the Impact of Green Human Resource Management on Employee Green Voice with the Mediating Role of Job Involvement and Job Embeddedness

Introduction: In recent decades, growing environmental concerns and the global push for sustainable development have led organizations to rethink traditional management approaches. Human resource management (HRM) has become a key strategic lever for embedding environmental values into corporate culture. Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) integrates environmental objectives into recruitment, training, performance appraisal, rewards, and participation. Its core premise is that achieving environmental goals depends on employees' attitudes and active involvement, not just technology. While previous research has focused on GHRM's link to green behaviors, less attention has been given to more proactive engagement—namely employee green voice. Green voice refers to employees' voluntary expression of ideas, suggestions, and concerns about environmental issues, going beyond prescribed behaviors to include problem identification and continuous improvement. Since employees often spot operational issues that managers miss, their voice is a valuable organizational resource.

The Purpose of the Research: The existing literature suggests that GHRM practices can shape employees’ environmental attitudes and behaviors by creating a supportive climate and conveying organizational values. However, the mechanisms through which GHRM translates into employees’ green voice are not fully understood. Psychological and occupational factors—particularly job involvement and job embeddedness—may serve as important mediating mechanisms. Job involvement refers to the psychological and emotional bond between an employee and their organization, which influences how they perceive organizational issues and their readiness to participate in organizational activities. Job embeddedness, on the other hand, encompasses the web of connections that tie an employee to their job, organization, and community, including social, professional, and organizational linkages. When employees feel more connected and embedded, they are likely to be more attentive to organizational matters and more willing to contribute actively. Accordingly, the present study aims to investigate the impact of GHRM on employees’ green voice, with a specific focus on the mediating roles of job involvement and job embeddedness. By examining these mechanisms, the study seeks to provide a more nuanced understanding of how GHRM practices can foster proactive environmental participation among employees.

Methodology: This research is applied in purpose and descriptive-survey in nature, using a correlational design. The statistical population comprised all 1,152 administrative employees of the Bojnord Municipality in Iran. Based on Krejcie and Morgan’s table, a sample of 288 employees was selected through simple random sampling. Data were collected using standardized questionnaires: GHRM was measured using the scale developed by Kim et al. (2019) with 6 items; employee green voice was assessed using the Liang et al. (2012) scale with 10 items; job involvement was measured using Schaufeli et al.’s (2006) Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (9 items); and job embeddedness was measured using Crossley et al.’s (2007) scale (9 items). All items were rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." Content validity was confirmed by academic experts and management professionals. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, which exceeded 0.70 for all constructs, indicating satisfactory internal consistency. Convergent validity was evaluated through factor loadings, average variance extracted (AVE), and composite reliability (CR); all values exceeded the recommended thresholds. Data analysis was performed in two stages: descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation) for demographic characteristics and key variables, and inferential statistics including correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) using the partial least squares (PLS) approach with SmartPLS3 software. Bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples was employed to test direct and indirect effects.
Findings and Discussion: The results revealed that GHRM has a significant positive impact on employees’ green voice (β=0.45, t=8.86, p<0.01). Moreover, GHRM significantly and positively affects job involvement (β=0.39, t=6.27, p<0.01) and job embeddedness (β=0.64, t=17.72, p<0.01). In turn, both job involvement (β=0.25, t=4.90, p<0.01) and job embeddedness (β=0.22, t=3.94, p<0.01) have significant positive effects on green voice. Additionally, job embeddedness exerts a significant positive influence on job involvement (β=0.34, t=4.75, p<0.01). The indirect effect analysis showed that job involvement significantly mediates the relationship between GHRM and green voice (indirect effect = 0.096, t=4.22, p<0.01), and job embeddedness also serves as a significant mediator (indirect effect = 0.14, t=3.95, p<0.01). Importantly, the serial mediation path (GHRM → job embeddedness → job involvement → green voice) was also significant (indirect effect = 0.08, t=3.21, p<0.01), indicating a chain-like mechanism. The total effect of GHRM on green voice, combining direct and indirect paths, was 0.77. The model explained 65% of the variance in green voice (R²=0.65), while job involvement and job embeddedness were explained at 44% and 42%, respectively. The overall goodness-of-fit (GOF) index was 0.64, indicating a strong model fit. These findings demonstrate that GHRM operates not only through direct pathways but also through occupational and psychological mechanisms. The stronger effect of GHRM on job embeddedness compared to job involvement suggests that embedding employees in social and professional networks is a particularly powerful mechanism for fostering environmental voice. The significant serial mediation further underscores the interplay between these two constructs: GHRM enhances employees’ connections with their work environment (job embeddedness), which in turn strengthens their emotional attachment (job involvement), ultimately leading to greater willingness to voice environmental concerns and suggestions.
Conclusion: The results confirm that GHRM is not merely a tool for directing employees’ environmental behaviors but can also foster active participation in environmental issues by strengthening job involvement and embeddedness. Organizations aiming to enhance green voice should institutionalize environmental considerations across all HRM processes while simultaneously creating a supportive environment that strengthens employees’ bonds with their jobs and the organization. By doing so, they can unlock employees' intellectual contributions and encourage the free expression of environmental ideas and proposals. This study contributes to the literature by simultaneously testing two mediating mechanisms in a unified model—a relatively unexplored approach in domestic research. The findings align with prior studies (e.g., Sharbaf Tabrizi et al., 2023; Ghazanfari Shayan et al., 2023) while extending them by demonstrating the serial mediation role of job embeddedness and involvement. The theoretical implications highlight that GHRM’s effectiveness depends not only on creating environmental norms but also on cultivating strong psychological and social ties between employees and their work environment. Practically, managers are advised to systematically implement green HRM practices, enhance job involvement through feedback, autonomy, and career development, and foster job embeddedness through robust social networks and participative decision-making. Moreover, establishing formal and informal channels for green voice—such as suggestion boxes, regular brainstorming sessions, digital idea banks, and green task forces—is crucial. The study acknowledges limitations, including the cross-sectional design, self-reported data, and context-specificity to the Bojnord Municipality, suggesting that future research should employ longitudinal designs, include objective measures, and replicate the study across diverse organizational contexts and industries. The findings provide a solid foundation for future research and practical interventions aimed at promoting sustainable employee participation in environmental issues.