Dedicated but exhausted? The role of ethical leadership for employee wellbeing in UK student unions
Building on previous leadership and well-being research, the aims of the present study were to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and employee well-being (work engagement and emotional exhaustion) within student unions. We also considered the role of trust as a potential mediato...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Management
2018-11-01
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| Series: | Journal of Human Resource Management |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.jhrm.eu/2018/11/16-dedicated-but-exhausted-the-role-of-ethical-leadership-for-employee-wellbeing-in-uk-student-unions/ |
| _version_ | 1819125325369442304 |
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| author | Josh Rivers Neill Thompson Debora Jeske |
| author_facet | Josh Rivers Neill Thompson Debora Jeske |
| author_sort | Josh Rivers |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Building on previous leadership and well-being research, the aims of the present study were to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and employee well-being (work engagement and emotional exhaustion) within student unions. We also considered the role of trust as a potential mediator in this relationship. Survey data was collected from 137 full-time employees working at student unions in the UK. Path model analysis revealed that trust in one’s manager partially mediated the effects of ethical leadership and work engagement and emotional exhaustion. While trust increased work engagement and reduced emotional exhaustion, ethical leadership also had a significant indirect effect on both outcomes. An interaction between employee dedication and ratings for manager’s ethical leadership suggested that more dedicated employees are less emotionally exhausted if their managers scored highly on ethical leadership. However, when the employees felt less dedicated to the job, managers’ ethical leadership behaviours did not reduce employees’ emotional exhaustion. The study examined the effect of ethical leadership in student unions, adding to the very sparse research on the experience of full-time employees working for student unions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T07:38:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-891be7b7f6534d91b8a933a50f1c31b4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1335-3888 2453-7683 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T07:38:21Z |
| publishDate | 2018-11-01 |
| publisher | Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Management |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Human Resource Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-891be7b7f6534d91b8a933a50f1c31b42022-12-21T18:33:49ZengComenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of ManagementJournal of Human Resource Management1335-38882453-76832018-11-0121627Dedicated but exhausted? The role of ethical leadership for employee wellbeing in UK student unionsJosh Rivers0Neill Thompson1Debora Jeske2Northumbria University, UKNorthumbria University, UKUniversity College Cork, IrelandBuilding on previous leadership and well-being research, the aims of the present study were to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and employee well-being (work engagement and emotional exhaustion) within student unions. We also considered the role of trust as a potential mediator in this relationship. Survey data was collected from 137 full-time employees working at student unions in the UK. Path model analysis revealed that trust in one’s manager partially mediated the effects of ethical leadership and work engagement and emotional exhaustion. While trust increased work engagement and reduced emotional exhaustion, ethical leadership also had a significant indirect effect on both outcomes. An interaction between employee dedication and ratings for manager’s ethical leadership suggested that more dedicated employees are less emotionally exhausted if their managers scored highly on ethical leadership. However, when the employees felt less dedicated to the job, managers’ ethical leadership behaviours did not reduce employees’ emotional exhaustion. The study examined the effect of ethical leadership in student unions, adding to the very sparse research on the experience of full-time employees working for student unions.https://www.jhrm.eu/2018/11/16-dedicated-but-exhausted-the-role-of-ethical-leadership-for-employee-wellbeing-in-uk-student-unions/non-profitethical leadershiptrustwork engagementdedication |
| spellingShingle | Josh Rivers Neill Thompson Debora Jeske Dedicated but exhausted? The role of ethical leadership for employee wellbeing in UK student unions Journal of Human Resource Management non-profit ethical leadership trust work engagement dedication |
| title | Dedicated but exhausted? The role of ethical leadership for employee wellbeing in UK student unions |
| title_full | Dedicated but exhausted? The role of ethical leadership for employee wellbeing in UK student unions |
| title_fullStr | Dedicated but exhausted? The role of ethical leadership for employee wellbeing in UK student unions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dedicated but exhausted? The role of ethical leadership for employee wellbeing in UK student unions |
| title_short | Dedicated but exhausted? The role of ethical leadership for employee wellbeing in UK student unions |
| title_sort | dedicated but exhausted the role of ethical leadership for employee wellbeing in uk student unions |
| topic | non-profit ethical leadership trust work engagement dedication |
| url | https://www.jhrm.eu/2018/11/16-dedicated-but-exhausted-the-role-of-ethical-leadership-for-employee-wellbeing-in-uk-student-unions/ |
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