Supervisor feedback, relational energy, and employee voice: the moderating role of leader–member exchange quality

Abstract

Although scholars have attempted to explore supervisor feedback as an antecedent of voice, the underlying mechanism remains under-explored. The current research addresses this critical issue from the perspective of conservation of resources theory by delineating how and when supervisor feedback influences employee voice from an energy perspective. Using dyadic data collected from 671 employees and their 218 direct supervisors in a retailer company, we found that supervisor favorable feedback increases employees’ relational energy, which, in turn, promotes employee voice. Conversely, supervisor unfavorable feedback decreases employees’ relational energy and inhibits employee voice. Furthermore, we found that leader–member exchange quality is an important boundary condition for the relationship between supervisor favorable feedback and voice via relational energy. These findings highlight the role of energy in the relationship between supervisor feedback and employee voice. They also present implications for management to improve supervisors’ skills at providing feedback.