01.12.2014
Study entitled ‘Ethical Leadership Assessment – The Future of Value-Based Recruitment’ published
The integration of ethical criteria into staff selection is also the subject of increasing debate in Germany. However, companies’ interest in this area is hampered by a lack of suitable tools and the insufficient strategic importance accorded to human resources departments, as shown by a recently published study on Ethical Leadership Assessment.
A widely observed ‘shift in values’, the increasing competition for skilled workers, and the corporate scandals of recent years have consequently made the consideration of ethical criteria in staff selection a hot topic in German companies as well. The Ethical Leadership Assessment approach, which originated in the USA, is intended, on the one hand, to reduce the risk of behaviour harmful to the company arising from recruitment decisions and, on the other hand, to help strengthen corporate culture.
As an initial stock-taking exercise in the complex field of ethical human resource management, this study brings together key opportunities and controversies. In particular, the review of existing tools and the analysis of interviews with HR managers from SMEs and large corporations, recruitment consultants and academic experts highlight the obstacles and risks associated with values-based recruitment. The authors highlight three problems: Firstly, the terms ‘values’ and ‘ethics’, which generally carry positive connotations, are also used to justify questionable practices. Secondly, an Ethical Leadership Assessment increases the risk of self-selection. And thirdly, companies tend to confuse compliance guidelines and corporate communications measures with a stable framework of values.
Key prerequisites for an Ethical Leadership Assessment are found to be a conviction in the (economic) benefits of value-oriented corporate management, its embedding in corporate culture, and the involvement of human resources departments in strategic corporate decisions. Furthermore, it is shown that value-oriented recruitment can only succeed as part of a long-term, holistic approach, which includes accompanying staff development measures as well as remuneration systems tailored to these objectives. The authors conclude that effective selection processes do not necessarily have to take ethical criteria into account. However, an Ethical Leadership Assessment without an established corporate culture will certainly not work.
The study ‘Ethical Leadership Assessment – The Future of Value-Oriented Recruitment’ forms part of the ‘Ethics in Vocational Training’ programme, which, in cooperation with the Dr Jürgen Meyer Stiftung, encompasses various projects relating to the interplay between ethics and vocational training.