Abstract
Leadership techniques have evolved over centuries to incorporate scientific and psychological approaches that encourage better performance. Ethical leadership is an emerging strategy that targets establishing positive relationships with employees and continuously overseeing their advancement. These approaches pay attention to high levels of morality, honesty, transparency, accountability, and communication. However, leaders play a pivotal role in creating a supportive environment because employees emulate their actions and adhere to their stipulations. Ethical leadership benefits organizations by unifying staff and their employers, thus encouraging them to work toward the institution’s goals. Moreover, it increases efficiencies by facilitating organized and streamlined workflows. Additionally, this type of leadership is advantageous to a company’s long-term development and sustainability because of its implications on employee engagement, decision-making, satisfaction, and turnover. Therefore, managers should take advantage of ethical leadership techniques because they promise more benefits than unethical practices such as corruption and negligence.
Introduction
Ethical leadership is vital because leaders play a crucial role in shaping organizational cultures, decision-making, and establishing relationships between organizations and their shareholders. Leaders with high ethical standards share several traits that allow them to adhere to principles in their prospects. As a result, they elaborate and champion behaviours that align with accountability, fairness, integrity, and democracy. Leadership techniques affect institutions’ employees the most because they oversee various initiatives toward achieving goals. Thus, ineffective guidance and inappropriate leadership are visible in how staff members associate with each other and deliver their obligations. The following passages draw inferences from several resources to conclude that ethical leaders are effective because their methods enhance employee motivation and satisfaction. Ethical managers should reinforce their techniques by ensuring high levels of transparency, functional communication channels, and high-quality information processing, as these factors are critical for organizational success.
A Definition and Attributes of Ethical Leadership
Ethics is a branch of moral philosophy that studies human behaviour and investigates the principles that govern individuals’ conduct. Thus, ethical leadership refers to supervision that adheres to values such as honesty, integrity, fairness, and justice. Ethical leaders prioritize an organization’s sustainability above all other issues, thus encouraging managers to adopt the most effective approaches to realize long-term success (Kuenzi et al., 2020). Therefore, apart from the traits mentioned above, ethical leaders’ management practices champion collaboration, good relations, effective communication, and a supportive organizational culture. The study by Guo (2022) adopted a qualitative analysis methodology to collect information from employees in the service sector. Although surveys have weaknesses, such as biased answers and unwilling respondents, they have greater statistical power and can reach a larger population sample (Andrade, 2020). According to Guo (2022), ethical leaders listen to their employees and acknowledge their contributions to overall decision-making. In addition, they understand that staff members form the backbone of business organizations and continuously engage them in career and skill development to push them toward achieving goals.
Implications of Ethical Leadership on Employee Performance and Satisfaction
Ethical leadership is associated with positive outcomes within organizations due to its effects on employee performance and satisfaction levels. First, ethical leaders are sure of winning their staff’s trust and loyalty because they are affirmative but concerned about their workers’ well-being (Yang & Wei, 2018). As a result, their approach fosters a comfortable work environment and obligates unmatched loyalty from the task force. Loyalty, trust, and mutual respect impose a sense of belonging, thus contributing to staff engagement levels. Ethical leadership also facilitates prompt and improved decision-making by reducing managers’ workload and enhancing decision-making efficiency (Kuenzi et al., 2020). Leaders who observe ethical practices believe in their workers’ abilities and occasionally assign them critical roles within the organization. In addition, these leaders encourage creativity and innovation, which plays a significant role in enabling the institution to overcome setbacks and achieve goals according to plan. As a result, they shape employee behaviours and enhance their commitment to the organization (Yang & Wei, 2018). Moreover, superiors who uphold ethical values hardly go against organizational standards, discourage corruption, and settle matters with high levels of transparency.
Ethical attributes such as inclusiveness and employee development are crucial in increasing satisfaction levels and encouraging staff members to put in more effort in completing their tasks. A manager who occasionally taps into their employees’ ideas and includes them in decision-making creates a sense of belonging and reinforces employees’ dedication to the organization (Pasricha et al., 2018). Staff members who feel they are essential in business institutions go out of their way and sacrifice to oversee its success. Moreover, inclusion encourages incorporating different cultures, advocating for organizational citizenship, and accommodating diversity (Yang & Wei, 2018). Thus, staff members will feel comfortable in each other and their leaders’ presence by knowing they have power and resources on their side. Managers who observe ethical values uphold employee development and champion training programs to enhance their skills. According to Kuenzi et al. (2020), employee training and development programs effectively reduce turnover rates, increase motivation, and ensure staff effectiveness in completing projects. Training programs allow staff members to grow even after leaving the organization. Thus, they offer an unmatched solution for managers to tap into their workers’ talents and improve the quality of their task force.
Ethical leadership is beneficial to organizations as it assists in maintaining a good reputation and a culture of offering high-quality services. Ethical leaders strive to achieve the highest possible standards of service provision while adhering to stipulated guidelines. Thus, they avoid regulatory violations and injustices that might harm their consumers and stakeholders, such as the environment and general society (Guo, 2022). In return, they establish a good reputation over time and continuously advance their prospects. Moreover, ethical leaders are in better control of their staff and organizations because they act as beacons and role models. The qualities of ethical leaders are admirable because of their effectiveness in getting things done. Ethical leaders are open to opposition and do not take advantage of their powers by micromanaging subordinates against their will (Pasricha et al., 2018). Moreover, they command high respect levels by avoiding engaging in dishonest and disrespectful acts such as embezzlement and corruption. Thus, they can lead organizations and act as exemplars for others to follow. Subsequently, they are better positioned to attract top talent into their task force. Hence, the values of ethical leadership are critical in creating an adequate labour force and getting things done.
Effective communication is a core component of ethical leadership because it allows managers to set goals, communicate their expectations, improve collaboration, and enhance employees’ understanding of their responsibilities. The quality of information and the effectiveness of communication channels determine whether employees receive instructions appropriately (Jiang & Men, 2017). Rich media refers to a combination of solutions that encourage more engagement with content and a better understanding of what is required. An updated, integrated, and interoperable information system is an excellent example of rich media applications because it allows more efficient communication between personnel and staff in different departments (Guo, 2022). However, managers can adopt other solutions, such as putting up banners and sharing information in groups to remind employees of their oaths and the organization’s mission or goals. Rich media and other communication facilitators can significantly increase employee interaction and allow them to access a wealth of information regarding the organization’s initiatives and changes that might affect operations (Kuenzi et al., 2020). Thus, these solutions streamline workflows and assist managers in avoiding disappointments by stating their goals, assigning roles, and evaluating performance.
Effective communication in organizations is a stepping stone to achieving higher levels of trust and transparency as these qualities determine organizations’ credibility. A standardized communication and decision-making protocol ensures that employees follow proper communication and reporting channels (Pasricha et al., 2018). Therefore, it allows managers to avoid ambiguity and track all organizational initiatives in order. Transparency in organizations is associated with enhanced employee performance as all individuals know the steps to take when delivering on their duties and whom to contact when facing issues. In addition, transparency eases completing tasks by aligning all organizational initiatives and offering direction (Jiang & Men, 2017). In return, employees experience higher satisfaction by achieving their goals on time and contributing to organizational success. The lack of transparency can lead to conflicts and confusion, eroding institutional developments and destroying a company’s reputation. Thus, adopting the tenets of ethical leadership can help managers avoid these issues and focus on sustainability.
Conclusion
Leaders have several organizational responsibilities, including managing employees and creating a supportive environment to support their thriving. Therefore, the techniques managers adopt determine their effectiveness and success levels. Ethical leadership principles call for honesty, transparency, integrity, effective communication, teamwork, and integrity. Additionally, ethical leaders are involved in their staff’s development and support programs to advance their skills. Moreover, leaders exhibiting ethical behaviour include their subordinates in decision-making and pay attention to their issues. In return, these leaders gain respect and loyalty from their task force, enabling them to complete tasks effectively. Ethical leadership techniques are associated with higher levels of employee satisfaction and increased performance because they assist managers in setting clear goals, assigning roles, and championing collaboration and positive development. Moreover, honesty and transparency help to avoid issues such as litigation due to legal violations like corruption. Thus, ethical leadership is critical to the success of an organization because it encourages moral behaviour, innovation, and advancement.
References
Andrade, C. (2020). The limitations of online surveys. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 42(6), 575-576. Web.
Guo K. (2022). The relationship between ethical leadership and employee job satisfaction: The mediating role of media richness and perceived organizational transparency. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 885515. Web.
Kuenzi, M., Mayer, D. M., & Greenbaum, R. L. (2020). Creating an ethical organizational environment: The relationship between ethical leadership, ethical organizational climate, and unethical behavior. Personnel Psychology, 73(1), 43-71. Web.
Pasricha, P., Singh, B., & Verma, P. (2018). Ethical leadership, organic organizational cultures, and corporate social responsibility: An empirical study in social enterprises. Journal of Business Ethics, 151, 941-958. Web.
Yang, Q. I., & Wei, H. (2018). The impact of ethical leadership on organizational citizenship behavior: The moderating role of workplace ostracism. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 39(1), 100-113. Web.