Voice Literature Research Articles

Value and appraisal: human resource management practices and voice behaviors

PurposeEmployee voice is considered an important driver of organizational success. Management practices in the form of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) are expected to influence promotive and prohibitive voices. In addition, employee appraisal of HPWPs as a challenge or hindrance stressor is supposed to mediate the relationships. Finally, the self-direction value moderates the indirect effects of HPWPs on voice behaviors through employee appraisal.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research approach was adopted with data collected from 315 subordinate supervisor dyads from 12 business organizations in Vietnam. This research uses partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypotheses.FindingsResults indicate that HPWPs are significantly associated with both types of employee voice behaviors. Challenge appraisal partially mediates the impact of HPWPs on promotive voice, while hindrance appraisal acts as a partial mediation in the HPWPs-prohibitive voice linkage. Self-direction value moderates the link between HPWPs and prohibitive voice.Research limitations/implicationsResults show that HPWPs may have both productive and harmful effects on employees. Depending on how the employees appraise HPWPs, they develop different coping strategies by raising their voices. HPWP-implementing organizations should pay attention to the employees’ values in this process.Originality/valueThis study investigates the relationship between HPWPs and employee voice based on the transactional theory of stress and coping. The mediating role of employee appraisal represents a new contribution. Finally, the role of self-direction value in the voice literature has not been widely evaluated in previous research.

Unnoticed problems and overlooked opportunities: How and when employees fail to speak up under ambiguous threats.

Organizations often need to deal with ambiguous threats, which are complex, unprecedented, and difficult-to-predict events that hold the potential to cause harm. Drawing on the attention-based view of work behavior, we propose that employees do not always remain vigilant to such threats. Consequently, we argue that, in the face of those threats, employees can fail to notice or recognize problems or vulnerabilities in their organizations' work processes or products that can hinder coping. We posit that this effect is, paradoxically, more pronounced when employees are working with trustworthy managers who are perceived as capable and focused enough on the well-being of their units to adequately deal with work challenges. Thereby, we highlight that employees may overlook problems and thus not speak up, precisely when their input is highly desired to address ambiguous threats and can be effectively used by competent and caring managers. Using a combination of field surveys and preregistered experiments, we demonstrate support for our arguments. In the process, we present an alternative attention-based perspective to the voice literature that has so far predominantly focused on cost-benefit-based explanations (i.e., how employees evaluate the perceived costs of speaking up vs. presumed benefits) when describing hurdles to employee voice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Fulfilling moral duty or prioritizing moral image? The moral self-regulatory consequences of ethical voice.

Previous research on the consequences of ethical voice has largely focused on the performance or social relational consequences of ethical voice on multiple organizational stakeholders. The present research provides an important extension to the ethical voice literature by investigating the distinct intrapersonal and interpersonal moral self-regulatory processes that shape ethical voicers' own psychological experiences and their subsequent purposeful efforts to maintain a positive sense of moral self. On one hand, we argue that ethical voice heightens voicers' sense of responsibility over ethical matters at work (i.e., moral ownership), which motivates them to refrain from violating moral norms (i.e., disengaging from unethical behaviors). On the contrary, we argue that ethical voice generates psychological pressure for voicers as they become anxious about preserving their moral social image (i.e., moral reputation maintenance concerns), which motivates them to signal their moral character to others through symbolic acts (i.e., engaging in moral symbolization behaviors). Further, we expect gender differences in the moral consequences of ethical voice. Across two studies that varied in temporal focus (a multisource, time-lagged field study and a within-person weekly experience sampling study), we found support for most of our predictions. The results suggest that while potentially psychologically uplifting (for both men and women), ethical voice also generates psychological pressure for the voicer to preserve their favorable moral social image and thus motivates them (more so in the case of women voicers at the between-person level) to explicitly symbolize their moral character in the workplace. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-inclusive HR practices and older workers' voice behavior: the role of job crafting toward strengths and negative age-based metastereotypes

PurposeUsing signaling theory, the overarching purpose of this study is to provide an insight into how age-inclusive HR practices (AIHRP) influence older workers' voice behavior through job crafting toward strengths (JCS) and how negative age-based metastereotypes (NABM) moderate these relationships.Design/methodology/approachUsing time-lagged data were obtained from 321 Chinese older workers. PROCESS MACRO and Bootstrapping were used to test theoretical hypotheses.FindingsOur results revealed the positive effects of AIHRP on both JCS and voice behavior, and the positive effect of JCS on voice behavior, as well as the mediating role of JCS in the relationship between AIHRP and voice behavior. Besides, results also found that NABM negatively moderate the effect of AIHRP on voice behavior, and the effect of AIHRP on JCS. Additionally, significant moderated mediation effect indicates that the indirect effect of AIHRP on voice via JCS will be weaker for employees with higher NABM.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, we take the lead in linking AIHRP and employees' voice behavior. This complements voice literature by identifying an important new factor in motivating older workers' voice behavior. Second, by exploring the mediating role of JCS, we reveal the “black box” of how AIHRP affect older workers' voice behavior. Third, this study responds to the call for more studies exploring the boundary conditions of AIHRP and expands the theoretical research framework of the relationship between AIHRP, JCS and voice, deepens our understanding of the mechanism of voice behavior.Practical implicationsOur findings have several practical implications. First, the leadership personnel throughout the firm should be conscious of the crucial role of AIHRP. Second, managers should provide older workers with opportunities to craft their jobs to use their strengths and achieve a better person-job fit, which will result in a series of positive outcomes. Third, organizations should blur intergenerational boundaries within the organization and provide older workers with mentoring opportunities to motivate their voice.Social implicationsOur findings have some social implications. Firstly, the results of this study are beneficial in demonstrating to society that older workers still have significant strengths and value. With reasonable methods, older workers can continue to contribute to the development of organizations and society, which in turn is conducive to changing society's perceived bias toward older workers, reducing age discrimination and promoting social harmony. Secondly, this study provides theoretical guidance for organizations and society to manage older workers, which is conducive to alleviating social problems such as youth labor shortage and increased burden of retirement.Originality/valueThis study is innovative as it first explores the influence, mechanism and boundary conditions of AIHRP on older workers' voice behavior, which not only deepens our understanding of older workers voice, but also enriches the research on AIHRP and JCS.

The roles of team collective voice and team autonomy in promoting team innovative performance through routine changes

PurposeThe team collective voice (TCV) concept has received limited attention in existing research despite its potential significance, particularly within Eastern cultural contexts. Hence, this paper aims to extend the employee voice literature by conducting a comprehensive exploration of the role of TCV as opposed to individual voice (IV) in promoting team innovative performance (TIP).Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical model is tested with survey data collected among ICT employees who work in large telecommunication organizations in Vietnam.FindingsTCV was used more by participants than IV. Both IV and TCV exhibited noteworthy influences on TIP explained by the role of routine changes, with TCV serving as a full mediator for the relationship between IV and TIP. In addition, team autonomy (TA) also significantly enhanced TIP.Originality/valueBy measuring TCV as shared and consensus team voice, this study makes significant contributions to employee voice literature. It not only confirms the prevalence but also offers insightful explanations for why Vietnamese employees tend to favor TCV over IV. Additionally, the findings enrich the innovation literature by presenting a novel perspective on how employee voice can enhance TIP through the introduction of exogenous routine changes. It introduces a unique perspective on employee voice as a form of a search routine, distinct from Nelson and Winter's (1982) conceptualization of search, generating changes in lower-order routines, ultimately contributing to enhanced team innovation and performance.

What are Aboriginal children and young people in out‐of‐home care telling us? A review of the child voice literature to understanding perspectives and experiences of the statutory care system

AbstractAboriginal children and young people are over‐represented in the out‐of‐home care system, yet their voices are largely absent in practice and policy decision‐making. This paper presents a review of research that captures the voices of Aboriginal children and young people in out‐of‐home care. Three key themes are discussed: connection to culture, connection to family and participation. This paper argues for culturally meaningful research that honours child and youth citizenship, voice and roles in decision‐making as critical to quality care and positive outcomes. This paper aims to highlight the importance of listening and responding to the voices of Aboriginal children and young people as critical to the provision of appropriate care and supporting positive outcomes.

German and Dutch works councils: A trust theory of legal employee voice

AbstractGerman and Dutch law grant works councils (WoCs) a significant role in company affairs, accompanied by the obligation to act in the organization's overall interest. However, is this sufficient to ensure meaningful WoC involvement in practical organizational decision‐making? We use the well‐emphasized concept of trust from the voluntary employment voice literature as a foundation for exploring how managerial goodwill translates into employment relations regimes with strict mandatory employee voice elements. We take two cases of strict employee voice systems as our litmus test: Germany and the Netherlands. Through structural equation modeling, we unravel the direct and indirect effects on employee representatives' assessment of employee voice effectiveness, considering factors such as legislation, interpersonal relationships between WoC and management team, and union involvement. Trust is positioned as a central mediator. Utilizing unique survey data from 2014 that includes responses from German and Dutch works councilors, the results indicate that legal information rights alone do not solely promote WoC involvement in both countries. Trust also plays a vital role, demonstrating a direct positive effect on having a say and acting as a mediator for timely information provision, goal sharing, organizational support, unity within the WoC (in the Netherlands), and union involvement (mainly in Germany). These cross‐country differences are attributed to variations within Rhineland capitalism, where German relations are primarily characterized by a strong capital‐labor divide, and Dutch relations predominantly emphasize consensus‐seeking.

Website posts and the voice offrontline healthcare workers: athematic analysis.

With the soaring rise in popularity of social media platforms in recent decades, the use of website posts for the expression of work-related views has also increased. Despite websites being extensively used, there has been no examination of the views and concerns expressed by frontline workers through website posts. The present research aims to contribute to the "voice literature" first by evaluating how frontline workers utilize anonymous media platforms to express their views and work-related concerns and, second, by demonstrating how anonymous voice systems can encourage frontline health workers in providing feedback and dissatisfaction. The study utilizes the thematic analysis method to analyze the content of posts by psychologists on a collaborative consultation website administrated by Israel's Ministry of Health, discussing their perceptions of work-related concerns. The analysis identified three work-related themes through the employees' voices. These include insufficient support from management, conflicts and excessive occupational demands. The workers expressed their apprehension with regard to organizational pressures, deficient budgetallocations, excessive workloads, lack of recognition and work-life imbalances. The application of thematic analysis method to anonymous open-public data should be viewed as an effective, affordable, genuine and unique research method for data analysis. Anonymous platforms can generate unique insights that may not be possible through traditional means. This can provide practitioners with a comprehensive understanding of various issues and challenges and be a useful tool for identifying shortcomings within health settings.

How power, expertise, and hierarchy influence voice on patient safety: a study of surgeons and anaesthesiologists

This paper adds a novel perspective to employee voice literature by thematically analysing 36 in-depth interviews of surgeons and anaesthesiologists, who work together but in the context of a blurred hierarchy. We found that these two professions effectively leveraged expertise in speaking up on safety concerns relating to their own speciality, when speaking to each other, irrespective of hierarchy. Further, as interdependent roles make cross speciality voice vital for patient safety, they also spoke up on occasions to negotiate risk and safety concerns across speciality. However, power struggles and protection of speciality authority predisposed each professional group to undervaluing the contribution of the other and often attributing self-interest and opportunistic motives to those speaking up. This led to each group resisting influence making silence a commonplace on cross speciality safety concerns. These contexts present an intriguing environment for voice behaviour which requires research and management attention.

A rights-based exploration of children’s pedagogic voice in the classroom

ABSTRACT The concept of ‘pedagogic voice’ emphasises the capacity of children to express their views on matters related to teaching, learning and curriculum. ‘Pedagogic voice’ aligns with children’s rights to be listened to and the extent to which their views are fully considered and acted upon. Combined, these rights based approaches positively shape children’s learning experiences. This paper draws on quantitative and qualitative data from the longitudinal mixed methods cohort study Children’s School Lives to explore children’s voice. Grounded in the sociology of pedagogic voice literature and building upon research on children’s participatory rights, the paper explores children’s experiences of being heard and actively participating in decision-making processes in diverse primary school settings in Ireland. It analyses children's voice by looking at their capacity to influence their own learning, contrasting their experiences and perspectives, to those of their teachers. Findings illustrate the interplay between children’s and teachers’ narratives regarding children’s voice and their pedagogical encounters to explore the impact on teaching and learning processes, highlighting structural challenges to the realisation of children’s voice in primary classrooms in Ireland.

Voice Work, Upward Influence during Change ‘When Time is of the Essence’

AbstractThis paper explores when and how middle managers (MMs) convey voice to the top during strategic change, when they do not have the time for lengthy persuasive upward influence tactics such as issue‐selling. I investigate this phenomenon through a 33‐month study of a risk management team in a large bank as it tried to overhaul its risk management systems and culture, after catastrophic money laundering scandals. I make three contributions. First, I complement the issue‐selling literature by theorizing voice work as the purposeful efforts made by middle and lower managers to pass challenges from the bottom to the top during change. These efforts are grouped into three sets of moves: relational, reflexive and skip level. Second, I contribute to the voice literature by explaining when MMs decide to speak up through relational moves (balancing and integrating) and how they shape their voice message through reflexive moves (preparing and refining). Lastly, I refine our understanding of skip level voice by defining skip level moves (overriding and reinforcing), introducing nuance into how lower managers’ voice can strengthen or destabilize MMs. Voice work ultimately enriches our processual understanding of voice as a dynamic phenomenon worked on by multiple layers of management. Theory is built by amalgamating literatures on voice and on MMs’ upward influence, and by analysing them through the sociological lens of work.

A multilevel investigation of the impact of error management culture on restaurant employee voice

PurposeThis study aims to examine the relation between error management culture and restaurant employee promotive and prohibitive voices. Drawing on socially desirable responding theory, the authors also propose a dual-mediation mechanism underlying the impact of error management culture on employee voice: psychological empowerment, as the agentic motive, and psychological safety, as the communal motive.Design/methodology/approachThe authors recruited 223 participants working in 37 restaurants in China for the two-wave surveys with a one-week interval. The authors use a multilevel modeling paradigm to test the study hypotheses.FindingsThis research examines a multilevel model suggesting that error management culture can boost employee promotive voice and prohibitive voice via the mechanisms of psychological safety and empowerment. In addition, the results suggest that psychological empowerment (vs psychological safety) has a strong mediation effect between error management culture and promotive voice, but the authors find no difference in mediating effects between error management culture and prohibitive voice.Practical implicationsRestaurants can encourage employee voice by developing and maintaining an error management culture. Organizations can also consider motivating employees from both agentic and communal perspectives. Moreover, managers should focus more on empowering employees in areas characterized by Confucianism or collectivism.Originality/valueThe current research adds to the voice literature by identifying an organizational cultural antecedent of employee voice–error management culture. Agentic and communal motives are two motivational paths of employee voice. It also extends the social desirability theory by highlighting the role of the agentic motive in the Chinese restaurant context.

Workers’ voice from the triangular employment relationship lens: towards a conceptual framework

PurposeThis paper examines the circumstantial state of mediated work to develop a conceptual framework exemplifying the determinants of voice of workers in triangular employment relationships. These workers are in work context involving two or more firms – agency/platform and clients/client firms.Design/methodology/approachParalleling employee voice research in the triangular employment relationship context, the authors theorised the influencing forces at four levels to propose 12 distinct antecedents of triangular workers' voice. External level (2) – legal employer ambiguity and legal regulation and protection; employment context level (3) – availability and presence, assignment duration and autonomy; firm level (3) – institutional complexity, cost and control and governance structure conflicts; individual level (4) – perceived relative equity, voice skill, self-identity and transition opportunity.FindingsThe triangular workers' voice determinants framework provides a comprehensive outlook on how the external, employment context, firm and individual forces influence voice of workers in triangular employment relationships.Research limitations/implicationsEmanating from the framework are propositions that can be empirically tested for validation. Hence, as with conceptual papers, this paper is limited by non-empirical testing.Practical implicationsManagers of workers in these employment relationships should be cognizant of the different levels of forces that can influence their voice.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the employee voice literature by presenting a four-level framework that demonstrate a holistic view of how triangular workers' voice is influenced.

The Differential Effects of Leader Food Safety Priority and Ethical Leadership on Food Safety Promotive and Prohibitive Voices: A Socially Desirable Responding Theory Perspective

ABSTRACT Studies on impact of different leadership styles on the promotive and prohibitive forms of food safety voices are limited. Therefore, drawing on socially desirable responding theory, this study examined the differential effects of leader food safety priority and ethical leadership on food handlers’ promotive and prohibitive forms of food safety voices. We found that leader food safety priority and ethical leadership influence employee voice through different mechanisms. Moreover, the indirect impact of leader food safety priority on promotive voices was stronger, while ethical leadership had a stronger indirect effect on prohibitive voice. Finally, leader – member exchange strengthened the indirect effects of leadership antecedents on both forms of food safety voices. This study provides theoretical and practical contributions to food safety voice literature.

Home Remedies (“Paati Vaidyam”) for Voice Disorders: Some Common Practices Among School Teachers

The study aimed to document the practices followed as home remedies to treat voice-related symptoms among school teachers. Cross-sectional study. A total of 385 school teachers from Chennai, India, participated in the study. Data were collected through six open-ended questions to elicit information about conventional remedial practices for voice-related issues. Responses from the participants were recorded and analyzed. Around 88% of the teachers in the study preferred to adhere to home remedies as their first treatment of choice when encounteringa voice problem. A few of the reported home remedies were simple preparations using turmeric (Curcuma longa), ginger (Zingiber officinale), honey, sugar palm (Arenga pinnata), rock candy, mint (Mentha piperita), and cumin seeds (Cuminum cyminum), taken in singly or in combinations. The study also noted specific remedies for a range of vocal symptoms such as throat pain, irritation, or voice tiredness asper the belief systems of people speaking Tamil. Home remedies, also known, as "Paati Vaidyam," are commonly used by Indian households to address health problems, including voice-related issues. The study indicated the prevalence and popularity of using home remedies for voice-related issues among teachers. The scientific logic or utility of these practices was explored in this study based on available information in voice literature. The information obtained is valuable for counseling (explaining local practice methods and available evidence) and education, keeping in mind the belief system, and practice methods of Tamils while imparting vocal hygiene education to the teachers.

Clinical Reasoning in Voice Pedagogy: A Systematic Foundation for Developing Intuition in Novice Voice Teachers

Voice pedagogy literature often draws a parallel between a doctor’s ability to diagnose illness and prescribe treatment and a voice teacher’s ability to identify vocal obstacles and design solutions. The core of these parallel procedures is an ability to utilize critical reasoning skills within highly specific contexts. Medical literature describes this as “clinical reasoning,” and students of medicine study it as a learned and systematic process. In contrast, voice pedagogy literature has traditionally described it as an innate process that is developed through studio experience. This article broadly examines the ways in which medical literature has broken down clinical reasoning into specific cognitive processes and proposes a model through which these processes can be adapted to the needs of developing voice teachers. An emphasis is given to the development of intuition and empathy from teacher to singer, as well as a reexamination of how voice teachers interact with voice literature and research.

Getting along and getting ahead: voice trails of status pursuit

PurposeIntegrating individual and relational centric voice literature, the authors draw on self-presentation theory to analyse the role of status pursuit in employee voice. Status pursuit is believed to be ubiquitous as it is linked to access to scarce resources and social order pecking.Design/methodology/approachThe authors present a cross-level conceptual model outlining relational nuances of employee status pursuit that drive upward voice.FindingsThe model integrates status pursuit with peer- and leader-related facets, focusing on three targets of voice: immediate leader (supervisor), diagonal leader (supervisor of another team/unit) and co-workers. The model highlights how employee voice can be directed to diverse targets, and depending on interpersonal attributes, how it serves as underlying links for upward voice.Originality/valueWhile employee voice can help to address important workplace concerns, it can also be used to advance employees' self-interest. Though there is a wealth of research on the importance of employee voice to organisational performance and individual wellbeing, especially through collective representation such as trade unions, there is a lack of literature on how employees navigate the social-relational work setting to promote their interests and develop status.

A systematic review of employee voice literature in hospitality

With the growing popularity of employee voice in the hospitality field, a lack of consistency and clarity around this construct has impacted the development of related literature in hospitality. This review aimed to understand what we know about employee voice in the context of hospitality, identify trends and gaps in the literature, and provide suggestions and directions for future research. Reviewed studies were searched by keywords from various databases. Content analysis was used to review and analyze those studies for research design, theoretical framework, and constructs related to employee voice, including antecedent, mediator, outcome, and moderator. The inclusion criteria resulted in 36 studies as the final sample. Most studies used a quantitative research design. Social exchange and the conservation of resources theories were the most commonly applied theoretical frameworks. The literature heavily focused on investigating the antecedents of voice. A comparison between hospitality and general business voice literature was also conducted. Research gaps and limitations in the literature were discussed. The review concluded by proposing directions and suggestions for future studies. As the first systematic review of employee voice in hospitality, this study provides a holistic picture of hospitality voice literature to date, making both theoretical and practical contributions.

What Student Voice is and is Not: Connecting Dialogue to Evidence-Based Practice and Inclusive Mindsets

Traditional attitudes to student voice are changing which is highlighted in the recent proliferation of student voice manuscripts the Journal is receiving. Student voice literature currently positions students as active dialogue partners in higher education with much to contribute rather than passive consumers or evaluators. As Editors of the Student Experience section, we view this development in higher education as a significant and emerging trend which has the potential to positively impact practice in higher education and also contribute toward meaningful relational changes for the student experience. We offer some guidelines and recommendations for potential authors on what student voice is and what it is not. We welcome manuscripts that leverage student voice by connecting genuine student-teacher dialogue and articulating how student voice has contributed toward collaboration, change, and empowerment. Manuscripts that articulate how an authentic student voice connects to evidence-based practice and creates inclusive mindsets are also welcome.

Can I control my actions and emotions? Examining when and why employees react adaptively or maladaptively to coworker voice

AbstractVoice highlights important issues in the workplace, but it may be malfunctional if recipients do not possess the adequate mastery to act on the feedback received. Our research draws on the control value theory of emotions to explain how appraisals and affective processes shape employees' adaptive or maladaptive responses to challenge‐oriented voices from their coworkers. We contend that constructive (destructive) coworker voice activates a positive (negative) affective state more strongly in recipients who perceive higher (vs. lower) behavioral control because they will attribute greater personal responsibility over the voice content. We also expect the affective states to predict interpersonal citizenship behavior and work withdrawal behavior more strongly in recipients with lower (vs. higher) emotional control due to their greater susceptibility to the influences of affective states. The results from three‐wave, multi‐source data collected from 307 insurance sales representatives support most of our hypotheses, except that perceived behavioral control does not moderate the link between destructive coworker voice and employee negative affective state. The findings extend voice literature by taking a recipient perspective on how and why they react differently to constructive or destructive coworker voice, and offer practical suggestions for facilitating optimal behavioral responses to coworker voice in an applied setting.