Eco-Helping and Eco-Civic Engagement in the Public Workplace

Despite growing interest in the environmental performance and management of public organizations, relatively little is known about the steps individual public employees are taking at their own discretion to promote environmental sustainability and environmental stewardship in the workplace. This article examines public employees’ participation in eco-helping and eco-civic engagement in the workplace. Eco-helping occurs when employees encourage colleagues to perform pro-environmental behaviors in the workplace; eco-civic engagement refers to employees’ voluntary participation in the organization’s pro-environmental activities. The research objective is to identify motivational and attitudinal correlates of eco-helping and eco-civic engagement in the public workplace. Findings suggest that environmental concern and public service motivation (PSM) have positive relationships with both eco-helping and eco-civic engagement in the public workplace. Organizational commitment, however, is only positively associated with eco-civic engagement. The possible meaning of these findings for future research is discussed.