Understanding employees' environmentally sustainable work behavior: the roles of self-transcendence values, innovative work attitudes and sustainable performance management Open Access

The urgency of climate change (IPCC, 2023) highlights the need for strong organizational commitment to sustainability (McKinsey, 2023, 2024; Paillé, 2024). While research suggests that organizations can advance environmental protection by encouraging employees to engage with this agenda (Zaidi and Azmi, 2024), practice shows that many organizations struggle to translate sustainability objectives into tangible outcomes (World Economic Forum, 2024). This suggests managers need some clear guidance on how employees' personal motives can be translated into sustainability outcomes at work. Despite this issue's significance, limited knowledge about how managers can influence employees' engagement with sustainability exists (Amrutha and Geetha, 2020, 2021; Wagner et al., 2025).To address this gap for both theory and practice, our study tests a theory-driven model in which intrinsic values and workplace context jointly shape employees' sustainability behaviors at work.

The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) is often used to explain sustainable behavior at work (Zaidi and Azmi, 2024). However, this theory has been criticized for its narrow focus on cognitive factors and rational decision-making, which overlook non-cognitive determinants of sustainable behavior at work, which are also important (Sabbir and Taufique, 2022). Accordingly, we ground our study in Schwartz's established value theorizing (2012), which posits that self-transcendence values – such as concern for others and universalism – encourage actions that benefit the broader social good. Moreover, we argue that these values achieve this end by shaping employees' innovative work attitudes, which in turn support their engagement in environmentally sustainable work behavior. This theoretical stance is informed by value–attitude–behavior frameworks (see Homer and Kahle, 1988; Nazirova and Borbala, 2024) that connect intrinsic motivation to cognitive and behavioral outcomes through value and attitudinal processes. Cognizant that examining personality traits in a vacuum oversimplifies their role in work behavior (Nazirova and Borbala, 2024; Mischel, 1999), we afford sensitivity to situation (Bardi and Schwartz, 2003) by drawing on situational strength theory (Meyer et al., 2010; Alam et al., 2025) to investigate how employees' values, attitudes and behavior interact with their experiences of performance management.

By integrating Schwartz's value framework (2012) with an attitudinal mediator (innovative work attitudes) and a behavioral outcome (environmentally sustainable work behavior) within a workplace setting, we advance the value–attitude–behavior literature in the HRM context (Cheung and To, 2019; Sadiq et al., 2022; Rahman and Reynolds, 2019). In examining moderation by performance management, the study contributes to sustainable HRM by clarifying how organizations can harness employees' intrinsic motivations to better predict environmentally sustainable work behavior. Together, these mediator and moderator relationships illuminate practical levers for managers by showing that cultivating innovative work attitudes and fostering value alignment enhances employees' environmentally sustainable work behavior.

Our study is conducted in the Aotearoa/New Zealand context, where biculturalism and a progressive regulatory framework shape workplace norms and workforce values, attitudes and behaviors toward sustainability. Consequently, findings reflect a sustainability-rich environment and will be directly relevant to organizations, policymakers and communities seeking to align values with inclusive, sustainable workplace practices. We begin our paper with an overview of the theoretical background, followed by the development of hypotheses and the explanation of the conceptual model. The methodological approach is then described, after which results are reported and discussed, with their implications for theory and practice highlighted. Finally, limitations are presented and directions for future research are provided.

Environmentally sustainable work behavior (ESWB) (sometimes referred to as “pro-environmental” or “green” behavior) is defined as workplace behaviors which aim to cause minimal harm and, in some cases, even produce benefits for the environment (Steg and Vlek, 2009). These behaviors are usually focused on the conservation of water, waste, energy and the like. In our study, ESWB involves employees' actions that positively impact environmental conditions (Stern, 2000; Blok et al., 2015) and employees can engage in ESWB by performing environmentally friendly tasks (task-related ESWB) or by proactively promoting environmental initiatives beyond their duties (proactive ESWB) (Bissing-Olson et al., 2013).

It is widely recognized that employee behavior supports organizational goals (Edgar et al., 2024), with sustainability research similarly finding ESWB is vital for an organization's sustainability agenda (Amrutha and Geetha, 2020, 2021). ESWB supports this agenda by enhancing the organization's environmental performance (Paillé, 2024) and by reducing the environmental impacts of the organization's operations (Rubel et al., 2021).

Personal values and motivations play a key role in fostering behavior (Arieli et al., 2020), including ESWB (Ahmad et al., 2020; Delmas and Pekovic, 2018). Defined as “prioritized, trans-situational, and guiding beliefs that individuals hold about desired end states or behaviors” (Schleicher et al., 2011, p. 140), personal values are relatively stable, with their broad trans-situational nature shaping decision-making and behavior (Bardi and Schwartz, 2003) across multiple domains, including the workplace (Arieli et al., 2020). Social Adaptation theory (Kahle, 1983) posits that values guide how employees enter and adapt to work situations by helping them integrate into the work environment (Homer and Kahle, 1988) and by shaping their choices, motivations and behaviors, which can benefit or harm others (Sagiv and Schwartz, 2022). Although it remains uncertain which values most strongly predict ESWB (Jacobs et al., 2018), many scholars regard self-transcendence values (STV) as among the most influential. STV emphasize concern for others and awareness of environmental consequences (Chan, 2020) across a range of contexts, ranging from tourism (Ahmad et al., 2020; Raza and Farrukh, 2023) to consumerism (Muralidharan and Sheehan, 2017; Zhao and Huang, 2024). Given STV reflect concern for environmental and community well-being, are universal personal values that are stable and widely recognized across cultures (Schwartz and Bardi, 2001) and, consequently, have trans-situational qualities (Connor and Becker, 1994). These comprise the value set examined in this study.

However, values are inherently abstract constructs, with their influence on behavior typically indirect (Bardi and Schwartz, 2003; de Groot and Thøgersen, 2018). This suggests the presence of mechanisms that mediate the relationship between values and behavior (Schleicher et al., 2011).

Social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) suggests organizational performance relies on employer–employee relationships that are underpinned by norms of reciprocity. Thus, when employees perceive organizational actions as beneficial, they respond with positive attitudes that boost motivation and lead to greater effort (Melián-González, 2016). This implies employees' attitudes towards work are integrally tied to their performance.

In contemporary organizations, innovation has superseded prescribed ways of doing things, making the ability to innovate a key driver of success (Farida and Setiawan, 2022). Innovation is widely regarded as a foundation of competitive advantage, with a growing body of literature linking it not only to organizational performance but also to sustainable development and the achievement of SDGs (Awan et al., 2019; Vatananan Thesenvitz et al., 2019). An organization's ability to innovate depends on individual creativity and motivation to innovate (Amabile and Pratt, 2016).This means that positive attitudes toward innovation are now considered highly desirable employee traits. Research highlights an important role innovation champions play in sustainability-related projects (Hassan, 2024). In this regard, employees' innovative work attitudes (IWA) become critical. IWA refer to employees' favorable predispositions toward novelty and change in the work context, including openness to new ideas, willingness to take constructive risks and a proactive stance toward generating and supporting innovations (Amabile and Pratt, 2016). Because these attitudes serve as a driver for innovation, helping create and sustain innovative performance via idea generation, championing and implementation (Janssen, 2000), they are desirable, if not requisite, to priming employees to engage effectively with novel organizational agendas such as that implied by sustainability.

Employees' ESWB is shaped by a complex interplay of personal and situational factors (Meyer et al., 2010; Steg and Vlek, 2009). While this dual influence is widely acknowledged in psychology literature, management research has tended to examine these factors in isolation, meaning the dynamic interplay that occurs between personality and organizational contexts is largely unexamined (Meyer et al., 2010). This oversight is significant because while human capital is recognized as a vital organizational resource, its full potential is only realized through complex systems such as those embedded in HRM (Ployhart, 2021). Accordingly, improving understanding about how elements within the HRM system effectively translate employees' personal dispositions into behaviors (McDonald, 2014) is an important objective.

Not all HRM functions impact behavior equally (Jiang et al., 2012); however, with performance management is generally recognized as a function that does (Pulakos et al., 2019). When promoting employees' ESWB more specifically, it is the organization's effective implementation of sustainable performance management (SPM) initiatives that is thought to have the most influence (Sumiati et al., 2025). SPM sits within the sustainability-oriented variant of HRM and comprises policies and practices that motivate employees to engage in ESWB by highlighting the organization's commitment to social responsibility and ethical decision-making and communicating the consequences of this behavioral engagement.

It is widely recognized that employee behavior is shaped by both personal and environmental factors (Meyer et al., 2010). So, when examining more specific outcomes (such as ESWB), consideration of both elements is required. Accordingly, the formulation of this study's hypotheses reflects that nuance.

Schwartz's theory of basic human values (2012) posits that personal values are stable and enduring characteristics that are underpinned by motivation and, in turn, influence behavior. Values function as motivational goals that individuals regard as important and/or desirable, guiding thoughts, attitudes and decision-making processes (Sagiv et al., 2017). Because values embody a motivational component, they are closely linked to behavioral outcomes, with motivation serving as a key driver of human action (Schwartz, 2012; Cieciuch, 2017). The broader link between personal values and behavior is well established (Bardi and Schwartz, 2003). By contrast, it is less clear how specific values map onto specific behaviors such as ESWB (Rahman and Reynolds, 2019).

What we do know is that dominant value structures impact how we behave towards others (Sagiv et al., 2017) and/or the environment (Steg et al., 2014), which means different values drive different types of behavior. STV are argued to be the most influential for sustainable behavior because they are rooted in universalism and benevolence, reflect concern for others, society and the environment and often entail personal sacrifice for the collective good (de Groot and Steg, 2008; Schwartz, 2012). Empirical work consistently links STV to environmentally conscious behaviors across contexts, including everyday life and work settings (see Nazirova and Borbala, 2024). Moreover, the various dimensions of STV – such as altruism, universalism and benevolence – show robust associations with pro-environmental actions across diverse domains, including tourism and consumer behavior (Ahmad et al., 2020; Cavagnaro et al., 2021; Raza and Farrukh, 2023). We accordingly predict that:

Value theories (Schwartz, 2012) imply a strong link between values and attitudes, suggesting that values motivate and guide personal attitudes because they serve as higher-order cognitive representations of human motivations and life orientations (Boer and Fischer, 2013). As this predictive relationship between values and attitudes is well established in the literature (e.g. Hlastec et al., 2023; Perrin et al., 2021), it is important to consider what specific attitudes stem from broader value structures (Boer and Fischer, 2013). We suggest one such attitude, IWA, is particularly relevant in contemporary workplaces where numerous studies highlight the critical role of innovation, creativity and openness to change to organizational performance (see Rousseau et al., 2016) with openness to change also being linked to sustainable behavior (see Markowitz et al., 2012; Liu, 2021).

Because IWA are characterized by creativity and openness to change, along with the promotion of diverse thinking, receptiveness to new ideas and adaptability in uncertain situations (Eastman et al., 2020; Mitchell and Walinga, 2017), we suggest that their development can be facilitated by STV. Indeed, by promoting cooperation, service to others and collective well-being (Maio, 2010), STV foster openness to new ideas for a broader purpose. This relationship is supported empirically with universalism (an STV facet) found to be positively connected with openness to experience (Sagiv and Schwartz, 2022).

Additionally, employees holding STV favor collaboration and mutual learning, and we see this disposition as one that likely supports and boosts employees' creativity and acceptance of novel approaches (Engelsberger et al., 2023). Taken together, we suggest that employees with STV are more likely to embrace diverse perspectives and seek collective benefits (Collins and Smith, 2006) and accordingly predict that:

Thus far, we have argued that values are linked to needs and motivation. Values do not, however, rigidly determine specific behaviors; rather, the same value can be expressed in different ways (Cieciuch, 2017). Values are abstract, malleable personality traits (Homer and Kahle, 1988; Maio, 2010) that manifest through attitudes – positive or negative dispositions toward objects – which more directly drive behavior (Dreezens et al., 2008). We suggest values–attitudes–behavior (VAB) theory (Homer and Kahle, 1988) offers a useful framework for understanding these connections. VAB theory positions attitudes front and center in this relationship, positing that attitudes stem from personal values, unlike values, they are more specific and linked to the context in which one operates.

Comprising the components of affectivity (i.e., the feelings aroused by the subject), cognition (i.e., beliefs about the subject) and behavior (i.e., actions engendered by the subject), attitudes stem from them being both a predictor of behavior (e.g. job performance) and an outcome of values (Homer and Kahle, 1988). VAB theory suggests that values influence behavior through attitudes, which, because they are specific and contextualized, more effectively elicit targeted behaviors (Homer and Kahle, 1988). These relationships are supported by strong empirical evidence (Nazirova and Borbala, 2024). Thus, for individuals to act, personal values must be transformed into attitudes, and it is these attitudes that drive behavior. This same pattern applies to sustainable behavior. For example, Kim and Hall (2021) found tourist's attitudes mediated the relationship between their personal values and sustainability behavior. IWA, which are marked by creativity, adaptability and openness, are crucial for addressing sustainability challenges at work, because they enable employees to view complex issues as opportunities for improvement (Małecka et al., 2022). Moreover, innovation capability is identified as a key driver of sustainable performance (Gouda and Tiwari, 2022; Shahzad et al., 2023) in contemporary organizations, with employees' exhibition of IWA providing a crucial lynch pin which connects capability to outcomes. Here, employees' innovation capability – shaped by their attitudes toward risk, opportunity pursuit and curiosity (Ouedraogo et al., 2025) – enables them to act innovatively, manage uncertainty and contribute to enduring organizational performance. This notion is supported in prior research which links IWA to both employees' STV (Islam et al., 2024) and their ESWB (Małecka et al., 2022). Accordingly, our third hypothesis proposes that employees' IWA serve as a vital intermediary in the relationship between STV and their adoption of ESWB:

Situational strength theory (Meyer et al., 2010) treats the HRM system as a salient situational factor. The strength of the situation it creates therefore is a key determinant of how effectively employees' values and attitudes translate into the desired behavior. According to situational strength theory (Meyer et al., 2010) strong situations – characterized by clear expectations, consistent norms, constraints and well-defined consequences – tend to produce behavior aligned with specific values and attitudes more reliably than weak or ambiguous contexts (Alam et al., 2025). Organizations can leverage HRM elements to achieve this end. HRM systems help to establish, explicate and amplify goals and link targeted behaviors to meaningful outcomes. HRM system messaging also helps surface latent traits like innovativeness in the workplace (Sanders et al., 2018).

To develop our next hypotheses, we draw on situational strength theory (Meyer et al., 2010). In the work context, this theory posits that the organizational environment provides employees with cues – explicit or implicit – that inform them about the desirability of different behaviors. A strong situation is thought to place pressure on employees to conform and engage in certain behaviors, with this pressure thought to “reduce behavioral variance and attenuate subsequent trait-outcome relationships” (Meyer et al., 2010, p. 122). Our argument is that situational strength is a critical condition for translating STV into ESWB through an innovative attitude. Without strong situational cues, values may be expressed in divergent ways. For example, self-enhancement values can motivate individuals either to focus narrowly on personal gains or, alternatively, to pursue sustainable initiatives that enhance their legacy and social impact (Urien and Kilbourne, 2011). Moreover, as attitudes often show inconsistent links with behavior (Davis and Challenger, 2013), we suggest SPM plays a vital role in providing the situational strength needed to channel these values and attitudes toward behaviors that reliably advance ESWB.

First, we suggest that when organizations signal that sustainability is salient and this signal resonates with employees who hold STV, they are prompted to engage positive attitudes toward innovation in the workplace. Further, where performance management is connected to employees' innovation (e.g., via rewards), this link can intensify employees' efforts to identify new opportunities and generate innovative ideas (Thneibat and Sweis, 2023; Thneibat, 2024). Thus, for employees who prioritize community and environmental values, SPM can foster favorable attitudes toward innovation and change, framing them as contributors to the common good. Based on this, we propose that where the SPM messaging is explicit, the STV-IWA connection is strengthened because the ethos of sustainability is both relevant and consistent with the employees' personal beliefs (Dreezens et al., 2008; Maio, 2010). Conversely, if the SPM messaging is weak, employees lack clear cues and this weakens the STV-IWA relationship, thereby reducing the likelihood that employees will see innovation as integral to sustainability goals (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004; Batistič et al., 2016). These relationships are depicted in the following hypothesis:

Thus far, we have argued that attitudes play a significant role in influencing behavior, but it should be noted that their ability to drive substantial behavior changes in employees is variable (Davis and Challenger, 2013). This is likely attributable to organizational factors, such as HRM (Gansser and Reich, 2023) and leadership style (Islam et al., 2024), which have also been found to have a significant influence on employee behavior. In this way, we suggest SPM mitigates inconsistency by strengthening this relationship. It achieves this by shaping what Meyer et al. (2010) describe as a “strong situation” (p. 122), in which contextual cues explicitly signal appropriate behaviors and limit individual variability. Situations, as Alaybek et al. (2017) note, can create either barriers or opportunities for value-driven behavior to be expressed. For instance, openness to change is most likely to translate into creative behaviors when individuals receive positive feedback and face tasks with uncertain outcomes (George and Zhou, 2001). This suggests that particular conditions are needed for desirable results to emerge. Similarly, while an innovative attitude may encourage a wide range of innovative behaviors, SPM narrows and directs this potential by explicitly communicating the organizational desirability of ESWB. It does so by embedding sustainability-related objectives and tasks, integrating ESWB into performance assessments through KPIs and feedback, and making it a visible dimension of recognition (Shah et al., 2025). In this way, SPM clarifies expectations and constrains discretion in task prioritization. Moreover, through rewards, recognition and disciplinary mechanisms, SPM reinforces the consequences of engaging or failing to engage in behaviors aligned with ESWB.

Our argument aligns with viewing HRM as an antecedent to ESWB (Faisal, 2023). HRM supports employees in developing positive attitudes, intentions, abilities and cognitive schemas that foster engagement in ESWB (Paillé, 2024). It also reflects sustainable HRM's pluralist ideology (Van Buren, 2022), which recognizes that employees' intrinsic motivations shape their behavior (Zhao et al., 2021) and emphasizes HRM's role in enhancing – rather than subjugating – these motivations.

Accordingly, we propose that SPM helps translate IWA into employee ESWB by giving employees clear goals and direction, enabling them to align their efforts with the behaviors that are valued by their organization's sustainability agenda. Our final hypothesis, therefore, stipulates that:

These hypotheses are depicted in our study's conceptual model (see Figure 1 below).

We collected data as part of a larger cross-cultural project on sustainable HRM, adding constructs like values, IWA and SWB to the questionnaire. The sample comprised New Zealand employees from small, medium and large private organizations. Known for its progressive legislation and open-minded, socially oriented citizens (McAndrew et al., 2018; Education New Zealand, 2023), New Zealand's blend of Māori and European cultural values – particularly Māori concepts like Kaitiakitanga – likely reinforce employees' sustainability values.

Participants were recruited through Dynata, a large online panel provider. The target population was full-time employees in New Zealand. To approximate population representativeness, Dynata implemented stratified quota sampling using Statistics New Zealand distributions as quota controls. The criteria targeted employees in private-sector organizations in Aotearoa/New Zealand with 10 or more employees, drawn from diverse industries (e.g., hospitality, manufacturing, service/retail, finance, IT, professional), with respondents selected to achieve a 50/50 gender split reflecting working-age population demographics.

Dynata distributed the survey in 2022 to 549 participants, with 374 valid responses. Participants worked in sectors including manufacturing (16%), hospitality/tourism (8%), retail (16%), finance (7%) and IT (16%), with organizational tenure ranging from less than 1 year (12%) to over 10 years (24%). Demographics showed 55% female; 7% under 25; 51% aged 25–44; 42% over 45 and education levels included 23% postgraduate, 48% tertiary, 18% secondary and 11% trades.

All key construct items were adopted from established scales in the literature and measured using 7-point Likert scales, ranging from 1 = “strongly disagree” to 7 = “strongly agree” (see Table 1 for the measurement model with factor loadings).

Environmentally sustainable work behavior. Five items adopted from Bissing-Olson et al. (2013) were used to measure SWB engagement (α = 0.880).

Self-transcendence values. Self-transcendence values refer to individuals' striving to promote the welfare of others, ensure equality among groups and protect the natural environment. This was measured with five items developed by Schwartz (2012) (α = 0.826).

Innovative work attitudes. This reflects attitudes toward innovativeness, risk tolerance and openness to new knowledge and was measured using five items drawn from the innovation literature (see Chapman and Hewitt-Dundas, 2018; de Araújo Burcharth et al., 2014) (α = 0.783).

Sustainable performance management. Reflecting the achievement of sustainability performance, we measured this facet of HRM using five items adapted from the sustainability literature (see Asis-Castro and Edralin, 2018) (α = 0.897).

Control variables. Controls for employees' age, gender, tenure, educational level and firm size were included; all of which have been found to influence employee SWB (Sabbir and Taufique, 2022). Age was measured as follows: 1 = 18–24 years; 2 = 25–34 years, 3 = 35–44 years, 4 = 45–4 years, 5 = 55–64 years, 6 = 65 plus years. Gender was measured as a dummy (1 = male and 0 = female). Tenure was measured with 1 = under 1 year, 2 = 1–5 years, 3 = 6–10 years, 4 = 10 plus years. Highest educational attainment used 1 = tertiary, 2 = secondary, 3 = trades, 4 = postgraduate and firm size was measured with 1 = small, 2 = medium, 3 = large.

We employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (Hair et al., 2020) to test our hypotheses. This is because PLS-SEM has become a key structural analysis approach that is frequently used in HRM studies (Ringle et al., 2020). More importantly, the main purpose of our study is to explore how STV integrate with IWA to affect ESWB. Compared to covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM), which focuses on explaining causal relationships (Hair et al., 2017), PLS-SEM aligns more with our research purpose as it is an exploratory and “prediction-orientated approach” (Hair et al., 2020; Schlittgen et al., 2016, p. 4583) that captures the maximum explained variance of the endogenous constructs. Moreover, our conceptual model consists of both mediation and moderation (interaction). PLS-SEM provides “more precise analysis of interaction effects” (Hock-Doepgen et al., 2025, p. 485). Additionally, given that our key constructs, including IWA and self-transcendence values, do not follow the normal distribution, PLS-SEM is more suitable for our data analysis as CB-SEM requires normal distribution of the data (Astrachan et al., 2014).

Following confirmatory composite analysis (Hair et al., 2020), we evaluated the significance of indicator loadings and weights. The results in Table 1 show that all indicator weights are strongly significant (p < 0.001) and 17 of 20 indicator loadings exceed the recommended cut-off of 0.708 (Hair et al., 2020), while three indicator loadings are above the acceptable threshold of 0.6. The results from the 5000-sample bootstrapping analysis also show that all indicator loadings are significant (p < 0.001), confirming the relevance of the measures. We also evaluated the overall model fit in terms of standardized root mean square residual (SRMR), unweighted least squares discrepancy (d_ULS) and geodesic discrepancy (d_G) (Benitez et al., 2020) to examine the validity of the measurement. As shown in Table 1, the value of SRHRM of 0.040 is below the threshold of 0.080, and discrepancy measures of d_ULS = 0.518 < HI₉₅ = 0.609 and d_G = 0.205 < HI₉₅ = 0.233 are below the 95% quantile of their corresponding reference distribution (HI₉₅), providing evidence of good model fit.

We used Cronbach's alpha (α) and composite reliability (CR) to assess internal consistency reliability. As shown in Table 1, all values of α (min(α) = 0.783) and CR (min(CR) = 0.851) exceed the recommended cut-off of 0.7, indicating satisfactory internal consistency. Convergent validity was assessed using the average variance extracted (AVE), and the results in Table 1 indicate that all constructs have AVE values greater than 0.5 (min(AVE) = 0.535), demonstrating convergent validity (Fornell and Larcker, 1981).

Furthermore, the Fornell-Larcker criterion and the heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) were employed to assess discriminant validity (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). As shown in Table 2 and Table 3, the square root of each AVE is greater than the correlations of each construct with all other constructs, fulfilling Fornell–Larcker's criterion. Moreover, all HTMT ratios (max(HTMT) = 0.630) are below the threshold of 0.85 (Henseler et al., 2015), confirming discriminant validity.

We addressed common method bias (CMB) using procedural and statistical methods (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Procedurally, responses were anonymous, validated literature items measured key constructs, and questions for dependent, independent, mediator and moderator variables were separated and randomly ordered (Zobel, 2017). Statistically, a Harman one-factor test showed four factors with eigenvalues over 1, explaining 67.9% of covariance, with the most covariance by one factor at 33.4%. Additionally, a full collinearity test (Kock, 2015) revealed inner VIFs below 3.3 (max VIF = 1.992), indicating CMB is not a concern (Table 4).

R² was used to assess the predictive power of the structural model. The results for path coefficients reported in Table 5 demonstrate that the R² values of both ESWB (R² = 0.286, p < 0.001) and IWA (R² = 0.357, p < 0.001) are higher than 0.20, indicating a reasonable predictive power (Hair et al., 2017). To ensure there were no issues with multicollinearity, VIFs and the maximum VIF is 3.332 below the cut-off threshold of 5 (Hair et al., 2017) were checked, with results suggesting multicollinearity is not a serious concern.

PLSpredict-based analysis (Shmueli et al., 2019) was also conducted to further assess the model's predictive power. The results in Table 6 show that all indicators have a Q² value greater than 0. Additionally, six out of ten indicators have a root mean squared error (RMSE) in the PLS-SEM that is lower than in the linear regression model (LM). Together, these findings suggest that the model has satisfactory predictive power (Shmueli et al., 2019). In addition, to evaluate the model's predictive validity, we conducted the cross-validated predictive ability test (CVPAT) (Sharma et al., 2023). As shown in Table 6, the model has a significantly lower average loss in terms of the overall indicator averages (⁠$CVPAToverallbenchmark_IA$⁠: difference of average loss = −0.200, p < 0.001), while it has an insignificantly lower average loss in terms of overall linear model prediction benchmarks (⁠$CVPAToverallbenchmark_LM$⁠: difference of average loss = −0.007, p > 0.10). Together, our model fulfils minimum standards, demonstrating predictive validity (Sharma et al., 2023).

We assessed the significance of path coefficients using 5,000 sub-sample bootstrapping. Hypothesis 1 predicts the positive relationship between self-transcendence values and ESWB. The results of the direct model in Table 5 demonstrate direct and significantly positive effects of self-transcendence values on ESWB (β = 0.425, p < 0.001) with an effect size of f² = 0.226. According to Hair et al. (2017), we interpret f² in terms of three thresholds: 0.02 (small), 0.15 (medium), and 0.35 (large). The results reflect a medium-to-large effect of self-transcendence (f² = 0.226 > 0.15) on ESWB. Thus, Hypothesis 1 is supported.

Hypothesis 2 predicts that the extent to which employees hold STV will be directly related to their IWA levels. The results in Table 5 and Figure 2 show that STV is positively associated with IWA (β = 0.167, p < 0.01; f² = 0.335 > 0.15), supporting Hypothesis 2.

Hypothesis 3 posits the mediating effects of IWA on the relationship between self-transcendence values and ESWB. We then added IWA to the direct model, and the results in Table 5 and Figure 2 show that self-transcendence values have a significant and medium-to-large effect on IWA (β = 0.494, p < 0.001; f² = 0.335 > 0.15), while IWA, with a small-to-medium effect size, is positively related to ESWB (β = 0.167, p < 0.01; f² = 0.027 > 0.02). This leads to a significant indirect effect of self-transcendence values on ESWB through IWA (indirect effects = 0.083, p < 0.01). Moreover, when we included IWA, the direct relationship between self-transcendence values and ESWB remains significant (β = 0.167, p < 0.01; f² = 0.027), suggesting that IWA are a partial mediator of the relationship between self-transcendence values and ESWB. Thus, we find support for Hypothesis 3.

Hypotheses 4a and 4b posit the moderating effects of SPM on the relationships between self-transcendence values and IWA, and between IWA and ESWB, respectively. As shown in Table 5 and Figure 2, the interaction between self-transcendence values and SPM is positively associated with IWA (β = 0.094, p < 0.05; f² = 0.014 < 0.02), while the interactive effects of IWA and SPM with ESWB are also significant (β = 0.080, p < 0.10; f² = 0.010 < 0.02) (Hair et al., 2017). These results provide support for Hypotheses 4a and 4b.

Generational differences in values and attitudes have the potential to impact findings in a study concerned with sustainability. So, while not hypothesized, we conducted a group comparison to explore the differences between young employees (18–34 years old), middle-aged employees (35–54 years old), and older employees (55-plus years). The results in Table 7 indicate that the mediating effects of IWA on the relationship between self-transcendence values and ESWB are more significant among young employees than those effects among older employees (D_E − G_Y = −0.184, p < 0.05). Moreover, the difference in the moderating effects of SPM on the relationship between self-transcendence values and IWA between young and middle-aged employees is weakly significant (D_M − G_Y = −0.163, p < 0.10), while the difference of such effects on the relationship between IWA and ESWB among the three age groups is insignificant.

The Gaussian copula approach (Park and Gupta, 2012) was used to test potential endogeneity. Following the procedure outlined by Hult et al. (2018) and Sarstedt et al. (2020), two steps were taken. First, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test with Lilliefors correction was run on the scores of the latent variables (IWA and self-transcendence values) in the model to examine if these were nonnormal. The results presented in Table 8 show that none of these latent variable scores are normally distributed, allowing the use of the Gaussian copula approach. Second, the Gaussian copula test was conducted by checking all possible combinations of Gaussian copulas. The results, shown in Table 8, indicate that none of these combinations is significant (p > 0.10), confirming that endogeneity is not an issue in this study. Thus, the results of the PLS model are robust.

We also used Baron and Kenny's (1986) approach to check the robustness of our results. The results in Table 9 indicate that self-transcendence values (Model 2: β = 0.494, p < 0.001) are positively and significantly associated with IWA. Moreover, the effects of IWA on ESWB are also positive and significant (Model 5: β = 0.295, p < 0.001). These results inform an indirect effect of self-transcendence values on ESWB through IWA (indirect effect = 0.082). We further conducted a Sobel test to assess the significance of this indirect effect, confirming that the mediating effects of IWA on the relationship between self-transcendence values and ESWB are significant (t = 3.029, s.e. = 0.027, p < 0.001). The results also demonstrate that the interactive term of self-transcendence values and SPM is significantly associated with IWA (Model 3: β = 0.113, p < 0.05), while the effects of the interaction between IWA and SPM are also significant (Model 6: β = 0.091, p < 0.05). These results together provide evidence for the robustness of the results found from PLS-SEM analysis.

In the face of growing emphasis on global sustainable development goals, organizations are increasingly compelled to adopt sustainable practices. A central pathway to achieving this is encouraging employees to engage in sustainable behaviors at work (Paillé, 2024). Advancing this end, our study improves understanding of how personal values translate into workplace behavior by identifying the complex relational pathways through which values influence action and by outlining organizational practices that can foster these connections. In short, it clarifies how to move from values to observable sustainable behaviors at work. Understanding this pathway is important because values are abstract concepts and do not directly drive behavior; their influence unfolds through relational processes that mediate and/or moderate actions. So while personal values are often associated with prompting and shaping pro-social behavior at work (e.g., Arieli et al., 2020; Wagner et al., 2025) and increasingly employees are expressing concern for sustainable work practices (Hahn et al., 2024), neither adequately explain how managers might encourage employees' engagement in sustainable behavior when at work.

To understand these relationships, our study integrates VAB (Homer and Kahle, 1988) and situational strength (Meyer et al., 2010, 2014) theorizing, enabling potential pathways through which HRM might foster sustained engagement in ESWB to be examined. Individual-level results, consistent with applied consumer behavior research (see Zhao and Huang, 2024; Habib et al., 2023), reveal that STV have a direct and positive impact on ESWB in the workplace. Additionally, IWA is found to mediate the relationship between STV and ESWB, enhancing our understanding of this causal pathway. At the organization level, we find support for HRM's role in encouraging employees' engagement in ESWB (Chams and García-Blandón, 2019). Specifically, these results show SPM to strengthen the STV–IWA link and the IWA–ESWB link. These findings have important implications for theory and practice, which are now discussed.

Adopting a more proximal and refined research approach (Nazirova and Borbala, 2024), our study illuminates a nuanced pathway for promoting ESWB, in which STV and IWA are important antecedents. This is an important contribution because historically HRM research has focused on traditional work attitudes (e.g., commitment, job satisfaction) and their link to employee outcomes (turnover – Pinzone et al., 2016; performance – Leong et al., 1994). And while more recent studies have increasingly considered the impacts of attributes such as resilience, creativity and innovation (Islam et al., 2024; Turner, 2020), these attitudes are largely absent from our understanding of ESWB. Thus, we address this oversight.

By introducing situational strength theory (Meyer et al., 2010, 2014) to understand the influence of HRM, our study shows how organizational cues embedded in SPM boost employees' motivation and value alignment with sustainability goals. This theory is particularly relevant to this domain because it focuses on how the environment enables, rather than triggers, the expression of individual traits (Meyer et al., 2010). Our study extends prior work, which has highlighted the importance of aligning employees' values with organizational sustainability goals (Thomas et al., 2025), acknowledging that misalignment can undermine ESWB especially when power imbalances erode employee agency (Hahn et al., 2024). We show that environmentally sustainable work behavior is most effectively promoted when organizational practices align with and actively support employees' personal values and attitudes, rather than focusing solely on changing those values. Moreover, we advance the performance management dimension of sustainable HRM by confirming its strategic value (Thomas et al., 2025) and by showing how this function can transform generic individual resources, such as STV and IWA, into organization-specific assets like ESWB. We also reveal how individual and organizational factors interact to foster ESWB, addressing a key gap in prior research that generally examines these dynamics in isolation (Zhang et al., 2022).

Our study, by treating attitudes as an intermediary variable, highlights how both personal and environmental features shape social behavior, supporting Rokeach's (1969) Two-Attitude theory that behavior results from the interplay of attitudes toward objects and attitudes toward situations (Nazirova and Borbala, 2024). Moreover, by showing how personal factors (e.g., values, attitudes) interact with organizational factors (performance management), we highlight the complexity needed to understand what drives employees' sustainability behavior at work and address a long-standing literature question: why do some employees actively engage with sustainability policies while others do not (Zhang et al., 2022).

Organizations are under increasing societal and community pressure to engage with sustainability (Paillé, 2024), with heightened media attention amplifying the costs of inaction. Adopting a sustainability agenda, however, requires a shift from traditional unitary ideologies to pluralist approaches that recognize employees as key stakeholders (Macke and Genari, 2019) and the positive outcomes that are associated with employees bringing their whole selves to work (Glavas, 2016). This ideological shift presents two main challenges: managing the paradoxical tensions it surfaces (Hahn et al., 2024) and ensuring that organizational processes provide clear and consistent cues about desired values, attitudes and behaviors.

Given that research finds the adoption of sustainable HRM is hindered by an academia–practice gap (Podgorodnichenko et al., 2022), an important objective of this study was to provide accessible, practical insights to help managers foster ESWB. It does so by emphasizing the importance of acknowledging employees' personal values, extending engagement beyond the workplace and adopting a tailored VAB framework to guide ESWB initiatives. Furthermore, it highlights the role of SPM in aligning organizational practices with employees' pro-social values and incentivizing sustainability efforts. Organizations adopt HRM practices including recruitment, training, performance management and rewards to support employees' engagement in ESWB, with research confirming this relationship (e.g., Bolderdijk et al., 2018; Shahzad et al., 2023). Our findings reinforce this view. We show that STV and IWA are hierarchically connected to ESWB, implying that organizations can strategically leverage recruitment and selection practices to identify candidates with these values and attitudes. Furthermore, results highlight the importance of performance management in shaping the value–behavior link: HRM must design and implement systems that send strong and consistent signals about desirable behaviors and reward employees who exhibit them. Such reinforcement is critical because personal values and attitudes, while influential, often require external cues and structures for them to be consistently translated into behavior (Arieli et al., 2020; Steg, 2023).

Based on these findings, we make the following recommendations for practice. First, sustainability goals need to be established, with employee participation in this process is crucial from the outset as this ensures employees' values are fully integrated with those of the organization. Moreover, this value alignment helps minimize employee resistance towards sustainability initiatives and disagreement about goals and the meaning of the organization's sustainability strategy, which can lead to disengagement (Hahn et al., 2024). Second, introduce a performance management plan. A suite of performance management practices that support and reinforce pro-social values and sustainability goal realization needs to be developed. Attributions towards organizational initiatives can sway employees' attitudes and behaviors, so it is important that the motivations for these activities are transparent and effectively communicated. This is because, alongside its positive effects, SPM can also negatively impact. For example, the need for greater tracking, reporting and compliance monitoring can increase workloads – an outcome which can be mitigated by ensuring adequate resourcing is provided. Greenwashing can also occur when employees interpret the organization's espoused commitment to sustainability as being deceptive and/or superficial. For example, research indicates that goal setting, performance measurement and rewards components of SPM are linked to gaming-like behaviors (Aboubichr and Conway, 2023).

Situational strength theory also highlights potential downsides of strong workplace situations. For instance, strong situations can undermine employees' perceptions about autonomy, leading to adverse outcomes (e.g., psychological exhaustion or reduced job satisfaction) (Dalal and Meyer, 2012). While our research focused on contexts where strong situations are aligned with employees' personal values and attitudes, outcomes may differ for those with alternative value–attitude profiles (e.g., conservative or self-enhancement values). Moreover, individual interpretations of situational strength may play a critical role, with some employees perceiving the context as supportive, whereas others view it as constraining their autonomy. Such divergent perceptions can, in turn, diminish the role of strong situations in eliciting consistent behavior (Meyer et al., 2014). These dynamics underscore the importance of carefully considering situational strength when designing SPM practices.

To mitigate perceptions of greenwashing, managers need to demonstrate leadership authenticity, and this comes from ensuring sustainability goals are readily achievable and regularly audited. Third, provide employees with training and development opportunities that emphasize the value of sustainability to the organization and, moreover, demonstrate how employees can contribute to sustainability goal achievement. Last, provide opportunities for employees to communicate any concerns and identify barriers and obstacles that they consider impede their sustainability goal engagement and achievement.

This study has limitations. It relies on cross-sectional, self-reported data, which may introduce social desirability bias, despite no CMB issues being detected. Future research should use objective measures, multi-source data (e.g., supervisor ratings, HR records) and longitudinal or experimental designs to track changes over time. Including multiple stakeholder perspectives across industries can deepen understanding. Given the complex relationship between VAB and sustainable HRM, holistic approaches considering organizational, employee, community, and environmental needs are recommended for insights into ESWB. Additionally, our findings suggest different HRM practices – such as recruitment, training and performance management – may have varying impacts on ESWB, warranting further investigation into their contributions to sustainability goals (De Prins et al., 2014; Mariappanadar, 2022).

We acknowledge that context influences values-based research. Our sample, from a single country and sector, limits generalizability, as background factors shape behavior – public sector employees, for example, are motivated by different values than corporate workers, and Chinese employees may be influenced by Confucianism (Johns, 2018; Winter and Jackson, 2016; Zhao et al., 2021). While full mitigation is not always possible, Johns (2018) recommends including contextual details and advocates for industry-specific, cross-cultural and cross-sector research to identify differences. Similarly, while our study benefits from the rich, context-specific environment of Aotearoa/New Zealand – with its diverse cultures, strong emphasis on equity and distinctive regulatory and workplace norms – these particularities may limit the generalizability of findings to other settings. We recognize that exploring these dynamics in different national or cultural contexts could yield additional insights and benchmarks. Future cross-country or cross-cultural studies are warranted to test the applicability of the observed relationships among values, attitudes and behaviors and to understand how local institutions and cultural frameworks shape these dynamics in other contexts.

Last, little is known about how employees navigate conflicting expectations – such as receiving covert signals that sycophancy is rewarded despite personal values opposing it. Future research should explore whether employees are willing to compromise their values for ESWB and examine how innovative attitudes influence ESWB across different employee levels (junior, middle, senior) to identify potential differences.

Societies face unprecedented environmental and social challenges, including climate change, resource depletion and pollution. These issues are largely attributable to human behavior, underscoring the need to reassess attitudes and behaviors toward the environment. This research contributes to this end by providing insights into fostering ESWB through SPM in contemporary workplaces. Findings show that employees' value and attitude frameworks significantly influence their propensity to engage in ESWB and, importantly, that SPM plays a salient and strategic role in shaping sustainable organizational behavior. Identifying this novel pathway highlights the critical interplay that occurs between employees' personal attributes and their organizational environments, while also attending to recent calls to include employees' perspectives in sustainability research (Ravenswood, 2022). We believe that by enhancing our understanding of how multi-level factors interact to promote ESWB, a crucial foundation for future research in sustainable HRM is laid. This knowledge not only enriches academic discourse but also offers valuable insights into practical initiatives aimed at addressing the pressing challenges currently faced by organizations. Our hope is that by integrating these findings, organizations will be better able to navigate the complexities of fostering ESWB, ultimately leading to more effective and sustainable HRM practices.