The impact of ethical leadership within the recruitment context: The roles of organizational reputation, applicant personality, and value congruence

Abstract

The present research examined the effects of corporate executive officer (CEO) ethical leadership on the job pursuit attitudes and behaviors of prospective job applicants. Furthermore, this paper tested two potential mediatory mechanisms for explaining why CEO ethicality matters to prospective applicants: perceived organizational reputation (Study 1) and perceived value congruence with the CEO or person–CEO fit (Study 2). The results of Study 1 showed that job seekers at a career fair were more likely to apply for a job with an ethical CEO's company, compared to that of a morally-questionable CEO or one whose ethicality was unknown. The results also showed that perceived organizational reputation mediated the relationship between CEO ethicality and job pursuit. These findings were replicated in Study 2. In addition, Study 2 showed that perceived value congruence with the CEO also mediated the link between CEO ethicality and job pursuit, although this effect was conditional on the Honesty–Humility personality of the prospective job applicant. These findings highlight the potential relevance of executive ethical leadership within the recruitment context.