Impact of Green HRM Practices on Green Behaviour Mediated by Green Attitude of Executive-Level Employees: A Study on a Selected Apparel Company in the Southern Province, Sri Lanka.

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) practices on employees' green behaviour, with the mediating role of green attitude in the apparel sector of Sri Lanka. The mediating role of green attitudes has been explored in the ICT sector and in the apparel sector at various hierarchical levels of employees. However, scant attention has been paid to the executive-level employees in the apparel industry. This study addresses this by investigating the mediating role of green attitudes among executive-level employees of a selected apparel company in Sri Lanka. The study examines key Green HRM practices, such as Green Performance Management, Green Reward Management, and Green Industrial Relations, and their influence on green attitudes and behaviours. This study uses a quantitative research approach. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 118 executive-level employees of a selected apparel company, selected through simple random sampling, using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS version 25 and Hayes' PROCESS macro to examine the mediating role of green attitudes on the impact of green HRM practices on green behaviour. The results indicate that Green HRM practices are significant predictors of green attitudes (β = 0.7342, p < 0.001) and green attitudes are significant predictors of green behaviour (β = 0.7081, p < 0.001). The indirect effect was significant (β = 0.5199, BootSE = 0.1025, 95% BootCI [0.3200, 0.7284]), and the direct effect was not significant (β = 0.0568, p = 0.6309), confirming full mediation. The findings provide an important implication for human resource managers and policymakers in promoting Green Behaviours in the apparel industry in developing countries. Practically, apparel firms can embed green values into human resource management practices to boost the green behaviour of their executive-level employees.