Impact of Green HRM and Green Participative Leadership on Environmental Performance: The Role of Green Job Embeddedness and Pro-environmental Behaviour

Abstract This study aims to investigate how green human resource management (Green HRM) and green participative leadership influence environmental performance through the mediating role of green job embeddedness. Additionally, it examines the moderating role of pro-environmental behaviour on the relationship between Green HRM, green participative leadership, and green job embeddedness. A structured questionnaire was to collect data from employees in manufacturing organizations across Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. SmartPLS 4.0 was utilized to analyse the data and test the proposed direct, mediating, and moderating hypotheses. The results indicate that both Green HRM and green participative leadership have significant positive effects on environmental performance, with green job embeddedness playing a partial mediating role. Furthermore, pro-environmental behaviour significantly moderates the relationship between Green HRM, green participative leadership, and green job embeddedness. The findings provide practical insights for manufacturing organizations to foster environmental performance through strategic HRM practices and participative leadership styles. Organizations are encouraged to promote pro-environmental behaviour among employees to strengthen green job embeddedness and sustainability outcomes. This study extends the emerging research on green job embeddedness, introducing it as a critical mechanism linking leadership and HRM practices to environmental outcomes. It also contributes by investigating the relatively unexplored role of green participative leadership within the sustainability and HRM domain.