Green Human Resource Management and Organizational Sustainability: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement in Climate Focused SMEs in Pakistan

Abstract

This research paper examines the connection between Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) and Organizational Sustainability (OS) with the mediating role of Green Work Engagement (GWE) in Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Karachi. A quantitative research design was utilized, based on data obtained through a survey of 212 employees working in various organizations. The proposed hypotheses and mediation effects were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS. The findings of this study demonstrate that GHRM has a positive and statistically significant impact on GWE (β=0.657, p < 0.001) and Organizational Sustainability (β = 0.269, p < 0.001). GWE has a positive and statistically significant effect on Organizational Sustainability (β=0.657, p < 0.001) and acts as a partial mediator for the relationship between GHRM and Organizational Sustainability (β = 0.432, p < 0.001). The model accounts for 43.2% of GWE and 73.7% of Organizational Sustainability. The results suggest that to improve sustainability performance, companies should incorporate green principles into HR practices and actively encourage employee involvement in environmentally friendly activities. This study contributes to the GHRM and sustainability literature by evaluating Green Work Engagement as a mediating mechanism of GHRM and Organizational Sustainability of climate-focused SMEs in a developing country context.