Speaking up at work: personality’s influence on employee voice behavior

Abstract

Purpose To boost efficiency and productivity, organizations are increasingly depending upon employees to speak up about workplace concerns and disagreements. This change-oriented bottom-up communication, termed employee voice behavior, brings attention to workplace issues that could otherwise go undetected by management. This study examined the relationships between personality characteristics, job attitudes, and employee voice behavior, and investigated the moderating role of extraversion on the relationships between job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction and turnover intentions) and voice. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional study design was used, with data collected through an online survey from a sample of 284 individuals working in the US. Hypotheses were tested using correlation, regression and moderation analyzes. Findings Job satisfaction and turnover intentions were found to be positively and negatively-related, respectively, to employee voice behavior. Extraversion was found to be predictive of employee voice behavior and moderate the relationships between job attitudes and voice behavior. Interestingly, results suggest that the job attitudes of individuals high in extraversion do not influence their likelihood of speaking up. Rather, voice behaviors of only those with low or moderate levels of extraversion are impacted by their job attitudes. Originality/value This study builds upon prior research identifying the importance of extraversion in predicting voice behavior by testing its incremental validity and relative weight, compared to the other Big Five personality characteristics. Furthermore, this research contributes to the theoretical understanding of instances in which employee voice behavior occurs by examining the moderating effect of extraversion on the relationship between job attitudes and employee voice behavior.

Frontline employee-driven change in hospitality firms: an analysis of receptionists’ personality on implemented suggestions

“…This idea is solid in the scientific literature as several studies stated that extraverted individuals find the opportunity through voice behaviour to express themselves and influence their environment (Avery, 2003). Furthermore, extraverts are prone to take risks and often propose change-oriented suggestions to modify and improve the status quo (Tedone and Bruk-Lee, 2021). On the other hand, the results show that frontline employees' conscientiousness is negatively associated with the implementation of their suggestions.…”

“…Compared to the other Big Five personality traits, extraversion is the most relevant feature regarding employee voice (i.e. expression of opinions and concerns by workers) (Tedone and Bruk-Lee, 2021).…”

“…In academic literature, several authors concur with the idea that conscientious individuals are more likely to engage in voice behaviours (Avery, 2003;LePine and Van Dyne, 2001;Zare and Flinchbaugh, 2019). However, other authors disagree (Tedone and Bruk-Lee, 2021), arguing that conscientious individuals could avoid speaking out on work-related aspects, as they are likely to evaluate the risks involved. This could be related to knowledge hiding (Rao et al, 2021), caused by a lack of impulsiveness (Wang et al, 2020).…”

“…However, as agreeable employees place a high value on social harmony in the workplace (LePine and Van Dyne, 2001), they are unlikely to challenge current situations by making Analysis of receptionists' personality recommendations for change, as this may create social dissent and clashes with those who oppose the proposed suggestions. Agreeable individuals try to avoid conflict, so they tend to agree with the supervisor's decisions and support suggestions proposed by their colleagues (Avery, 2003;LePine and Van Dyne, 2001;Tedone and Bruk-Lee, 2021). Hence, agreeable employees are less prone to voice behaviours (Maynes and Podsakoff, 2014;Zare and Flinchbaugh, 2019).…”

Effect of Implicit Voice Theories on Employee Constructive Voice and Defensive Silence: A Study in Education and Health Sector

“…Controlling variables affecting employee voice and silence enables us to improve predicting the roles of implicit voice theories on employee defensive silence and employee constructive voice. Previous studies also suggest to consider power distance and proactive personality as control variables for employee voice and employee silence (Amah and Oyetuunde, 2020;Tedone and Bruk-Lee, 2021). Thus, our study responded the call of these studies.…”