Supervisor Favorable Feedback and Employee Voice: A Moderated Mediation Framework

Abstract

Although researchers have argued that supervisors are voice managers, the role of supervisors’ favorable feedback in employee voice behavior has received little attention. The current research addresses this issue from social exchange perspective by investigating the reciprocal relationship between supervisors’ downward favorable feedback and employee upward voice. We hypothesize a first-stage moderated mediation framework with supervisor identification as a mediator and relational energy as a moderator. By collecting data from 503 employees and their 205 immediate supervisors from a retailer company with a three-wave and multi-source research design, we find that supervisor favorable feedback is positively related to employee voice both directly and through the mediation of employees’ identification with their supervisors. In addition, this positive effect can be strengthened when employees perceive high relational energy from their supervisors. This research advances our understanding of the role of supervisor feedback skills in influencing employees’ extra-role behaviors. The findings also help business practitioners maximize the positive outcomes of supervisor favorable feedback effectively.