact4
• Gaining Perception, reputation of goodwill.
• Cost effective
• Better utilization of resources
• Better power utility
• Smarter performance translated into cheaper products
• Direct impact of profit and Enhances the ROI
3
Dr. Parul Deshwal, Green HRM: An organizational strategy of greening people, International Journal of
Applied Research 2015; 1(13): 176-181
4
Ms. Aparna Jain, Green Human Resource Management Concept In Indian Industries – Present Scenario,
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Allied Research Review and Practices, Volume 3, Issue 7, July
2016, page no. 175

4. Objectives5
• Attempts to suggest some more green initiatives for HRM
• Provide with a basic understanding of Green HRM
• Highlight different significant works on Green HRM by other workers
• Elaborate on various green practices that can be incorporated for building a
Green workplace
Review of Literature
Aravamudhan (2012)6
, Green HRM involves addressing the company carbon
footprint by cutting down on usage of papers, reducing unwanted travel. Green
HRM is about the holistic application of the concept of sustainability to
organization and its workforce. It has been found out in various researches that HR
department in many companies are increasingly greening their processes to gain
competitive advantage over others.
Justin Victor (2008), one half of HR professionals indicated that their
organizations have a formal or informal environmental responsibility policy. Top
Three green practices reported by HR professionals were encouraging employees
to work more environment friendly, offering recycling programs and donating /
discounting used furniture supplies.
John R. Rathgeber (2007)7
has said in his research that many business leaders are
embracing Corporate Sustainability and Green Business practices as a way to
improve their operations and enhance their competitiveness.
According to Candice Harris and Dr. Helen Tregidga (2008)8
, many
organizations have quick to jump onboard the Sustainability bandwagon, little
appears to have been done to consider the role of, and effect on, the HR function
and managers. How are HR managers defining and enacting corporate
sustainability. All participants felt that HR function has a role in fostering
environmental practices within an organization due to their role as stewards of
5
Ms. Aparna Jain, Green Human Resource Management Concept In Indian Industries – Present Scenario,
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Allied Research Review and Practices, Volume 3, Issue 7, July
2016, page no. 175
6
Aravamudhan NR, Green HR getting into the Business of Green, HRM Review, 12, 2012
7
Kanika Sharma, Conceptualization of Green HRM and Green HRM Practices: Commitment to
Environment Sustainability, International Journal of Advanced Scientific Research and Management,
Vol. 1 Issue 8, August 2016
8
Kanika Sharma, Conceptualization of Green HRM and Green HRM Practices: Commitment to Environment
Sustainability, International Journal of Advanced Scientific Research and Management, Vol. 1 Issue 8,
August 2016

5. value, and as skilled communicators in the organization. Findings indicated the HR
managers espouse private moral positions around concern for the environment,
however environmental action in their personal lives appears limited.
John Sullivan (2009), in his paper has stated that environmental issues are on
most every one’s mind so if your firm has a competitive advantage in this area will
create an employment brand. Green recruiting is a chance to differentiate yourself
in a recruiting marketplace where standing out from the crowd is already extremely
difficult. Moreover Gen y is focusing on the Green Recruitment.
Buck Consultants (2009), the Greening of HR Survey examines the types of
environmentally friendly "green" initiatives that companies are utilizing involving
their workforce and human resource practices. The results confirm that companies
are incorporating and working towards integrating a number of green practices.
While the study’s questions and results are broad, they hint at several areas for HR
practitioners to consider in the green space. Over half of the companies surveyed
have incorporated environmental management into business operations and have a
formal green program in place or plan to implement one in the next twelve months.
Mr M.W.Shaikh9
in his paper submitted Green HRM, A requirement of 21st
Century to Abhinav journal of Research has made an attempt to promote the
importance of Green HRM In industries, and The Green Human Resources
Management is based on green movement related to Protection of Environment
and save the planet Earth from future disasters. The “Magna Carta” on Human
Environment was declared in the first United Nation’s (International) Conference
on Human Environment held in June 1972 in Stockholm declared that, to defend &
improve the human environment for present and future generation has become an
imperative goal for mankind. The Green Human Resource Management will play
an important role in industry to promote the environment related issues by
adopting it, in management philosophy, HR policies and practices, training people
and implementation of laws related to Environment Protection. The Green HRM
will also help the employers, manufacturers in image and brand building and by
strictly implementing the ISO 14000 standards, environmental audit, thus changing
the organizational culture, thinking about waste management, pollution and
helping the society and its own people, those are getting effected by pollution. It
will also make employees and society members aware of the utilization of natural
resources more economically and encourage eco-friendly products.
Green HRM: Top Ten Companies
1. Wipro Technologies
2. Suzlon Energy
3. ITC Limited
4. HCL Technologies
9
Shaikh MW, Green HRM, A Requirement of 21st Century, Abhinav, 1, 2012, 122- 127

6. 5. Tata Consultancy Services
6. Oil & Natural Gas Company (ONGC)
7. Idea Cellular
8. Induslnd Bank
9. Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited
10.Tata Metaliks Limited
Conclusion
Based on this review, it is possible to conclude that by understanding and
increasing the scope and depth of green HRM practices, organizations can improve
their environmental performance in a more sustainable manner than before. The
green HRM practices are more powerful tools in making organisations and their
operations green. The green performance, green behaviours, green attitude, and
green competencies of human resources can be shaped and reshaped through
adaptation of green HRM practices. Hence, we suggest that organisations be
required to give more priority to make each function of HRM green.
References
Ms. Aparna Jain, Green Human Resource Management Concept In Indian Industries – Present
Scenario, International Journal of Multidisciplinary Allied Research Review and Practices,
Volume 3, Issue 7, July 2016, page no. 175
Deepika R and Dr. KarpagamV, A study on green HRM practices in an organisation,
International Journal of Applied Research 2016; 2(8): 426-429
Dr. Parul Deshwal, Green HRM: An organizational strategy of greening people, International
Journal of Applied Research 2015; 1(13): 176-181
Shaikh MW, Green HRM, A Requirement of 21st Century, Abhinav, 1, 2012, 122- 127
Aravamudhan NR, Green HR getting into the Business of Green, HRM Review, 12, 2012
Kanika Sharma, Conceptualization of Green HRM and Green HRM Practices: Commitment
to Environment Sustainability, International Journal of Advanced Scientific Research and
Management, Vol. 1 Issue 8, August 2016