The latest development in human resource management is Green HRM. This is to ensure corporate social responsibility for sustainable development. focusingmainly on educating the employees on an environment-friendly approach, including wise usage of resources.

 Green HRM supports the creation of Green Workforce, workforce that understands, appreciates, and supports ecological wellbeing. The human resources department plays a significant role in corporate initiatives for green organisations. It extends the boundaries of conventional HRM practices towards more sustainable environment strategies.

Green HRMhelps reduce energy consumption, reduce pollution, reduce ecological waste and makes the best use of refurbished HR goods, equipment, and techniques. It aims to increase workers' engagement in a work environment that allows the company to function in an environmentally friendly manner.

The HR practices in GHRM include the inclusion of tasks related to environmental protection in the job description, assessing the green competencies among the candidates, developing disciplinary norms for green guidelines, conducting environmental audits, reducing paper use in offices, and rewarding the green performers.

In the year 2018, a study was conducted among 300 organisations in Poland. GHRM initiatives among these entities had a significant impact on economic expansion along with environment-friendly actions.  

 They found that the implications of GHRM contribute to the development of the unique resource, “green” human capital, which features above-average environmental sensitivity and efficiency. Therefore, they concluded that GHRM is the basis for the development of a continued competitive advantage for organizations.

Green HRM motivates employees to take initiatives for greater efficiency, lowering costs, and reducing carbon footprints by using electronic equipment, car sharing, job sharing, teleconferencing, virtual meetings, recycling, and creating energy-efficient office spaces. This not only reduces the cost but also makes a greater contribution to the environment. In turn, GHRM initiatives enhance employee engagement.

The Green HRM enables employers and manufacturers in building brand image and reputation. This helps the employees and organizations to use the natural resources more economically. 

    Recently, I read an article about CEOs quitting their jobs to spend time with their families. Most of them felt that they had burned out a lot in building their careers. Mr. Sanjay Poonen, a 52-year-old Indian-American of VMware, had quit his job as COO and started spending time with his family, reading books, cycling, and donating to charity.

    Mr. Poonen was afforded the right to make the decision. But how many of us can take such a call? Even rich businessmen and businesswomen must stay in their businesses to keep them going. Only a very few can find a suitable successor and take a complete break. 

In a CNBC article, it is mentioned that 35% of millionaires think it’s going to take a miracle to retire. If this is the status of millionaires, there is no need to explain it to others. Very few people in the world have a strong financial framework to say bye to their business or profession at any time.

 So what others can do? Lose their life till 60, or till they find a successor to run the business? Life must be lived. To live, we must not wait for that magical moment to happen. We can make life more meaningful if we have the desire to and have a plan.

 There are four areas of our lives. They are professional, personal, private, and social. One must spend enough time in each area to ensure all other areas are explored without guilt.

Professional Life: The word success is wrongly understood as referring to dedicating an entire life to the profession. It may be good for the profession. But it is self-deception for the individual doing it. You must have a profession that can advance your retirement status as quickly as possible. Retirement status means a state in which you are able to say bye to your profession at any time.

If you have decided to dedicate your life entirely to others, you can still forget about your enjoyment and continue to invest your entire life in your profession. A very small percentage of people can say that they have dedicated their entire lives to others. So we must ensure we spend adequate quality time in our profession to ensure retirement in 20 years from the date of starting the career or business.

Personal: This is our family life. Personal life includes spending quality time with family members, and relatives. Quality time includes play, picnics, chit-chat, and many other activities that can make your people happy and be together.

Private: A very important area of life most of us forget and regret later. Some space is exclusively for you. You may or may not include others in this space. This area includes solo travel, reading, and doing something without demanding others to join you.

Social: People's interactions and relationships with others in their group or culture are referred to as their "social life." It includes all facets of interpersonal relationships, including conversations with friends, neighbours, and strangers. Communication, shared activities, and a sense of belonging within a social group are all part of social life. It is essential in forming a person's identity, morals, and general wellbeing.

 If one can spend quality time in all four areas of his life, he achieves 360⁰ optimization of work and life. The time we allocate to each area need not be equal. It must be sufficient. Work-life balance is a weak strategy. Balancing is tough and stressful. One must learn to optimize it. Which means spreading adequate time without thinking of other areas. 

Five tips for work-life optimization:

1. Set clear boundaries: Establish boundaries between work and personal time. Don't merge work into your leisure time or the other way around. This promotes equilibrium and guards against burnout.

2. Set task priorities: Determine which duties are most crucial for your personal and professional lives. It is better to avoid few unwanted activities to fulfil an important one. You deserve to live without guilt. 

3. Focus and Time Management: Develop time management skills by allocating your time for work, breaks, and personal activities in an effective manner. Make use of calendars and to-do lists as tools to help you keep focused and organized. I recommend to use mobile phone calendars to note your tasks as they are easy to access. Focus on ONE THING at a time. This is called optimizing. We don't need to spend hours to do things better. Even a few undisturbed minutes can give greater results than distracted hours. 

4. Say NO: It's important to know when to say no and to avoid taking on more than you can handle. To keep things in perspective, politely turn down further work or social commitments when your plate is already full.

5. Take care of yourself: A healthy balance between your physical and mental health is essential for overall enjoyment and productivity. To refuel and perform at your best in both your personal and professional life, schedule time for self-care activities, physical activity, and relaxation.