Meeting customer needs through ethical leadership and training: examining Australian bank employees

Abstract

We examine the process through which ethical leadership and ethical training contribute to the performance of employees through linking business ethics to customer orientation. Underpinned by social learning, we examine sequential mediation models of the process through which ethical climate, service climate and customer orientation mediate the relationships between ethical leadership and ethical training on employee performance. Utilising a sample of 187 employees from an Australian bank, we found support for our four hypotheses: ethical climate and customer orientation sequentially mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and employee performance; service climate and customer orientation sequentially mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and employee performance; service climate and customer orientation sequentially mediates the relationship between ethical training and employee performance; ethical climate and customer orientation sequentially mediates the relationship between ethics training and employee performance. Ethical leadership will have a stronger influence on improving employee performance relative to ethical training.