Employee voice on social media — An affordance lens

Voice mechanisms in organizations provide an opportunity for employees to have a say about their work. As new digital mechanisms, such as social media (SM), are being increasingly adopted by organizations for knowledge sharing, employee engagement and general communication, it is important to consider the extent to which SM may facilitate employee voice. The limited attempts to examine SM and employee voice have mostly focused on identifying the contextual factors that could promote constructive voice on SM. The extant literature does not explore how SM features may (or may not) facilitate all types of voice, such as those which promote employee interests. Adopting an affordance lens, this paper answers the call of voice scholars to explore the potential of SM as a voice mechanism by discussing the perceived value of different SM features for different types of employee voice content. The paper brings together SM and voice literature and explores how different SM affordances may potentially facilitate certain voice content more so over others. In doing so, future directions for research of voice on SM are also discussed.     

I warn you because I like you: Voice behavior,employee identifications,and transformational leadership

Voice behavior refers to the behavior that proactively challenges the status quo and makes constructive changes. Previous studies have explored the antecedents of employees' voice behavior, but to whom employees are likely to voice their thoughts has remained rarely examined. We propose that voice behavior is target-sensitive and that there are two types of voice behavior: speaking out (voice toward peers) and speaking up (voice toward the supervisor). Transformational leadership facilitates both speaking out and speaking up. However, it produces effects on employees via different types of employee identifications. Specifically, social identification predicts only speaking out, while personal identification predicts only speaking up. In contrast, affiliative extra-role behavior is less target-sensitive, and transformational leadership influences affiliative extra-role behavior via both social identification and personal identification. We examined our hypotheses by collecting both self-reported and coworker data from 191 Chinese employees in different organizations. Our hypotheses gained general support from the data. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

An Integrative Review of Employee Voice: Identifying a Common Conceptualization and Research Agenda

Employee voice has been studied across a diverse range of disciplines, generating an extensive body of literature on the topic. However, its conceptualization across the disciplines has differed, resulting in a lack of integrative theories and frameworks on employee voice. The main objective of this paper is to conduct a multidisciplinary review of the academic research on employee voice, to show where there is an opportunity to adopt and adapt the findings and research on employee voice within alternate disciplines, and to demonstrate how this may lead to more common ground in the conceptualization of employee voice. This review focuses on an analysis of the Human Resource Management/Employment Relations and Organizational Behaviour disciplines' conceptualization of employee voice, beginning with the identification of where the disciplines diverged in their concept and study of employee voice. Further, it maps their similarities and differences, on the basis of motive, content, mechanism, target and management of voice. Finally, it identifies opportunities to incorporate the alternate disciplinary perspective and proposes a conceptual model, which addresses the blind spots in each discipline. It is proposed that the consideration of formal and informal employee voice in future studies will enable the better integration of voice research.     

When reputation management is people management: Implications for employee voice

This article explores the relationship between internal reputation management, HRM, and employee voice. Drawing on qualitative data from 25 medium-size and large Norwegian organizations, we find that organizations pursue a desired reputation through a single, official corporate voice by discouraging prohibitive employee voice through technocratic control and coercive HRM practices. The emphasis on technocratic control and coercive HRM occurs despite the widely held belief in reputation and branding literatures that employees should be committed corporate ambassadors who enthusiastically promote their organization's desired reputation and deeply believe in the images they convey to internal and external stakeholders. The findings contribute to studies on reputation management by linking internal reputation management, HRM, and employee voice, pointing out “people management” aspects of reputation management and highlighting important organizational and employee-based consequences.     

Exploring the effect of national cultures on organizational commitment of bicultural employees

Many organizations today operate globally and employ a significant number of bicultural employees. Consequently, it is extremely important to conduct research that furthers our understanding of bicultural employees in an organizational context. In addition, research that furthers our understanding of an employee attitude such as the organizational commitment of bicultural employees will have practical significance for organizations seeking to maximize employee commitment. This paper presents two profiles of biculturals based on predominant identification to individualist or collectivist national cultures and offers rationale to support the premise that organizational commitment will differ between collectivist and individualist biculturals. Exploring the national cultural dimensions of organizational commitment of bicultural employees as conceptualized in this paper provides human resource development (HRD) an excellent opportunity to research these two constructs that significantly impact organizational outcomes.     

Solidarity in Action at a Time of Crisis: The Role of Employee Voice in Relation to Communication and Horizontal Solidarity Behaviour

Solidarity behaviour (SB) among employees is important in building a sense of community in organizations, particularly within a crisis context where adverse working conditions prevail. However, we have limited knowledge concerning how SB develops. Using the lens of social exchange theory, this study examines how top-down communication and employee voice relate to horizontal (employee to emplCoyee) SB. We conducted two comprehensive studies during the Greek economic crisis and found that the relationship between top-down employee communication and horizontal SB is mediated by employee voice. The paper extends our existing knowledge in the fields of management and human resource management by advancing our understanding of horizontal SB, highlighting the role of top-down employee communication as an effective human resource practice and delineating the role of employee voice in fostering workplace camaraderie in small and medium-sized enterprises under crisis.     

“How Much is it Worth to You? Subjective Evaluations of Help in Organizations”

Helping behavior is a fundamental aspect of life in organizations, but subjective evaluations of giving and receiving help often diverge. What one employee believes is a generous act might seem insignificant to another. Such disparity in evaluations of helpful acts can negatively affect interpersonal cooperation among peer employees. In this article, I review research on the topic of subjective evaluation in social exchange, present a preliminary model of how members of organizations construct evaluations of help, and explain how these evaluations may shape their work experiences. I conclude by discussing the implications of this framework for research on employee exchange and outline some directions for future research.     

辱虐管理、心理安全感知与员工建言

基于中国组织情境中辱虐管理对员工建言行为影响的研究,认为企业上级领导实施辱虐管理,首先会削弱员工的心理安全感,继而影响员工建言行为,心理安全感知是辱虐管理与员工建言之间的关系的中介。此外,研究结论还表明,辱虐管理对心理安全感知的削弱作用会受到员工不确定性规避特质的影响,对于高不确定性规避的员工而言,企业上级领导实施辱虐管理,此类员工感受到的"心理不安全"更强。最后,以来自新疆维吾尔自治区2家石化企业中的258名员工和102名上级领导的配对数据验证了以上理论假设。     

权力距离导向与员工建言:组织地位感知的影响

员工建言对于组织运营和发展的作用是不言而喻的,然而在中国情境下往往事与愿违,员工常常会选择知而不言。采用问卷调查方式收集81名团队领导与其467名下属的配对样本,运用多层线性模型方法,从文化价值观的视角探讨中国情境下不同层级个体的权力距离导向对员工建言的效应以及领导组织地位感知和员工组织地位感知在其中的调节效应。统计分析结果表明,领导权力距离导向和员工权力距离导向对员工建言行为都具有显著的负向预测作用,领导组织地位感知显著调节领导权力距离导向与员工建言间的关系,员工组织地位感知显著调节员工权力距离导向与员工建言间的关系。研究结果有助于理解中国情境下员工建言的影响因素和边界条件,对于改变这种现状、实现组织的有效管理具有重要的现实意义。     

工作满意感与建言行为的关系探索:组织承诺的缓冲影响

工作满意感与建言行为之间关系看似简单、实则复杂,以往研究支持正反关系的观点都有,为了调和这一矛盾,本研究提出"U"型关系假设,并认为组织承诺对它们之间有着正向缓冲作用。以长三角地区17家国有企业的282名白领员工为样本,问卷研究结果没有支持"U"型关系假设,而发现两者成正向线性关系,情感承诺对两者之间具有正向缓冲作用。文章讨论了研究结果并对未来研究做了展望。     

Traditional Chinese leadership and employee voice behavior: A cross-level examination

To enhance the understanding of leadership influences on employee voice behavior, this study focused on traditional Chinese leadership (i.e., authoritarian leadership). We proposed that supervisor authoritarian leadership negatively affects employee voice behavior and manager authoritarian leadership has a cascading effect on such behavior through supervisor authoritarian leadership. Furthermore, these effects were either amplified or attenuated under different conditions (i.e., leader identification and power distance orientation). A cross-level investigation of voice behavior within 52 groups of employees from multiple Chinese companies in Beijing was conducted. The results showed that supervisor authoritarian leadership negatively affected employee voice behavior and mediated the negative relationship between manager authoritarian leadership and employee voice behavior. Leader identification moderated the indirect negative effect of manager authoritarian leadership on employee voice behavior via supervisor authoritarian leadership, while power distance orientation moderated the direct negative effect of supervisor authoritarian leadership on employee voice behavior.     

The Role of Emotions in Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions: A Systematic Review of the Inter-Disciplinary Literature and Future Research Agenda

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are highly emotional events for the employees of involved organizations. The strength and directionality of emotional reactions can result in positive or negative employee outcomes contributing to success or failure of cross-border M&As. Existing studies on emotions and cross-border M&As have identified various underlying mechanisms and factors that influence employee emotions in cross-border M&A activities, leading to a fragmentation of current research on this topic. In this article, we systematically review the interdisciplinary literature on the role played by emotions in cross-border M&As by analyzing a sample of 78 articles published between 2000 and 2021. We contribute to the current literature by (1) providing a holistic and deeper understanding of the role played by emotions in cross-border M&As; (2) mapping the current state of the interdisciplinary literature on emotions and cross-border M&As; and (3) developing a multi-level framework, and identifying key theories and emerging themes to be examined in future studies.     

Workplace trust as a mechanism of employee (dis)advantage: The case of employee socioeconomic status

Early work on trust in social science highlighted how the lack of trust between individuals can cause social division, contribute to social stratification, and reduce economic opportunities for people from all social groups. We integrate this work with organizational research on antecedents of trust to generate predictions explaining when and why low employee socioeconomic status (SES) can be a barrier to trust. We discuss how this process can impair the success of both organizations as well as their lower-SES employees. We present a model, and data, suggesting that lower-SES employees will be both more distrusted as well as more distrustful relative to their higher-SES colleagues. This, in turn, locks them out of potentially advantageous social and economic exchanges. Our theory adds precision in detecting when and why lower-SES employees face barriers to success in organizations, as well as provides a blueprint for studying the impact of trust on socially disadvantaged groups in organizations.     

R&D员工领导创新期望、内部动机与创新行为研究

在现代组织行为研究领域推动员工创造、创新的组织行为研究是一个热点问题。本文通过对我国跨地区企业研发员工的问卷调查研究对领导创新期望、员工内部工作动机及其创新行为间的关系进行了实证探讨。研究发现,在我国背景下,直属领导对下属员工的创新期望、员工之间横向交换对研发员工创新的行为都具有正向预测作用,其中员工内在工作动机在领导创新期望、员工横向交换对员工创新行为的作用路径关系中起到中介效应。本研究的调查结论不仅有助于加深我们对组织内员工创新行为推动和作用机制的深入了解,同时也会对我国企业,特别是高新技术企业推动员工创新的管理实践提供借鉴。     

Employee feedback technologies in the human performance system

Many authors have noted that organizations are realizing that employees can be a major source of competitive advantage. A hidden source of advantage can be the improved utilization of existing human capital. A method common to most organizations for improving existing human capital is using employee feedback technologies. During a review of the literature it was found that employee feedback is an expanding and poignant subject. This paper describes some of the current leading technologies in employee feedback, including coaching, 360 degree feedback, as well as other techniques found in the literature. Methodologies of employee feedback including approaches and timeframes will be investigated at the system and process level. Finally, the opportunities for dealing with a problem employee using feedback are discussed.     

团队成员目标取向与建言行为的关系:一个跨层分析

研究以国内某大型企业集团27个营销团队共201名团队成员为研究对象,采用多水平研究方法,通过构建多层数据模型(HLM),以自我激励和个体-情景互动理论为框架对团队成员个体目标导向、团队氛围和员工建言行为的关系进行了探讨.研究发现目标导向不同的个体,其建言行为也有差异,相对于发展导向,表现导向的个体更多地卷入建言行为.团队心理安全感不仅对员工建言行为有直接显著影响,而且在个体目标导向(表现导向)与建言行为的关系中有正向的跨层调节效应:团队心理安全感越高,表现导向的个体越倾向于建言行为,团队心理安全感越低,表现导向与建言行为的关系越不明显.团队氛围对于其他目标导向与建言行为关系的跨层调节效果不显著.     

Individual and organizational strategies for coping with organizational change

During times of significant change to organizations in strategies and structures, employees can experience high levels of stress as their jobs, areas of responsibility and roles also change. Yet research is curiously silent about how people react to organizational change, especially towards promoting healthy responses to change. As a first step to outlining areas for future research this paper considers a range of individual and organizational strategies that may be effective in reducing employee stress and related problems. Prior to the implementation of these strategies, however, organizations must empower employees to adopt the role of change agent and encourage them to take action to solve the problems that stress them. At the individual level, employees can respond to the stress created by organizational change by using problem- and emotion-focused strategies. Also important in coping with change are the personal resources of employees, including a sense of hardiness, beliefs about having control over their work environment, and the availability of social supports within and outside the organization. Although few organizations fully acknowledge their role in helping employees cope with change, there are a number of initiatives that organizations can pursue. Several strategies are discussed in relation to communication, leadership, job-related tasks and stress management programmes.     

Green Human Resource Management: A Review and Research Agenda*

The paper makes a case for the integration of the largely separate literatures of environmental management (EM) and human resource management (HRM) research. The paper categorizes the existing literature on the basis of Ability–Motivation–Opportunity (AMO) theory, revealing the role that Green human resource management (GHRM) processes play in people‐management practice. The contributions of the paper lie in drawing together the extant literature in the area, mapping the terrain of the field, identifying some gaps in the existing literature and suggesting some potentially fruitful future research agendas. The findings of the review suggest that understanding of how GHRM practices influence employee motivation to become involved in environmental activities lags behind that of how organizations develop Green abilities and provide employees with opportunities to be involved in EM organizational efforts. Organizations are not using the full range of GHRM practices, and this may limit their effectiveness in efforts to improve EM.     

The nature of learning being facilitated by frontline managers

This article, which is based on research conducted at five Australian organizations, explores the role frontline managers play in promoting and facilitating learning at work, an area in the field of workplace learning and human resource development that has not been extensively researched. This article provides a brief review of the literature, outlines the theoretical framework and research methodology and design utilized and presents the research findings and a brief discussion. The results of this study suggest that frontline managers, who were considered leaders of learning within their respective organizations, take an instrumental approach to leading employee learning, that is, learning is seen largely as a mechanism for getting work done. Additional evidence suggests that some frontline managers provide a more expansive learning environment through the purposeful creation of conditions for learning for their employees, beyond the immediate focus on learning, simply for the purpose of getting the work done. A further finding is that much of what frontline managers do in the promotion and facilitation of employee learning is deeply embedded in the idea and practice of being an effective manager. It is hoped that the findings will provide guidance to human resource development and frontline managers in shaping learning at work.     

Unfair,uncertain, and unwilling: How decision-making unfairness and unclear job tasks reduce problem-focused voice behavior,unless there is task conflict

In an attempt to expand extant literature devoted to employees' voice behavior, the current research unpacks the connection between their experience of procedural unfairness, such that organizational decision-making lacks transparency, and their problem-focused voice behavior. In this link, the authors predict that job ambiguity functions as a mediator, and coworker task conflict takes a moderating role. Survey data, collected among employees in a large Portuguese retail organization, affirm that perceptions about unfair decision policies can curtail employees’ propensities to raise their voice about organizational failures, because they develop the belief that their employer is failing to provide sufficient job-related information. If they can exchange conflicting viewpoints with others though, this detrimental process might not proceed. Organizations should take care to avoid accusations of unclear job roles, because they create a route by which frustrations about opaque decision-making can escalate into employee complacency; they also should encourage productive idea clashes within their ranks to help block that route.