Green Human Resource Management in Hotels - the winning way forward!

We are further exploring the importance of implementing strategic Green Human Resource management in hotels.

Introduction

What is strategy? How can GHRM be successful in the hospitality sector?

Professor Roger Martin explains the word 'strategy' as a 'noun,' defined as "an integrative set of choices that positions you on a playing field of your choice in a way that you win." (HarvardBusinessReview, 2023)

 

Think Green (Source: Yadav, 2023)

When choosing to implement Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) strategically for hotels, it is essential to consider the following factors to implement it correctly.

1. Firstly, to implement GHRM successfully and strategically in a hotel, where would the property be located, and what would be the style?

Research shows that GHRM goes hand in hand with a Green Hotel concept, where employer brand standards have green policies and environmental initiatives clearly defined in the company's vision and mission statement. For instance, if a Green Hotel is established in the city, the building would need to comprise green infrastructure. However, if the Green Hotel is built in the countryside, the hotel can develop within its natural surroundings and try to preserve its habitat by going green.

Green Human Resources (Source: Pardo, 2024)

2.     How can Green Human Resource Management help the hotel become the best lodging option and the leader in its market?

In the past decade, we have seen that the role of human resources has changed and evolved on a broader spectrum. With the advancement of technology and growth in social media, every employee becomes a brand ambassador of their company when their experiences are shared with an interested online audience, who share with their audiences. Therefore, initial recruitment doesn't start with a job application but with a search online to see how viable the company is and a calculated read of the Human Resources Management's LinkedIn profiles. Hence, HR becomes a direct brand builder and marketer in recruitment, and going 'Green' in its governance makes HR a game changer.

 The popularity of hotels thrives on positive guest experiences, strong hotel branding, and a great hotel narrative. What better strategy can exist for a hotel than caring for its stakeholders, employees, environment, and guests in an initiative to go green through a strong CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policy?

 

3.      Capabilities that a hotel begets through Green Human Resource Management.

 

GHRM can be evaluated effectively through these subcategories:

 

Employees — with socially and environmentally skilled employees, GHRM can successfully be implemented. Research conducted by Farrukh et al. (2024) discusses the importance of fostering employees' pro-environmental behavior through green transformational leadership, green HRM, and rigorous training in environmental knowledge and sustainability

 

Marketing systems—With greenwashing taking place in many organizations, where companies claim to be sustainably green while they're not, it is crucial for the GHRM team to step up and work with a hotel's marketing team to showcase the company's green movements positively and correctly.

 

GCSR – Green Corporate, Social Responsibility. Case studies done by Freitas et al. (2020) on some Brazilian firms to see the response of GHRM on CSR have gathered evidence through quantitative approaches of a survey that GHRM practices positively influence CSR practices to be pro-environmental. This evidence was gathered through "practices of performance evaluation, teamwork, and recruitment," demonstrating that GHRM positively influences the pro-environmental psychological climate and pro-environmental behavior to evolve CSR into GCSR.

 

Leadership and management – to counter negative environmental issues, it is seen that ethical leadership within the top tier of hotel management is needed to implement GHRM; when EL (Ethical Leadership) is combined with GHRM, a case study done in Pakistan showed that there was a positive impact on Environmental Performance (EP). Further "findings revealed that employee's environmental knowledge can magnify the indirect impact of ethical leadership via GHRM on green behavior." (Ahmad et al., 2021)

 

Organizational behavior and culture in GHRM – GHRM practices can influence a hotel's BCBs (brand citizenship behavior) through organizational behavior and culture. "A survey was conducted with 328 employees from the five-star hotel were analyzed," and it was seen that "individual green values were found to moderate the relationship between GHRM practices and BCB, indicating that employees with stronger green values are more likely to exhibit BCB."' (Ibrahim et al., 2023)

 

The environmental objectives of GHRM could manifest in many ways that align with the hotel's vision and mission statements. However, GHRM is not just about adopting eco-friendly practices but also about empowering its workforce through a green mindset. With a sustainability focus at the forefront of its operation, GHRM has to hire talented staff who align strongly with the company's sustainable objectives through a comprehensive job analysis and description. Companies like "Dupont in India have linked compensation packages, salary, and bonuses to its middle managers and senior executives if they adhere effectively to environmental stewardship practices." (Chandra, 2023)

 

Lightning striking a tree (Source: AdobeStock, n.d)

4.      Barriers in organizations and the hotel industry in applying GHRM.

 

Lack of awareness and knowledge of green practices. Many hotels and companies, especially in developing countries, need to understand more about the benefits of implementing GHRM. A lack of knowledge of green practices can result in a lack of interest in executing GHRM.

Resistant to change: Many establishments are hesitant to abandon traditional HR practices and reluctant to adopt new and innovative practices because they fear the unknown, lack the time to implement them, or are conservative in their beliefs.

Financial or resource constraints: Some of the machinery and technology that assist in GHRM are expensive, and organizations may be hesitant to invest in them, especially if they do not see short-term benefits. This is true for smaller hotels, where there aren't enough financial or other resources to encourage them to invest in green practices.

No governmental support: In some countries, hotels and organizations rely on their governments to regulate and offer incentives encouraging environmentally sustainable practices. Without any support, hotels do not see a value in adopting GHRM.

Employee engagement—GHRM needs to be implemented by employees who welcome its changes and sustainable practices. If, however, employees resist GHRM and do not bother to make an impact with their actions, then GHRM will fail.

Further research in GHRM is required- Although the roots of Green Human Resource Management came to the surface in the mid-90s, the concept of Green Human Resource Management, which we know today didn't develop until 2008. It became prominent at the beginning of 2016. (Susanto et al, 2022)

 

Resourceful GHRM (Source: Everypixel, n.d)

Conclusion

Change is inevitable, and change for the better is much needed, primarily when Green Human Resources focuses on the betterment of the organization and its natural environment at hand. Despite the challenges GHRM is facing, the challenges can be overcome in many aspects as communication of these new concepts is vital to creating awareness amongst its stakeholders, employees, and guests.

With the support of the UN, (its second forum for a sustainable future is to be held on 12^th September 2024), it is possible for countries and their governments to focus on sustainability and the green movement at a more prominent scale.

 Many hoteliers and other industries are investing heavily on renewable energy, green infrastructure, and other innovative equipment to reduce the use of resources as they know that although the cost may be high, their return on investment (ROI) will multiply in the years to come so that the initial costs will be covered easily.

 Also, Green Human Resources in Hotels (or any other industry) helps to effectively manage diversity, especially if it is a melting pot of different cultures and nationalities. With the world becoming more unified in its environmental objectives, GHRM brings everyone together by investing in workplace health, to educate and empower new leaders, bringing equal opportunities, accepting advancement of new technology, and diversity management as part of its social responsibility. GHRM harmonizes ecological, economic, and social developments as three pillars and inculcates a positive, sustainable, active lifestyle for a hotelier and any other member of a different industry. Green Human Resource Management holds the keys to win over the challenges of existing in a new world tomorrow.

 

References:

Adobe Stock (no date) Lightning+Tree Images – browse 45,317 stock photos, vectors, and video, Adobe Stock. Available at: https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=lightning%2Btree (Accessed: 11 April 2024).

Ahmed, S. et al. (2021) Promoting green behavior through ethical leadership: a model of green human resource management and environmental knowledge , Leadership and Organization Development Journal. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-01-2020-0024 (Accessed: 11 April 2024).

AxisRooms (2022) Hotel Green Marketing Effects on your business performances, Hospitality Net. Available at: https://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4112583.html (Accessed: 04 April 2024).

Elshaer, I.A. et al. (2023) ‘Green Human Resource Management and brand citizenship behavior in the hotel industry: Mediation of Organizational Pride and Individual Green Values as a moderator’, Administrative Sciences, 13(4), p. 109. doi:10.3390/admsci13040109.

Every Pixel (no date) Forest business images - search images on everypixel. Available at: https://www.everypixel.com/q/forest-business?image_id=1413523709060941532 (Accessed: 11 April 2024).

Farrukh, M. et al. (2023) ‘Climate change needs behavior change: A team mechanism of Team Green Creative Behavior’, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(5), pp. 1577–1596. doi:10.1108/ijchm-04-2023-0515.

Freitas, W.R. et al. (2020) ‘Green Human Resource Management and corporate social responsibility’, Benchmarking: An International Journal, 27(4), pp. 1551–1569. doi:10.1108/bij-12-2019-0543.

Hameed, R.et al. (2022) The role of Green Human Resource Practices in Fostering Green Corporate Social Responsibility, Frontiers. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.792343/full (Accessed: 04 April 2024).

Harvard Business Review (2022) A plan is not a strategy, YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuYlGRnC7J8 (Accessed: 06 April 2024).

Pardo, B. (2023) Sustainable practices to integrate into your global mobility program, Ineo Site. Available at: https://www.ineomobility.com/mobility-trends/sustainable-practices-to-integrate-into-your-global-mobility-program/ (Accessed: 05 April 2024).

Susanto, E.et al (2022) ‘Green Human Resources Management in hospitality industries: A systematic literature review’, European Journal of Human Resource Management Studies, 5(4). doi:10.46827/ejhrms.v5i4.1212.

Yadav, I. (2023) Going green in e-commerce: How to make a difference with sustainable supply chain practices, RSA GLOBAL. Available at: https://www.rsa.global/blog/sustainable-practices-in-ecommerce-supply-chain (Accessed: 05 April 2024).