Ethical leadership and service orientation in social care workers: Team engagement and service climate as sequential mediators

Using the Job Demands - Resources (JDR) model and the service climate framework, this study investigates the simple and sequential mediation of team engagement and service climate between ethical leadership and two components of service orientation (internal cooperative behaviors and service competence). An online survey was conducted in an Italian social cooperative which offers services for elderly people, people with disabilities, minors, and kindergartens, and involved 1,221 employees, working in 89 residential and day care centers. Results, examined at center level, show that team engagement and the service climate sequentially mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and employees' service competence; in addition, team engagement mediates between ethical leadership and internal cooperative behaviors. Contrary to expectations, ethical leadership was not directly related to any service orientation component. In conclusion, results confirm the JDR model and offer suggestions to extend and integrate the service climate framework with the JDR model.