Responsible leadership and employees’ turnover intention. Explore the mediating roles of ethical climate and corporate image

Abstract

Purpose Employee turnover, building a positive corporate image and ethical lapses in the corporate world demand business leaders to perform their jobs with a higher sense of responsibility. This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of ethical climate and corporate image by using the corporate social responsibility theory and social identity theory. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 280 employees from the banking sector of Pakistan was collected through a questionnaire-based survey by using the convenience sampling technique. The structural equation modeling technique using Smart partial least square was used to test the hypothesized model. Findings The findings of the study affirmed a significant positive correlation between responsible leadership and ethical climate and ethical climate is significantly positively correlated with corporate image. Meanwhile, the corporate image is negatively correlated with employees’ turnover intention. Results further corroborate ethical climate mediating effect between responsible leadership and corporate image and corporate image likewise mediates between ethical climate and employee turnover intention. Research limitations/implications This study enriches the present literature on the subject of responsible leadership, ethical climate, corporate image and turnover intention from the employee’s point of view. Elucidating from previous studies, most of the investigations about the corporate image was conducted from the customers’ perspective and there has been a scarcity of studies focusing on employees’ perspective. Practical implications This study guides a value proposition that is concerned with the turnover of employees for human resource professionals from the banking industry. It explores a new dimension of the debate on employee turnover intention. Originality/value This study marks the first step toward corporate image as an organizational behavior construct by demonstrating that corporate image impact turnover intention. This study tests a model that demonstrates the role of ethical climate and corporate image in the linkage between responsible leadership and employees’ turnover intention.