Leveraging employee perceptions for sustainable practices in sport organizations

Purpose The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is calling for action from all stakeholders to address the rapid decline in social and environmental conditions. Sport organizations have responded by implementing various sustainability initiatives. However, for these goals to be achieved, employee engagement is crucial. The purpose of this study is to examine how sport employees perceive their organization’s social and environmental sustainability practices, and how these perceptions influence their attitudes and behavioral intentions toward sustainability at work. Design/methodology/approach A structural equation model was used to test the relationships among sport employees’ perception of their organization’s sustainability behaviors, attitudes toward environmental and social sustainability and sustainability behavior intention. The researchers recruited 249 managerial sport employees from athletic departments of Division I institutions. Findings Results indicate that sport employees’ perceptions of their organization’s social and environmental sustainability influenced their sustainability attitudes, leading to higher sustainability behavior intentions. Originality/value This study contributes to the field of sport management by enhancing our understanding of factors that influence sustainability behaviors among sport employees. By identifying key predictors, this research highlights the importance of sport organizations’ activities as critical drivers of employee sustainability behaviors at work. Furthermore, the study extends the Theory of Reasoned Action by examining perception’s influence on their attitudes.