Ethical leadership supports safety voice by increasing risk perception and reducing ethical ambiguity: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Transparency, communication, and value alignment between staff and leaders increase staff trust and comfort in speaking up about concerns. This study describes the relationship of employees’ perception of ethical leadership (manager sets an example of ethical behavior), safety voice (comfort speaking up about COVID-19), ethical ambiguity regarding work responsibilities, and risk perception of coronavirus. Employees who rated their leaders as behaving more ethically were more comfortable speaking up about COVID-19 concerns.