A systematic and bibliometric review of green human resource management

This study is a rigorous systematic-bibliometric review of the existing literature on green human resource management (GHRM). A total of 350 scholarly articles published between 2017 and 2025 were retrieved from the Scopus database and analysed. Using VOSviewer, the authors performed co-occurrence analysis, bibliometric coupling, and longitudinal and co-citation analyses. Bibliometric mapping identifies key thematic clusters that include sustainable employee behaviour, organisational environmental culture, pro-environmental behaviours and leadership, environmental performance, social factors in GHRM effectiveness, and GHRM ethics, values, and CSR. The longitudinal co-word analysis suggests potential thematic shifts in the field, with increasing research attention directed towards digital transformation, self-efficacy, and green innovation. The findings highlight a significant scholarly growth rate (42.84%) and a high level of international collaboration (42.57%) in the field. Sustainability (Switzerland) and the Journal of Cleaner Production emerge as the leading journals in GHRM. The findings further underscore the significant role of GHRM practices (such as green recruitment, employees’ green training, employees’ green performance appraisal, and pay and rewards) in nurturing employees’ pro-environmental behaviours, enhancing organisational culture by embedding sustainability, and improving environmental performance. These contributions extend existing knowledge by consolidating fragmented research within the field, offering an integrated conceptual model that highlights its key elements, and providing practical guidance for aligning HR strategies with environmental goals. Thus, the study strengthens both scholarly understanding and the practical implementation of GHRM.