The contribution of green human resource management to the circular economy and performance of environmental certified organisations

Circular economy has become one of the main strategies to face environmental issues. To enable circular economy, organisations have started acting on their capability to improve their sustainability management. Nevertheless, the contribution of green human resource management to the transition towards a more circular economy has not yet been investigated. Our research aims at assessing the effects of green human resource management to circular economy, to environmental and economic performance and to the environmental reputation of an organisation. We empirically test the distinct role that different green human resource management practices (i.e., green recruiting, green training and involvement, and green performance management and rewarding) have on organisation performance. We also investigate the moderation role of the level of diffusion of the circular economy in the context where organisations operate. The results, from a sample of 819 EMAS-registered organisations, demonstrate that green human resource management positively influence all the organisation performance, even though with some difference between each single practice. Moreover, green human resource management contribute to the transition towards a circular economy without being influenced by external factors such as market demand, competitors’ commitment or technological support to circularity. Our research, in addition to shed some light on the relationship between human capital and circular economy, studies for the first time green human resource management with environmental management systems. Finally, the results of our research provide several avenues for further research both for academics and practitioners.