green human resource

8/10/2019 green human resource

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Green HR: Integration of environmental Management into

Human Resource Management

Latika Khera Jagriti Chhabra


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Abstract

The impact of our daily activities on the environment and the desire to go green has expanded from

just individuals to organization. Growing global environmental concerns and the development of

international environmental standard are creating the need for businesses to adopt formal

environmental strategies.

Green HR is the use of Human Resource Management policies to promote the sustainable use of

resources within business organizations and, more generally, promotes the cause of environmental

sustainability. Due to the responsibility of the present generations, HR managers are to create

awareness amongst the youngsters and among the people working for the organization about the

Green HRM.

Researchers argued that employees must be inspired, empowered and environmentally aware of

greening in order to carry out green management initiatives. There is a growing need for strategic

green HRMthe integration of environmental management into HRM. The main purpose of this study

is to explore constructs of green HRM.

The practice of green HR should be translated in to the following HR processes, such as recruitment,

training, compensation, training and development etc.

Introduction

The impact of our daily activities on the environment and the desire to go green has expanded

from just individuals to organizations. Now days, many organizations are volunteering to

operate in a more environmentally responsible way, therefore in the near future; being

green could become the norm. There is a growing need for the integration of environmental

management into Human Resource (HR) and it is called Green HR.

According to Mandip (2012), Green HR is the use of Human Resource Management policies

to promote the sustainable use of resources within business organizations and, more

generally, promotes the cause of environmental sustainability.

Due to the responsibility of the present generations, HR managers are to create awareness

amongst the youngsters and among the people working for the organization about the Green

HRM.

Implementation of corporate green management initiatives requires a high level of technical

and management skills among employees due to the facts that the company will develop


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innovation-focused environmental initiatives and programmes that have a significant impact

on the sustainable competitive of the firms.

The modern day HR Manager has devised a novel employee engagement initiative that helps

company to achieve environmental sustainability. Green HR could very well imply using

every employee interface to promote sustainable practices and increase employee awareness.

It reflects the way an organization chooses to drive and increase employee commitments and

awareness on the issue of sustainability.

Eco- consciousness or colour GREEN is rapidly emerging in every dimension of our lives

and workplace. Green HR is one which involves the following two essential elements-

Environmental friendly HR practices and

The preservation of Knowledge Capital. HR ofan organization plays a major role in making

environmental responsibility a part of the mission statement of the organization.

The kinds of action taken within green HRM initiatives include educating employees about

climate change and other environmental issues, training in working methods that reduce the

use of energy and other resources, promoting and inculcating more sustainable means of

travel to work and auditing of employee benefits to eliminate those that are notenvironmental.

Moreover, The Greening of HR Survey by Buck Consultants (2009) 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 toward integrating a number of green practices. 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 12 months.

From the surveys above indicated the important role of HR processes play in translating

Green HR policy into practice.

Finally, Green HR can be defined as environmentally friendly HR initiatives resulting in

greater efficiencies, lower costs and better employee engagement. HR plays a key role as it

creates awareness amongst employees and builds engagement, which in turn helps the

organizations to operate in an environmentally sustainable fashion.


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Literature Review

W.S. Renwick Douglas, Maguire2 Stuart (2013) The researcher made a study for the integration of

the largely separate literatures of environmental management (EM) and human resource

management (HRM) research. GHRM has potential to contribute positively to both employee well-

being and improved organizational performance

Margeritha Meily,Susanthi Susanthi (2013) The researcher madestudied how the practices of green

HR should be translate in to the HR processes, such as recruitment, training, compensation and etc.

Being greener needs integration of environmental management into human resource management

practices.

Kumari Pallavi (2012) Researcher discussed about the HR policies and practices can improve the

environmental performance of organization. Specific HR philosophies, policies and/or practices that

support or inhibit change around environmental issue The Role of the HR professional in

environmental management. Companies should use different and innovative ideas to motivate

employees to be eco-friendly.

Dutta Sumantha (2012) The research paper tells about HRM practices and initiatives to educate

employees about green human resource. Environmental friendly HR initiatives resulting in greater

efficiencies, lower costs and create an atmosphere of better employee engagement, which in turn

helps organizations to operate in environmentally sustainable fashion.

Cherian Jacob and Jolly Jacob (2012) Research paper tells about how green management principlescan be implemented effectively amongst the workforce of the organisation. GHRM has potential to

contribute positively to both employee well-being and improved organizational performance

Shaikh M.W (2012) An attempt is made to spread the awareness amongst the industries, across the

country on Green HR, thereby helping the organizations and its people, to understand the

environmental related issues and reduce environmental problems, hazards and pollutions. HR has a

role in the pursuit of greener business practices, a role to save planet earth and recruit new

employees and enforce greener working practices and change environmentally unfriendly behaviours.

HR has significant opportunity to contribute the green movement and motivate employee / people towork for greener business

Mandip Gill (2011) the researcher examined the nature and extent of green HR initiatives AND

examines the HR role proposes a process model of HR issues involved in green HRM. The future of

Green HRM appears promising for all the stakeholders and practitioners and to establish the

usefulness of linking employee involvement and participation in environmental programmes

Sudin Suhaimi (2011) The main purpose of this study is to explore constructs of green HRM. This

paper proposes a development of a new model of strategic green HRM by reviewing the literature on

HR aspects of environmental management.


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Murari Krishna ,Bhandari Meenu (2011) The paper tells about what are the various initiatives through

which HR can help an organization in preserving its environmental sustainability Companies should

continue to reduce their paper usage and help to make the world a cleaner and safer place.

Objectives

1. To understand the ways through which HR can help an organization in preserving its environment.

2. To comprehend the ways through which green HR can be implemented at various HR process that

is recruitment, training and development etc.

3. To study some of the green business initiative of five different companies.

Research Methodology

The research design chosen for the study (descriptive design) is conclusive.

Systematic search methodology by identifying articles related to green HR practices by using the

following key words: Green management, green HR, training and development, recruitment, rewards

and feedback.

Following this 10 articles related to the keyword search were identified.

Conceptual Framework

Human resource management is the process of an organization's workforce or human resources. It is

responsible for the attraction, selection, training, assessment, and rewarding of employees, while also

overseeing organizational leadership and culture and ensuring compliance with employment and

labour laws. Green human resources refer to using every employee interface to promote sustainable

practices and increase employee awareness and commitments on the issues of sustainability. It

involves undertaking environment-friendly HR initiatives resulting in greater efficiencies, lower costs

and better employee engagement and retention which in turn, help organizations to reduce employeecarbon footprints.

Green Initiatives

In the past, sound economic performance of the firm was expected to guarantee corporate success

by companies and its shareholders, but now it is no longer valid; economic and financial outcomes

need to be accompanied by minimization of ecological footprints and increased attention to social and

environmental aspects. Therefore, the new strategic issue, corporate environmentalism or green

management emerged in and became popular.


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The best practice for greening the business are be the use of computerized human resources

information systems, applicant tracking systems and online applications streamline hiring efforts. They

also reduce paper usage and costs. In addition, documents that authorize motor vehicle, background,

criminal checks and references can all be scanned and transmitted to third parties and reduce excess

paperwork. Open enrolment for employee benefits can be conducted online and signatures for legaldocuments may be obtained electronically, eliminating excessive use of paper so the company

initiatives driven by human resources are blood drives, charitable contribution campaigns and

wellness programs are typically coordinated by human resources departments.

Green initiatives such as recycling campaigns, paper drives and educational programs can be driven

by HR personnel. This also contributes to cleaner air quality, not to mention saving time and money.

Customers are often more flexible than people might expect, especially when they are aware of

admirable green practices that appear responsible and forward thinking.

General Green office practices:

1. Use of light as little as possible: Artificial lighting accounts for 44 percent of the electricity use in

office buildings. Employees should make it a habit to turn off the lights when they are leaving any

room for 15 minutes or more and utilize natural light when you can. Organizations should also make a

policy to buy Energy Star-rated light bulbs and fixtures, which use at least two-thirds less energy than

regular lighting, and install timers or motion sensors that automatically shut off lights when theyrenot

needed.

2. Maximize computer efficiency: Computers in the business sector unnecessarily waste electricity.

Employees should make a habit to turn off their computers when not needed.

3. Print smarter: The average Indian office worker goes through 10,000 sheets of copy paper a year.

Employees should make it a habit to print on both sides or use the back side of old documents for

faxes, scrap paper, or drafts. They should avoid colour printing and print in draft mode whenever

feasible.

4. Use of Eco friendly paper: Organizations should make it a policy to buy chlorine-free paper with a

higher percentage of post-consumer recycled content. They should also consider switching to a

lighter stock of paper or alternatives made from bamboo, hemp, organic cotton, or kenaf. They should

use Recycle toner and ink cartridges and buy remanufactured ones.

5. Go paperless when possible: Employees should make it a habit to think before they print.

Organizations should make it a policy to post employee manuals and similar materials online, rather

than distribute print copies. Theyreeasier to update in this way too. Going paperless - Encourage e-

mailing.

6. Ramp up recycling: Organizations should make it a habit to recycle everything they collect. Just

about any kind of paper encountered in the office, including fax paper, envelopes, and junkmail,


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should be recycled. So should be employees old cell phone, PDA, or pager etc. Eliminate

unnecessary photocopying and reuse packaging for shipping.

7. Eco Friendly fixtures: Organizations should make it a policy to purchase office supplies and

furniture made from recycled materials.

8. Watch what (and how) the employees eat: Organizations should make it a habit to bring their own

mug and dishware for the meals they eat at the office. They should also provide reusable dishes,

silverware, and glasses. They should switch to Fair Trade and organic coffee, tea, and buy as much

organic and local food as possible for parties and other events. Provide filtered drinking water to

reduce bottled-water waste.

9. Rethink the travel by top management: Some rental agencies now offer hybrids and other high-

mileage vehicles. Organizations should make it a policy to invest in videoconferencing and other

technological solutions that can reduce the amount of employees travel.

10. Reconsider the way by which employees commute: Organizations should make it a habit to

carpool, bike, or take transit to work, and/or telecommute when possible. They should also make it a

policy to encourage telecommuting and make it easy for employees to take alternative modes of

transportation by subsidizing commuter checks, offering bike parking, or organizing a carpool board.

11. Create a healthy office environment: Organizations should make it a habit to use nontoxic

cleaning products. They should go for the office premises brighten up with plants, which absorb

indoor pollution. They should also avoid gas toxic chemicals. Explore opportunities for implementing

alternative energy sources - Evaluate opportunities for using solar energy, bio-fuels, wind power and

other alternative energy sources.

12. Implement green manufacturing processes - Use energy-efficient equipment, and streamline

processes to use fewer steps and less materials and packaging.

13. Provide leadership and resources for going greening Assign a respected executive-level person

to head up going Green/Organizational Sustainability initiatives. Including going green in companys

mission statement and business plans.

14. Get employees involved - Create a team to lead the companys eco-efforts

15. Communicating about Going Green issues - Inform suppliers and customers about your efforts.

And get in touch with local regulatory agencies, many of which offer financial incentives to businesses

that implement green initiatives. Keep employees and shareholders/investors informed about going

green progress.

16. Buying green - Tell suppliers that youre interested in sustainable products and set specific goals

for buying recycled, refurbished, or used. Make the environment, and not just price, a factor when

purchasing.


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17. Detoxify - Many offices have toxic substances, such as used batteries and copier toner, on hand.

Talk to suppliers about alternatives to toxics, and make sure you properly dispose of the ones you

cant avoid using.

18. Conducting an energy audit - Most local utilities offer businesses free on-site consultations on how

they can reduce usage and save money. Frequent suggestions include: Improve insulation, install

timers to automatically turn off lights, use energy efficient light bulbs, keep temperatures at

comfortable ranges that are not excessively cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

19. Conducting annual- It is important to Survey employees to assess how well the organization is

doing with regard to implementing green business practices. The survey should request suggestions

for becoming a greener organization. This can be a separate survey focused on going green issues

only, or it can be added as part of an employee opinion/satisfaction survey. Conducting the surveys

annually will enable the organization to assess going green progress and provide information,

suggestions and insight for future actions.

Apart from general green office practices, here are some latest environmentally-friendly solutions for

you to stay Green in the HR functions.

i) Green Printing

Paper and toner consumption are both obvious causes for environmental problems, but reducing

printing and paper consumption is very hard especially for those corporations with huge numbers of

staff, each with their own habits and preferences. More printing naturally leads to increased in paper,

toner wastage and carbon dioxide emission.

The latest technology has offered a solution to solve this problem. PretonSaver is software which can

reduce paper demand by up to 20% and toner and ink demand by up to 50% without degrading the

output image quality. You can set the toner reduction rate by department, and it also helps you to

manage printing jobs by consolidating departmental print logs; you can even set printing page

allowance for those departments that doesnt require much printing. According to actual case

reference, a company with 1000 employees may reduce its toner consumption by around 350

cartridges per year and will reduce its carbon footprint by around 1.68 tons of Co2 annually.

ii) Green Design for Payroll and Taxation FormsTechnology is not the only solution to stay Green in your daily operation. There are some simple and

easy ways to be environmentally friendly, for example by just switching to Green design products like

sealer forms. Sealer forms, it is a form that can be folded into a self-contained envelope, so a single

piece of paper can both act as a form and an envelope, perfect way to prepare pay rolls and taxation

forms. Sealer Solution enables automatic individual information printing and form sealing in a secure

manner. Comparing with traditional payroll printing method by Dot Matrix, its speed can be as fast as

3400 pieces per hour while operating in a comparatively silent mode. It cannot only reduces the

manpower tremendously, but also enhance the indoor working environment in the HR Department.


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iii) Green Manufacturing & Disposal of Staff ID Card

ID card issue is a familiar part of HR operation. Usually these cards are made of PVC, which is harder

to recycle and cause more pollution. PETG is a better material to produce plastic cards in terms of

ecology, it is 100% recyclable, does not produce any noxious fume, and creates less water and air

pollution. Moreover, when such cards that contain personal information need to be disposed, you canmake use of Disposal Service. This enables the waste plastic cards to be securely transferred for

recycling. The above solutions may provide you with some hints to reduce wastage and

environmental impacts in your daily HR operation, to be more economical and most importantly to

walk towards more ecological business operation.

Green HR through HR process

Recruitment and selection

Induction for new recruits is seen to be needed to ensure employee understand and approach their

corporate environmental culture. Therefore green environment issues must be integrated into the

recruitment process. This involves monitoring the long-term competency requirements for the

company, providing new employees with information about sustainable development policies and

commitments, using recruitment procedures which support the equitable representation of applicants

and recruits in terms of gender, age, racial and ethnic groups, sexual orientation, disabled people and

other relevant groups. For this the companysjob descriptions should reflect the sustainability agenda

and the companys website and other research tools available for candidate access clearly outline its

greening endeavours. Finally the interview questions should be tailored to flesh out potential

compatibility with the company's green goals. The common sections of job descriptions can be used

to specify a number of environmental aspects. The job title and chain of command must include

environmental reporting roles and health and safety tasks, which staff is exposed to harmful

substances/potential emissions. In fact becoming a green employer may improve employer branding

and be a useful way to attract potential employees. Preference in selection should be given to

candidates who are Green aware, which becomes a part of the HR acquisition policy. Therefore, it

can be concluded by being green employer, it will help and increase employee motivation,

engagement and attitude of green.

Performance management system

Using performance management in green HR presents the challenges of how to measure

environmental performance standards and indicators in performance management at all department

levels and gaining useful data on the environmental performance of managers.

Firms like Tata Group of Companies have installed corporate-wide environmental performance

standards (which cover on-site use, waste management, environmental audits, and the reduction of

waste) to measure environmental performance standards, and developing green information systems

and audits (to gain useful data on managerial environmental performance


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Performance management systems can also be successfully initiated in an organization is by tying

the performance evaluations to the job descriptions the specific green goals and tasks. Electronic HR

system (e-HR) can be introduced to be able to help management and employees track their own

carbon. The roles of managers in achieving green outcomes included in appraisals such as

familiarization, and encourage green HR learning, are needed. Managers can ask employees to bringspecific green ideas. These ideas can be brainstormed together to include them into the objectives for

the upcoming year. Attaining these objectives would be the basis of performance evaluation and link

to payment and reward.

Training and development

In the process of employee training and development programmers, it should include social and

environmental issues at all levels. Green orientation programs for the newly hired employees should

be an integral part of the training and development process. The training itself should inform the

employees about the green procedures and policies including the vision/mission statement of the

company, the sustainability oriented benefits, company-wide initiatives like reducing greenhouse

gases, creating green products etc.

Environment- related aspects of safety, energy efficiency, waste management and recycling can

become the focal points of green training. Managers should rely more on online course material and

case studies rather than on printed handouts, thus further reducing use of paper.

Moreover, green teams can be established in each department, producing general awareness and

specific training in environmental management, and to assess the training required in environmental

management, a training needs analysis can be done in terms of assessing what environmental

knowledge and skills staff.

Employee involvement and participation

Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people have an impact on decisions and

actions that affect their jobs. By encouraging employee involvement and participation will create

entrepreneurs within the organization who are socially or ecologically oriented. Therefore, employees

need to be involved in formulating environmental strategy, so that they can create and expand the

knowledge needed to market green products.

Employee involvement teams can not only bring about a change in how work processes are

performed, but also improve worker health and safety too. For example, American Airlines claim their

flight attendants recycle over 616,000 pounds of aluminium cans, earning at least $40,000 to

them in one year (May & Flannery, in Renwick, 2008) employees need to be involved in formulating

environmental strategy, so that they can create and expand the knowledge needed to market green

products. Organizations are encouraging employees to think of ideas to reduce carbon emissions and

save energy other ways in which employees can be encouraged are to pursue green commuting

habits like allowing flexible work weeks, establishing a car pool-program, offering free or discounted


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free transportation passes, adding car sharing as a employee benefit and setting up transportation

savings account.

Pay and reward system

Compensation should be link to motivate the changing behaviours of employee green performance. A

benefit package and variable pay element can be added to the compensation system for rewarding

employee, because the organizations will get the benefit from rewarding waste reduction practices.

For example, DuPont has an Environmental Respect Awards program which recognizes employee

environmental achievements. Compensation packages should be customized to reward green skills

acquisition and achievements by employees. Monetary- based, nonmonetary based and recognition-

based rewards can be used for green achievements of employees. Monetary-based rewards for

contributions in environment management can be allocated in the forms of salary increase, cash

incentives and bonuses while non-monetary rewards may include sabbaticals, special leave and gifts

to employees and their family members. Recognition-based awards can highlight green contributions

of employees through wide publicity and public praise and appreciation of green efforts by CEO or top

management executives In general, such organizations are seen to need to develop reward systems

to produce desirable behaviors in EM, and doing so requires effective employment of both incentives

and disincentives19. Disincentives include negative reinforcements like suspensions, criticisms and

warnings and may be needed to get employees to make environmental improvements, e.g. if

employees engage in lapses in the handling of hazardous waste. Organizations may wish to engage

in giving employees positive rewards in terms of verbal feedback from supervisors, as such informal

verbal and written feedback which might help motivate employees towards environmentalimprovement.

Corporate culture and green culture

Corporate culture is one of the basic requirements for business in searching for excellence. A good,

well known company always has some common corporate culture. A companys life -force is to keep

to its corporate culture.

Corporate culture fulfils four functions (Kreiner and Kinicki, 2004; 85). First, corporate culture gives

members an organization identity.Second

, corporate culture facilitates collective commitment.Third

,corporate culture promotes social system stability. Social system stability reflects the extent to which

.the work environment is perceived as positive and reinforcing, and conflict and change are managed

effectively. Forth, shape behaviour by helping members make sense of their surroundings.

The nature of corporate culture that exists in a company is going to decide the degree to which the

desired results from the employees are obtained. As discussion before, there is a growing need for

organizations to be more greener. Therefore, the integration of environmental management into

corporate culture to be more greener is a must.

Green culture means green values and peoples recognitions and evaluation about green

environmental value. Under the guidance of green values, subjects observe and understand things,

analyze and grasp objects, solve problems and formulate strategies. As entire guideline of green


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culture, the formation of green values is based on various elements such as green knowledge, green

habits and so on and reflects specific spirits of times.

Analysis

Different companies following green practices

ITC Limited

ITC is one of India's foremost private sector companies with a strong commitment to the triple bottom

line. It has been a frontrunner in adopting eco responsible processes, much ahead of legislation

setting benchmarks for the industry to follow. Some of the green practices followed by ITC are

followed:

Sustainable Initiatives at ITC Green Products-Premium Business Paper: For the first time in India ITC

has launched an environment friendly multipurpose paper "Paperkraft Premium Business Paper", for

office and home use using a new technology 'Ozone Treated Elemental Chlorine Free Technology'

replacing Elemental Chlorine which was conventionally used in the bleaching process during paper

manufacture. Biodegradable Paper and Paper Board Laminates: As a first again ITC PSPD has

introduced a new series of paper and paperboard laminates with applications in Flexible Packaging,

Folding Cartons and Disposables.

Reducing the Carbon Footprint- The carbon emission in ITC PSPD at 1.6t/ t of board is the lowest inthe country but its commitment towards maximizing the usage of energy generated from renewable

sources has led to the installation of the "Green" Boiler designed to use internally generated bio-mass

like bark, chip dust etc. By using bio-fuels in place of coal the carbon dioxide emission is reduced

Conservation of Energy: Some of the technologies used by all the units to conserve energy are:

Usage of VFD (Variable Frequency Drive), for flow control, instead of valves, AC drives in place of DC

motors, Replace old equipments like pump with more energy efficient ones, Make the inside surface

of pump casings smoother by coating, Upgrade steam & condensate system, Installation of solar

water heating and lighting system, Replacement of incandescent lamps with high efficiency

lamps/CFLs.

The focus on improving the operational efficiencies combined with up-gradation of technology have

led ITC to be the only company in the world, of its size and diversity, to achieve the milestones of

being carbon positive, water positive and achieving almost 100% solid waste recycling.

The "Three Leaves" rating awarded by Centre for Science and Environment, Green Tech

Environment Excellence award, "Golden Peacock" award and "Solid Waste Recycling Positive",

Excellent Water Efficient Unit awards to name a few are testimonies to these efforts and

achievement.


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Punjab National Bank

Punjab National Bank is an Indian financial services company based in New Delhi, India. PNB is the

third largest bank in India in terms of asset size.

As one of the leading financial institutions, PNB recognizes that the health of the economy rests on

the health of the planet. Their goal is to make a positive contribution to sustainability by integrating

environmental principles into our business model. Bank is fully committed to the protection of

environment. Green Initiatives taken by the Bank included promotion of rainwater harvesting, reduced

use of paper by using email for inter-office communications, reduced power consumption through

various energy conservation measures and conducting tree plantation drives.PNB believes that by

taking action today, we can improve the quality of life for generations to come.

Various activities undertaken by PNB to protect environment are as follows:

A separate audit sheet to assess the implementation and impact of the green initiatives has been

evolved. With growing concerns about climate change, Bank has taken various steps for reducing

emissions and energy consumption. The Bank has begun conducting Electricity Audit of offices as an

energy conservation initiative.

Bank is also emphasizing on green buildings and earnestly encouraging simple Green practices such

as opting for energy efficient lights, printing on both sides of paper, purchasing composite fax

machines which can perform multiple functions, immediate repair/redressal of water leakage, use of

master censor /master switches for light, fans etc, wherever possible.

National Life Group

National Life Group is a diversified family of financial services companies that offer a comprehensive

portfolio of life insurance, annuity and investment products to help individuals, families and

businesses pursue their financial goals. A 160-year-old financial services company licensed in all 50

states and the District of Columbia, has advanced its environmental program by moving to paperless

HR and payroll with UltiPro. Ultimate software, a leading provider of end-to-end strategic human

resources, payroll, and talent management solutions, Ultimate Software markets its award-winning

UltiPro products as on-demand services through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering.

With a corporate goal to go green, National Life has adopted a number of conservation-minded

business practices, including installing solar panels and automatic lighting at its headquarters to

conserve energy. The company began to focus on environmentally friendly initiatives in 2004.

At National Life Group, the whole HR process is done through UltiPro, HR receives and reviews

candidates information directly through the UltiPro Web portal. If applicants credentials match job

requirements, HR can forward the electronic resumes to the hiring manager for further screening.

After a candidate is interviewed and selected, the new hires data moves automatically into theemployee database. All communication is electronic and the mountains of paper have disappeared.


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By automating the recruitment process through UltiPro, National Life has also improved the security of

confidential information and ensured that both internal and external communications are consistent.

Additionally, National Life is using UltiPros self-service and secure Web portal to give employees

access to their HR and payroll details. The convenience of the Web, combined with automaticdeposits, has created a paperless payroll for almost all of the organizations 1,600 employees and

retirees. Employees contribute to our environmental objectives by accessing their pay cheque and

benefits details, as well as business forms, links to providers HR news, online Using UltiPro, everyone

becomes involved in our push to be green.

National Life has annual audits. The information collected through UltiPro Recruitment makes it easy

to meet audit requirements, while further reducing paper consumption. Before, data was collected by

multiple methods. Now the HR team collects data through a single source and compiles it in one

document.

The company also decreases waste through online registration for training and development.

Employees can view and select training programs using the Web, resulting in fewer paper forms and

less interdepartmental mail.

Bank of America

The Bank of America Corporation is an American multinational banking and financial services

corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the second largest bank holding companyin the United States by assets.

Bank of America is proving with eco-friendly operations that can coexist with business growth.

According to their corporate website, the company reduced paper use by 32% from 2000-2005,

despite a 24% growth in their customer base. Bank of America also runs an internal recycling

program that recycles 30,000 tons of paper each year, good for saving roughly 200,000 trees for each

year of the programsoperation.

The company also offers employees a $3,000 cash back rewards for buying hybrid vehicles.

State Bank of India

State Bank of India is a multinational banking and financial services company based in India. It is a

government-owned corporation.

The Bank had launched 'Green Channel Counter'(GCC) facility on State Bank Day (01.07.2010), at 57

select branches of the Bank spread across the country. This was an innovative step taken by the

Bank towards changing the traditional way of paper based banking in a limited way, to card based
http://www.bankofamerica.com/environment/index.cfm?template=env_recyclinghttp://www.bankofamerica.com/environment/index.cfm?template=env_recycling


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Green Banking focusing on reduction in paper usage as well as saving transactio n time. This is a

pioneering concept which would save both paper and time resources.

At the dawn of State Bank Day 2011 (01.07.2011), and on the First Anniversary of the launch of GCC,

this facility has been made available at 5000+ branches across the Country. During this journey of

one year the Green Channel Counter facility has earned many accolades. At the IBA Banking

Technology Awards 2010, SBI won the Best Customer Initiative Award for the Green Channel

Counter. In addition, this has lead to the saving of enough papers to avoid felling of approximately 5

Trees.

Conclusion

The focus on improving the operational efficiencies combined with up-gradation of technology and

following green HR practices these companies have achieved the milestones of being carbon

positive.

The future of Green HRM appears promising for all the stakeholders of HRM. The employers and

practitioners can establish the usefulness of linking employee involvement and participation in

environmental management programmes to improved organizational environmental performance, like

with a specific focus on encouraging green practices and help green management evolve and

develop.

To conclude one can say that HR has a role in the pursuit of greener business practices, a role to

save planet earth and recruit new employees and enforce greener working practices and change

environmentally unfriendly behaviours. HR has significant opportunity to contribute the green

movement and motivate employee / people to work for greener business.


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Bibliography

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Management:A Review and Research Agenda" International Journal of Management Reviews,Vol.

15, page no. 114 .

Meily Margaretha, Susanti Saragih (2012), Developing New Corporate Culture through Green

Human Resource Practices IBEA, International Conference on Business, Economics, and

Accounting 2023 March 2013, BangkokThailand, page no.1-10

Mrs. Pallavi Kumari (2012), "Green HRM-Issues and Challenges GRA - GLOBAL RESEARCH

ANALYSIS, Volume: 1 | Issue: 5 | Oct 2012, ISSN No 2277 - 8160, page no. 80-84

SUMANTA DUTTA (2012),"GREENING PEOPLE: A STRATEGIC DIMENSION"ZENITH InternationalJournal of Business Economics & Management Research Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012, ISSN 2249

8826, page no. 143-148

Gill Mandip (2012),"Green HRM: People Management Commitment to Environmental

Sustainability"Research Journal of Recent Sciences _ ISSN 2277-2502 Vol. 1 (ISC-2011), 244-252

(2012) Res.J.Recent Sci., page no. 244-251

Suhaimi Sudin (2011),"Strategic Green HRM: A proposed model that supports Corporate

Environmental Citizenship" International Conference on Sociality and Economics DevelopmentIPEDR vol.10 (2011) (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore, page no. 79-83

Krishna Murari,Meenu Bhandari(2011),"Green HR: Going Green with Pride" Journal of Social Welfare

and Management Volume 3 Number 3-4, page no.108-111

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