Employees’ green intentions were more likely to become workplace actions when they actively shaped their work around sustainability

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Work & Business

Employees’ green intentions were more likely to become workplace actions when they actively shaped their work around sustainability

Original title: Sustainability Crafting: How Employees Translate Sustainability Intentions Into Green Behaviors

The short version

People can care about sustainability without acting on it at work. The researchers call sustainability craftingEmployees shaping aspects of their work so they better fit sustainability goals. the way employees shape parts of their work to fit sustainability goals. In a study of Dutch employees, this behavior helped explain how intentions were linked to voluntary green actions at work. Green empowering leadership was linked to more sustainability crafting and green actions, but green HR practices were not linked to those outcomes once leadership was accounted for.

Think of it like this

Imagine wanting to waste less food at home. It is hard to turn that goal into a habit if your usual routines never change. In this paper, changing those routines matches employees shaping their work around sustainability, while the goal matches their intention and the new habits match voluntary green actions at work.

Why it matters

Organizations may set sustainability goals, but employees still have to turn them into daily actions. The study suggests that employees’ own efforts to shape their work, and leaders who empower green action, are linked to more environmentally responsible workplace behavior.

Questions answered

What it doesn't show

The abstract reports results from a three-wave study of 385 Dutch employees, but does not establish that the observed relationships are causal or apply to employees in other countries. It also does not explain why green HRM practices were not significantly associated with the outcomes after accounting for leadership.

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Read the full paper on Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management ↗

Sustainability Crafting: How Employees Translate Sustainability Intentions Into Green Behaviors — Sai̇t Gürbüz, Arnold B. Bakker, Zafer Konakli et al. — Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management — doi:10.1002/csr.71047

Abstract licence: CC BY

Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.