The moderating effect of ethical behaviour on employees’ performance in selected public institutions of Nigeria

Notwithstanding the growing importance of ethical conduct in today’s corporate world, here remains a dearth of scholarly inquiry into the fundamental mechanisms that elucidate the relationship between ethical conduct and employee performance, particularly within government organisations. This research focused on government workers in Nigeria to determine how ethical behaviour affects their overall performance level. This study made use of primary and secondary sources to create a descriptive framework. Participants in this research were employees of federal government agencies within Southwest, Nigeria, and a total of 1500 government workers were selected using a purposive sample strategy. A self administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the sampled respondents. The data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Based on the findings, it can be inferred that the implementation of a robust set of ethical principles has the potential to enhance the overall effectiveness of an organisation. Furthermore, it is evident that ethical leadership assumes a pivotal role in mediating the relationship between an organization's culture and the performance exhibited by its employees. The study revealed that institutional variables had a strong and direct influence on social determinants (β =.944, p<0.05), organisational culture (β = 1.412, p<0.05), and leadership (β =.324, p<0.05). These findings indicate that the relationship between institutional variables and these factors is statistically significant. Furthermore, it has been found that many factors, such as social determinants (β = 2.766, p<0.05), organisational culture (β = -3.608, p<0.05), leadership (β = -.748, p<0.05), and institutional variables (β = 3.138, p<0.05), exert a significant influence on the performance of employees. Therefore, a statistically significant correlation can be observed between indicators of ethical behaviour and the performance of public sector workers in Nigeria. In order to enhance employee performance, it is imperative for the government to place emphasis on preventive and enforcement strategies in its endeavour to promote ethical conduct.