Exploring Mechanisms and Employee Perceptions: The Role of Green Job Design and GHRM Reward System in Instilling Green Cultural Values

Abstract

This study explores the mechanisms through which Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) practices, specifically Green Job Design (GJD) and green reward systems, shape the environmental cultural values of employees. While organizations increasingly adopt GHRM to foster sustainability, the micro-level processes of employee interpretation and cultural internalization remain underexplored. Employing a multi-case qualitative design, the research utilized in-depth interviews, field observations, and document analysis across several organizations to capture employees' subjective experiences and sensemaking. The data, analyzed using thematic analysis, generated three dominant themes. First, employee participation is fundamentally driven by the perceived authenticity of sustainability initiatives, which hinges on the alignment between leadership behavior, communication clarity, and operational realities. Second, informal workplace norms and peer behavior emerged as powerful mediators that either reinforce or undermine formal GHRM mechanisms. Third, the effectiveness of GJD and green reward systems is conditional upon their perceived fairness, clarity, and feasibility. Crucially, the study found an interaction effect: GJD provides necessary structural clarity, while equitable reward systems sustain motivational alignment. The findings conclude that effective green culture transformation requires an integrated approach that pairs coherent GHRM structures with interventions targeting social learning and informal team dynamics.