The role of ethical leadership to employees work engagement: a social learning theory perspective

Purpose This study examines the role of ethical leadership in building employee trust, knowledge sharing (KS), job satisfaction and then influencing employee engagement in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach The sample included 610 employees of Indonesia Islamic Bank, obtained through an online survey. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypotheses. Findings Ethical leadership actively contributes to the growth of employee trust, exchange knowledge frequent and job satisfaction and then become key points to enhance employees’ engagement. Research limitations/implications Future research is required to validate across regions and organisations to in light of the findings of the topic study. Practical implications Organisational leaders and employees obtain a better understanding of ethics and organisation management field, hence employees and leaders must encourage ethical values as code of conduct in the workplace. Originality/value This study demonstrated the extent of the Khan concept for a combination of employee engagement, ethical leadership and KS. It also incorporates employee job satisfaction and the organisational engagement among employees. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-03-2023-0218