Abstract:
Ethics is a moral philosophy which provides a standard for deciding on what is right or wrong, it is
therefore very important to all organizations. An organization which is perceived as ethically responsive has a better
image as opposed to one that is perceived to be morally unresponsive. This paper focuses on the role of the HR
professional in ensuring there is ethical recruitment and selection in an organization. Recruitment and selection is said to
be ethical when it is done according to the laid down policies and procedures and results in hiring that based on fairness,
free from biasness or discrimination. Where the person hired has the skills and competencies required for the job and also
fits the ethical culture of the organization and impacts organizational performance positively. This research employed an
exploratory research design and used purposive sampling to sample the HR professionals that are concerned with
recruitment and selection in selected private and public organizations in Kericho and Nakuru County, Kenya. The
findings showed that there is a positive and significant linear relationship between role of HR professionals and ethical
recruitment and selection procedures, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.793 and a p- value of 0.000 and an R
square value of 0.629, which means that HR professionals contribute 62.9% towards ensuring ethical recruitment and
selection procedures are followed. From the findings the study concludes that, the HR professionals have a critical role to
play in ensuring there is ethical recruitment and selection. The study recommends in depth training to HR professionals
on how to handle ethical dilemmas and on the need for the HR professionals to play their role as custodians of ethics in
organizations.
