From Training to Trust: Examining How Green HR Practices Enhance Corporate Authenticity Under Greenwashing Pressures

Abstract

This study examines how Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) activities, namely green employee training, can increase organizational authenticity during a period when greenwashing has become a worldwide issue. Based on the Ability-Motivation- Opportunity (AMO) and Signaling theories, the study focuses on determining the impacts of green employee training on the employees in terms of their environmental knowledge, skills, and perceptions regarding alignment of messages between internal practices and external communication. Based on the findings of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using the data obtained on the employees working in medium and large-scale organizations in Pakistan, the corresponding results indicated that the green employee training has a significant positive effect on green competencies and message alignment, which subsequently enhances perceptions of authenticity. The mediation of message alignment was especially high, which has to be taken into consideration when referring to the inconsistency in corporate activities and sustainability assertions. Remarkably, perceived greenwashing did not affect the positive effect of training on authenticity to a significant extent, which indicates that credibility and competence-based sustainability efforts may maintain credibility even in the face of distrust. On the whole, the study highlights that true sustainability starts within the organization, through empowered, knowledgeable, and aligned employees who embody environmental values in their day-to-day work.