The relative importance of employee green behavior for overall job performance ratings: A policy‐capturing study

Abstract Organizational researchers and practitioners are increasingly interested in the topic of employee pro‐environmental or ‘green’ behavior. In this study, we examine the relative importance of employee green behavior to overall job performance ratings compared with task performance, organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior. We used an experimental policy‐capturing design, which involves participants rating the job performance of several hypothetical employees who vary in their work behaviors. Thirty‐eight managers from the Netherlands each rated 36 scenarios describing employee behaviors (1368 ratings in total). Results showed that employees' task performance contributed most to overall job performance ratings, followed by counterproductive work behavior, organizational citizenship behavior and employee green behavior. More broadly, findings suggest that employee green behavior makes an independent positive contribution to overall job performance ratings, but its influence is weaker than that of other forms of work behavior. Implications for future research and green human resource management are discussed.