Green Career Development and Environmental Performance in Chennai IT Sector: Unravelling the Human Capital Behaviour - KPI Chain

Abstract

The climate crisis has pushed environmental performance from a peripheral corporate social responsibility (CSR) concern to a core strategic imperative. Yet, most organisations still struggle to translate lofty sustainability goals into day-to-day employee action. Green human resource management (HRM) has emerged as a critical strategic lever, integrating environmental concerns into human resources (HR) practices to foster eco-friendly employee behaviours and enhance organisational sustainability performance. This study focuses on understanding green career development (GCD) as a critical aspect of green HRM. The study collects data from individual employees comprising software engineers, analysts, project leads, and delivery managers employed in Chennai’s information technology (IT) park – TCS, CTS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL. Sample size is 300. This research addresses the individual contribution of GCD and its impact on both green behaviour and organisational environmental performance. The upshot of the analysis revealed that GCD leads to green human capital (GHC) and employee green behaviour (EGB) and in turn leads to organisational environmental performance. Sustainable strategies remain aspirational until employees see a compelling personal return on their efforts. This study reveals that career system in not a peripheral HR subfunction but a hinge that converts environmental training, feedback, and rewards into sustained employee action and measurable environmental gains.

Keywords: Green Career Development, Green Human Capital, Green Behaviour, Organisational Environmental Performance, Green Servant Leadership

View PDF