Values at Work: Understanding the Relationship of Individual and Perceived Organisational Values on Employees' Motivation and Pro-Environmental Behaviour at Work

A collective shift towards pro-environmental action is necessary to move towards a more sustainable future. Organisations have a critical role to play in this process by reducing their environmental impact, so it is essential to understand which factors affect workplace pro-environmental behaviours (WPEBs). Extending previous studies, we aimed to understand ‘in-role’ WPEBs that are aligned with workplace responsibilities and reflect how employees may adjust their work tasks. We investigated how individual and perceived organisational biospheric values are related to such WPEBs and whether these relationships are explained by self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and injunctive social norms. A questionnaire study among 355 Dutch employees showed that, as expected, individuals with stronger biospheric values have higher self-efficacy beliefs, resulting in greater engagement in WPEBs. Interestingly, stronger perceived biospheric organisational values also promoted WPEBs via strengthening self-efficacy. As expected, stronger individual and organisational biospheric values were also related to stronger intrinsic motivation and injunctive social norms, while stronger intrinsic motivation and injunctive social norms were related to more WPEBs. Yet, in contrast to what we expected, intrinsic motivation and injunctive social norms did not mediate the relationships between biospheric values and WPEBs. These findings provide important insights into the role of individual as well as organisational values in shaping pro-environmental behaviours in the workplace. We discuss implications for organisations seeking to promote sustainable practices among their employees.