The impact of ethical leadership style on job satisfaction

Purpose Combining two distinct streams of research studies in leadership and organizational management i.e. ethical leadership and Green human resource management (Green HRM) practices, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of ethical leadership style (ELS) on employees’ job satisfaction (JS) with a mediating role of Green HRM and psychological safety in health sector organizations. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative methodology was adopted to achieve the aims of this study. Data were collected through pencil/paper questionnaires from the respondents ( n =177) working in a public sector healthcare organization of Pakistan. Reliability and validity of measures were tested via AMOS (18) software. Results of proposed hypotheses were tested via Preacher and Hayes (2008) macro of mediation. Findings Contrary to the first hypothesis, no evidence of the direct impact of ELS on employees’ JS was found. However, the mediating roles of Green HRM and psychological safety were supported by the results. Originality/value Through this study, the authors have addressed three key gaps in the extant literature of ELS and corporate social responsibility, i.e. exploring the underlying mechanism through which ELS leads to important outcomes with two novel mediators, i.e. Green HRM and psychological safety, the role of ELS in promoting Green HRM in organizations and evidence from a public sector health organization in a developing country, Pakistan. Implications of the study are discussed.