Organizational Ethics, Leader-Member Exchange, and Organizational Support: Relationships With Workplace Safety

Abstract

The current study explores how employee safety knowledge and behaviors are affected by employees' perceptions of management's concern for safety, perceived organizational ethics, perceived organizational support, and leader-member exchange. A field sample of 188 employees from several U.S. locations of a large multinational drilling company participated in the study. Results indicated that perceived organizational ethics, perceived organizational support, and leader-member exchange are indirectly associated with employees' safety knowledge and behaviors. The current study demonstrates that organizations should pay particular attention to the organizational context within which safety messages are transmitted. Differences in employee perceptions of this context may affect the effectiveness of the message. The findings also demonstrated strong support for a model linking perceptions of ethics, perceptions of support, and leader-member exchange as important mediating elements in the effective transfer of management's concern for safety to actual employee safety knowledge and behavior.

The future of HR is RH: Respect for humanity at work

“…Many of the key principles for adopting safe work environments include commitment from the organization to promote a safe work environment, policies that enforce safe behaviors, incentives, and appropriate goal-setting, to name a few (e.g., Alavosius, Adams, Ahern, & Follick, 2000;Geller, 1990;Law et al, 2011). Because of the nature of the factors that contribute to a positive work climate (e.g., leadership, organizational policies, reward systems; Credo, Armenakis, Feild, & Young, 2010), we propose that fostering safe work environments falls to HR to ensure management commitment, behavioral change and management programs, and policies that reward or enforce appropriate behaviors. HRM practitioners can advocate for the wellbeing of employees through institutionalized practices.…”

Employee’s reciprocation of organizational support and leader – member exchange

“…Existing literature supports the existence of association of LMX and job involvement (Ahmed, Ismail, Amin, & Nawaz, 2013;Credo, et al, 2010); POS and job involvement (Ahmed, Ismail, Amin, & Nawaz, 2013;Cheng, 2011;Chughtai, 2008).…”

“…Thus it could be inferred that leaders have an agency relation with the organization , where support and good leader response will be considered a good organization response (Ahmed, et al, 2012;Credo, et al, 2010;Kossek, et al, 2011;Sluss, et al, 2008). Various researchers (e.g.…”

“…Ahmed, Ismail, Amin, Ramzan, et al, 2013;Pack, 2005;Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002;Yavuz, 2010;Zagenczyk, et al, 2010); and job outcomes (e.g. Credo, et al, 2010;Eisenberger, et al, 2001;Eisenberger, et al, 1986;Kossek, et al, 2011). Of the various job related and attitudinal outcomes job involvement is the most important one, as it leads to many other job outcomes e.g.…”

“…Levinson, 1965). Employees resultantly assume leader's support as organizational support (Ahmed, et al, 2012;Credo, Armenakis, Field, & Young, 2010;Kossek, Pichler, Bodner, & Hammer, 2011), as the leader is perceived to be an agent of the organization (Sluss, et al, 2008). Thus the stronger the leader-member relation (LMX) the better will be the perception of support at work (high and positive POS).…”