Be ethical then proficient: navigating employees’ ethical adoption of generative AI in the workplace

Purpose As the use of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) grows in the workplace, organizations prioritize employee training due to ethical concerns. Employing the social-cognitive perspective of moral action, this project examined how organizations’ communication strategies and employees’ ethical orientations collectively impact the Gen AI training outcomes. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted in February 2024 with 500 full-time employees in the United States whose organizations had implemented any form of Gen AI training. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and Hayes’s PROCESS Model 1 were employed for the data analysis. Findings The results revealed that change leadership and transparent communication during the training fostered ethical Gen AI adoption. Such enhanced ethical adoption of Gen AI subsequently enhanced employees’ proficient use of this technology. Employees’ ethical orientations (deontology and consequentialism) moderated this effect: those with lower procedural ethics (higher scores in consequentialism and lower scores in deontology) were more likely to be influenced by their leaders’ change-related actions. Originality/value The study provides theoretical insights and practical advice for utilizing organizations’ efforts to navigate employees’ Gen AI usage at work. Theoretically, the study presents an organizational communication framework connecting leadership, internal communication, ethical readiness, and work empowerment outcomes to guide employees’ ethical decision-making during new implementations and training. Practically, it provides organizations with data-proven Gen AI ethical training suggestions, such as enhancing leaders’ change-specific guidance and building transparent training environments.