EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION IN SUSTAINABLE COMPANIES

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“Employees are a critical part of the whole sustainability initiative.” – Harry Pfaff (Verizon) Pfaff’s quote signals some of the Verizon’s sustainability initiatives. With “Go Green” website, Verizon employees make suggestions about the sustainability strategies of the company (Daniels, 2010). Verizon is not the only company which recognizes the importance of employee participation in sustainability initiatives. Intel’s and eBay’s green teams organize volunteer sustainability projects in the workplace and encourage employees to participate in them (Fleisher, 2009). Whether you agree with Pfaff’s ideas or not, there is a long list of companies following this principle. E&Y’s survey reveals this fact – employee engagement is one of the major trends in corporate sustainability (E&Y, 2011). The success stories have appealed more and more companies to follow this trend. For example, Intel employees produced sustainability projects that helped the company save $136m in 2010 (Baya & Gruman, 2011). Companies commit to sustainability initiatives to achieve the triple bottom line (social, environmental and economic benefits) (Accenture & UN Global Compact, 2013). While companies have increasingly focused on sustainability, scholars have been attracted by the issues such as the financial outcome of these investments, and strategic importance of sustainability (Orlitzky & Benjamin, 2001; Orlitzky, Schmidt, & Rynes, 2003). However, the employee involvement in sustainability initiatives, and the effect of sustainability strategies on employee outcomes are not yet fully discovered. Given the emphasis on employee participation in corporate sustainability initiatives, understanding its effect on the employee related outcomes is critical. The imp... ... middle of paper ... ...ta-Analysis. Organization Studies, 24(3), 403–441. doi:10.1177/0170840603024003910 Porter, L. W., Steers, R. M., Mowday, R. T., & Boulian, P. V. (1974). Organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and turnover among psychiatric technicians. Journal of Applied Psychology, 59(5), 603–609. doi:10.1037/h0037335 Robertson, J. L., & Barling, J. (2013). Greening organizations through leaders’ influence on employees’ pro-environmental behaviors. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(2), 176–194. doi:10.1002/job.1820 Turban, D. B., & Greening, D. W. (1997). Corporate Social Performance And Organizational Attractiveness To Prospective Employees. Academy of Management Journal, 40(3), 658–672. doi:10.2307/257057 Turker, D. (2009). How Corporate Social Responsibility Influences Organizational Commitment. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(2), 189–204. doi:10.1007/s10551-008-9993-8

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