Green recruitment and selection: an insight into green patterns

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-05-2018-0155
• Published date: 04 December 2019
• Pages: 258-272
• Date: 04 December 2019
• Author: Do Dieu Thu Pham,Pascal Paillé
• Subject Matter: Economics,Labour economics

Green recruitment and selection:

an insight into green patterns

Do Dieu Thu Pham

Department of Management, Laval University, Quebec, Canada, and

Pascal Paillé

Department of People and Organisation, NEOMA Business School,

Mont-Saint-Aignan, France

Abstract

Purpose –Although the role of green recruitment and selection (GRS) has been widely recognised as an

importantdimension of green human resourcemanagement, no study has ever mappedthe terrain of GRS and

reviewedthe literature. The purposeof this paper is to fillthis gap while exploring thefollowing questions:How

do organisations selectcandidates in line with their pro-environmental stance? What impact do a company’s

corporate environmental sustainability (CES) practiceshave on attracting pro-environmentaljob seekers?

Design/methodology/approach –This paper provides a systematic review of 22 peer-reviewed articles

published during the period 2008–2017. The articles were included in the review if they addressed at least one

of the two research questions.

Findings –Some companies choose to apply green criteria when selecting candidates while others do not.

In any case,communicating a company’senvironmental values andorientation is worth practicingduring GRS.

Previousstudies have identified fourmediators (anticipatedpride, perceived value fit, expectationof favourable

treatment, perceived organisational green reputation/prestige) that intervene between signals of a company’s

CES and a job seeker’s perceptions of organisational attractiveness. However, the strength of this effect is

influencedby five moderators (pro-environmental attitude,socio-environmental consciousness, desire to havea

significant impactthrough one’s work, environmental-related standard registration, job seeker’s expertise).

Originality/value –This paper provides the first systematic review of GRS and thus paves the way for

future research.

Keywords Systematic review, Job seeker, Candidate attraction, Green recruitment

Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction

The last decade has seen increasing efforts by developed countries and the participation of

developing countries to actively support environmental sustainability (ES). This call for action

stems from the fact that ongoing environmental issues remain an obstacle to economic

development and continue to harm people’s lives. One example is the increase in global

greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in big cities (Dodman, 2009). These phenomena,

whether caused by climate change or not, are widely considered to be the consequences of

human activity. One explanation is that while the existence of manufacturing and business

activities inevitably causes harm to Mother Earth, decision-making behaviours that violate

environmental laws are making it worse. These non-green human behaviours lead to

environmental degeneration.

To date, through industrial innovation and the improvement of environmental

management systems (EMSs), these negative impacts can be reduced by eco-technology and

environmental policies embedded in organisational functions and practices. Accordingly, at

an organisational level, the belief is that these problems can be tackled by changing human

behaviours and by adopting an EMS and embedding it into human resource management

(HRM) practices in alignment with the business strategy and context, for which employees

International Journal of Manpower

Vol. 41 No. 3, 2020

pp. 258-272

© Emerald PublishingLimited

0143-7720

DOI 10.1108/IJM-05-2018-0155

Received 15 May 2018

Revised 2 September 2018

2 December 2018

1 April 2019

9July2019

21 October 2019

Accepted 6 November 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-7720.htm

The authors would like to express sincere gratitude and appreciation to Dr Thomas Lange for his

constructive advice that has great contribution on the improvement of our paper. The authors would

like also to extend sincere thanks to anonymous reviewers for their time spent reviewing the paper.

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