Green Human Resource Management and Sustainable Performance in Public Organizations: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective – This review synthesizes empirical evidence on how GHRM shapes sustainable performance in public organizations, focusing on employee engagement and voluntary green behavior. Design/Methodology/Approach – Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we screened 436 records retrieved through systematic database searches and citation chaining and included 133 studies published between 2012 and 2026. The evidence was synthesized thematically. Findings – GHRM practices are consistently associated with stronger environmental and sustainable performance. However, the relationship is rarely direct: green work engagement and organizational commitment operate as the principal psychological bridges, whereas green transformational leadership and a supportive organizational culture amplify these effects. Bureaucratic formalism, weak incentives, and symbolic adoption in public organizations threaten to reduce GHRM to greenwashing. Implications – GHRM functions less as an administrative framework than as a catalyst for voluntary pro-environmental behavior, provided that leadership and culture are aligned. Public managers should embed sustainability in recruitment, training, appraisal, and rewards, and future research should move beyond cross-sectional designs toward longitudinal and comparative studies.