Study links green HR practices and digital readiness to employee engagement

A hybrid review-and-survey study published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications reports that green human resource management practices and digital readiness are both positively associated with employee engagement, and that engagement in turn is positively associated with how employees perceive their organisation’s performance. The research, conducted by Trisnowati Josiah, Obsatar Sinaga and Suharno Pawirosumarto, combined a bibliometric mapping of the field with a structural equation model built on survey data from 280 employees in green-oriented organisational settings in Indonesia. In the sample analysed, digital readiness showed the stronger association with engagement of the two predictors.

The bibliometric phase began with a Scopus search that identified 49 records published between 2015 and 2025. After screening for relevance and data quality, 26 publications were retained and used to map how green HRM and digital HRM themes have converged over the past decade. The authors used this mapping to motivate a proposed Green–Digital–Engagement Framework, which positions employee engagement as a behavioural mechanism connecting sustainability-oriented HR practices and digital readiness with employees’ perceptions of organisational functioning and effectiveness.

The empirical phase tested that framework using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling on valid responses obtained through purposive sampling. The model estimates indicated that both green HRM and digital readiness were positively associated with engagement, that engagement was positively associated with employee-perceived organisational performance, and that engagement significantly mediated the relationships of both predictors with that outcome. In practical terms, the authors suggest that organisations may benefit from aligning green-oriented HR practices with digital readiness initiatives and implementing both in ways that strengthen employee participation, clarity and involvement.

The authors are explicit that the findings describe associations measured at the employee level, not causal effects or objective firm-level results. The outcome variable reflects employees’ perceptions of organisational performance rather than audited financial or operational measures, and the purposive, context-specific design in Indonesian green-oriented settings limits generalisability. The study’s contribution lies in integrating bibliometric evidence, theoretical reasoning and employee-level empirical findings within a single explanatory framework for digital-sustainable HRM, with the authors recommending that results be interpreted within those design boundaries rather than as evidence of unrestricted applicability.

Subject of Research: Green human resource management, digital readiness and employee engagement in Indonesian organisations

Article Title: From green to digital-sustainable HRM: a bibliometric and empirical synthesis toward employee engagement and employee-perceived organisational performance

Article References: Josiah, T., Sinaga, O., & Pawirosumarto, S. (2026). From green to digital-sustainable HRM: a bibliometric and empirical synthesis toward employee engagement and employee-perceived organisational performance. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-09528-3

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-026-09528-3

Keywords: green HRM, digital-sustainable HRM, employee engagement, digital readiness, PLS-SEM, bibliometrics, Indonesia, organisational performance, human resource management, green, digital-sustainable, bibliometric