Why and When Leaders’ Affective States Influence Employee Upward Voice

Abstract

for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. We also thank Brent Scott and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful guidance and suggestions in the review process.

Public versus Private Voice

“…This highlights how public expressions of voice by in-group members may not be perceived by managers as strong violations of loyalty and mutual support expectations, but instead might be perceived as less threating to their social status. In line with our findings, prior research has indicated that employees having high quality relationships with their managers have a stronger sense of psychological safety and, as a result, are less concerned that their voice might be perceived as a threat by managers (Liu et al, 2017). We complement such studies by highlighting that high LMX with the voicing employee colours managerial evaluation of possible image threats associated with voice in public settings.…”

“…Furthermore, given increased complexity in today's organizations, employees' input might be critical for identifying emerging issues and problems (Edmondson, 2003). Not surprisingly, extensive research indicates that voice improves managers' decision-making (Morrison & Milliken, 2000), helps to avoid errors (Edmondson, 2003), and enhances innovation (Liu, Song, Li, & Liao, 2017). The importance of voice for effective organizational functioning stimulated research into factors that promote employees to express their ideas, opinions, or concerns (see Morrison, 2011Morrison, , 2014.…”

“…Having employees who openly express their ideas, opinions, or concerns is imperative for effective organizational functioning (Edmondson, 2003;Liu et al, 2017;Morrison & Milliken, 2000). Yet, due to the challenge inherent in voice, managers do not always welcome employee voice and may react in dysfunctional ways by denigrating the voicing employee and the provided input (Morrison & Milliken, 2000).…”

“…When employees voice, they draw on their experience and proximity to work operations, and thus communicate valuable information in the form of actionable suggestions based on their uniquely held viewpoints and knowledge (Edmondson, 1996). Voice can thus help organizations avoid errors (Edmondson, 2003), enhance innovation (Liu et al, 2017), and increase performance as indexed by sales, profits, and customer satisfaction (Detert, Burris, Harrison, & Martin, 2013;Frazier & Bowler, 2015;Lam & Mayer, 2014;MacKenzie, Podsakoff, & Podsakoff, 2011). Crucially, for voice to have such an impact, it needs to be endorsed Dutton & Ashford, 1993) because employees often lack the influence needed to turn their ideas or opinions into real constructive changes (Morrison, 2014;Tangirala & Ramanujam, 2012).…”

Effects of Inclusive Leadership on Employee Voice Behavior and Team Performance: The Mediating Role of Caring Ethical Climate

“…At the team level, we investigate and verify the mechanism of inclusive leadership on team performance on the basis of social exchange theory. Prior research has examined many factors that affect employee voice behavior, such as psychological antecedents (Liang et al, 2012), HR practice (Conway et al, 2016), leaders' positive affect (Liu et al, 2017), etc. While few studies investigated the relationship between inclusive leadership and employee voice behavior.…”