Do green workplaces grow green employees, and vice versa? Investigating reciprocal relations between green work characteristics and proactive employee green behaviour

Abstract

Considering the escalation of multiple environmental crises, there is an increased need to understand the role of employees as active agents in the pursuit of organizational environmental sustainability. In this study, we develop and test a dynamic model of reciprocal relations between green work characteristics and proactive employee green behaviour (EGB). Drawing from action regulation theory, we examine how green job demands, autonomy, as well as supervisor and co-worker support contribute to co-worker-directed and organization-directed EGB, and vice versa. We adopted a four-wave longitudinal research design and collected monthly data from N = 1,887 employees in Germany. Results of a random intercept cross-lagged panel model showed that green job autonomy was positively related to subsequent co-worker-directed EGB. Furthermore, co-worker-directed EGB was positively related to subsequent green co-worker support and organization-directed EGB was positively related to subsequent green job demands. We also found evidence for positive behavioural spillover, suggesting that co-worker-directed EGB might subsequently motivate employees to engage in organization-directed EGB. In addition to advancing the understanding of the top-down work design processes that organizations can use to promote proactive EGB, the findings of this study provide insights into how employees can contribute bottom-up to greening work environments.

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