Green human resource management: the role of positive levers of control and environmental performance measures in managing performance

Purpose: This study focuses on the role of green human resource management (GHRM) practices through providing an empirical insight into the mediating role of the use of environmental performance measures (EPMs) in the association between Simons’ (1995) positive levers of control (beliefs and the interactive use of controls) with environmental and organisational performance.

Design/methodology/approach: A survey questionnaire was distributed to 577 chief financial officers within Australian manufacturing organisations who were randomly chosen from the OneSource online database.

Findings: The use of operational EPMs is found to mediate the association between the use of the positive levers of control with two of the four dimensions of environmental performance (resource usage and stakeholder interaction), and non-financial performance (through stakeholder interaction). In addition, the use of management EPMs mediates the association between the use of the positive levers of control with the regulatory compliance dimension of environmental performance. The findings highlight the importance of GHRM practices, in particular, the need for managers to focus on the positive levers of control and using operational EPMs and management EPMs to a greater extent.

Originality/value: The study contributes to the limited empirical research examining GHRM practices, highlighting the importance of EPMs and integrating such measures with internal control mechanisms, specifically beliefs and the interactive use of controls.