This study examines how Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) contributes to institutional excellence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) public sector through job satisfaction. Although GHRM research has expanded considerably, it has given limited attention to the employee-level mechanism linking GHRM with institutional excellence in public-sector organisations. The study develops a conceptual framework integrating GHRM, job satisfaction and institutional excellence. GHRM comprises green recruitment and selection, green training, green performance management, and green rewards, while institutional excellence comprises continuous innovation, service quality and strategic orientation. The framework is grounded in the Ability–Motivation–Opportunity (AMO) perspective and Social Exchange Theory (SET), with the UAE Government Excellence Model providing the contextual foundation. The proposed framework suggests that GHRM positively influences institutional excellence both directly and indirectly through job satisfaction. Effective green HR practices may enhance employee satisfaction and contribute to continuous innovation, service quality and strategic orientation. The study contributes to the GHRM literature by positioning job satisfaction as an employee-level mechanism linking GHRM to institutional excellence and extends GHRM research to the UAE public sector, where sustainability, innovation, human capital and government excellence are central to institutional development.
Alhashmi, M., Hilmi, M. F., Ahmed, G., & Abudaqa, A. (2025). Impact of green HRM on sustainable performance: Moderating role of green employee motivation among the resources industry-based public entities in UAE. Journal of Mines, Metals & Fuels, 73(7), 1945–1957. https://doi.org/10.18311/jmmf/2025/49890
Appelbaum, E., Bailey, T., Berg, P., & Kalleberg, A. L. (2000). Manufacturing advantage: Why high-performance work systems pay off. Cornell University Press.
Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. Wiley.
Dumont, J., Shen, J., & Deng, X. (2017). Effects of green HRM practices on employee workplace green behaviour: The role of psychological green climate and employee green values. Human Resource Management, 56(4), 613–627. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21792
Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Bono, J. E., & Patton, G. K. (2001). The job satisfaction–job performance relationship: A qualitative and quantitative review. Psychological Bulletin, 127(3), 376–407. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.3.376
Lawter, L., & Garnjost, P. (2025). Green human resource management and organisational performance: A systematic review. Sustainability, 17(7), 3132. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073132
Renwick, D. W. S., Redman, T., & Maguire, S. (2013). Green human resource management: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00328.x
Ren, S., Tang, G., & Jackson, S. E. (2018). Green human resource management research in emergence: A review and future directions. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 35(3), 769–803. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-017-9532-1
Schaufeli, W. B. (2017). Applying the Job Demands-Resources model: A ‘how to’ guide to measuring and tackling work engagement and burnout. Organisational Dynamics, 46(2), 120–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2017.04.008
Tang, G., Chen, Y., Jiang, Y., Paillé, P., & Jia, J. (2018). Green human resource management practices: Scale development and validity. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 56(1), 31–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12147
Yong, J. Y., Yusliza, M. Y., Ramayah, T., & Fawehinmi, O. (2020). Nexus between green intellectual capital and green human resource management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 258, 120968. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.120968
Zhu, Q., Sarkis, J., & Lai, K.-H. (2012). Green supply chain management innovation diffusion and its relationship to organisational improvement: An ecological modernisation perspective. International Journal of Production Research, 50(21), 6218–6234. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2011.642368
Al-Kaabi, A. S. R. T., Ibrahim, I., & Malik, A. A. (2026). How Green Human Resource Management Enhances Institutional Excellence: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction in the UAE Public Sector. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 16(9), 1045–1055.
Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
