Can green human resource management attract young talent? An empirical analysis

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of perceived green human resource management (GHRM) on job pursuit intention (JPI) of prospective employees. In addition, an attempt was made to unfurl the underlying psychological mechanisms and illuminate the boundary conditions of the aforementioned relationship by proposing organizational prestige (OP) as mediator and environmental orientation (EO) and gender as moderators. Design/methodology/approach - In total, 172 undergraduate engineering students of a reputed engineering institute in India constituted the sample for this scenario-based study. Direct, mediation, moderation and moderated mediation hypotheses were tested using hierarchical linear regression analysis and bootstrapping procedures in SPSS. Findings - GHRM was found to relate significantly with JPI of prospective applicants and OP mediated the above linkage. EO was found to significantly moderate the association of GHRM with JPI. However, gender failed to add to the understanding of the above relationship. Practical implications - By providing evidence on the psychological processes which the applicants engage in during employer selection, organizations will be able to form appropriate strategies for attracting talent to their organizations. Originality/value - The study addresses the call for research to integrate the diverse disciplines of environmental management and human resource management and provides additional insights into human aspect of environmental sustainability. It advances the sustainable HRM literature by providing comprehensive understanding of how and when GHRM influences prospective employee outcomes.