Insiders maintain voice: A psychological safety model of organizational politics

Employee silence, job burnout and job engagement among teachers: the mediational role of psychological safety

Background: Teaching is a highly demanding profession, with teachers reporting increasing levels of burnout. Accumulated evidence indicates that inhibiting the expression of one's thoughts, emotions, and behaviors continuously can take a psychological toll actively resulting in physiological and psychological symptoms (e.g. stress, emotional exhaustion, strain). The purpose of this study was to assess the different types of employee silence among teachers and examine their relationship with job burnout, job engagement and psychological safety. Methods: A convenience sampling method approach was used whereby 150 primary school education teachers from Greece participated in a survey. Self-reported measures for burnout, work-engagement, psychological safety and employee silence motives were used in this cross-sectional study. Results: Psychological safety mediated the relationship between burnout and employee silence, and more specifically between the three core components of burnout and both acquiescent and quiescent silence, but not prosocial silence. In terms of engagement, the indirect effect was significant between vigor/dedication and both quiescent and acquiescent silence. Conclusions: The present research highlighted the importance of acquiescent and quiescent silence, two forms of silence that are rooted in fear and hopelessness respectively. This research adds to the growing picture of teaching as a profession that is characterized by increasing levels of burnout, employee silence and low levels of psychological safety.

The curvilinear impact of perceived organizational politics on employee voice behavior: Mediating role of territoriality

Organizational context has an important influence on voice behavior. This study investigates the curvilinear relationship between perceived organizational politics (POP) – an inevitable organizational context factor – and employee voice behavior through a conservation of resources theory lens, considering the curvilinear mediating role of territoriality. A three-wave survey of 227 full-time employees revealed that (1) POP is positively associated with territoriality, (2) territoriality has U-shaped relationships with both promotive and prohibitive voice, that is, when territoriality ranges from low to moderate, promotive/prohibitive voice behavior gradually decreases. When territoriality ranges from moderate to high, promotive/prohibitive voice behavior gradually increases and (3) territoriality acts as a curvilinear mediator between POP and promotive/prohibitive voice behavior. These findings make a significant contribution to POP literature and voice behavior literature by identifying territoriality as a mediator between these organizational factors. Implications for practice are also discussed.

Can leader self-sacrificial behavior inhibit unethical pro-family behavior? A personal identification perspective

As a kind of deviant and unethical behavior in the workplace, unethical pro-family behavior (UPFB) has recently received increased attention. Yet, the question of how to reduce UPFB remains less well understood. From the personal identification perspective, we hypothesize that leader self-sacrificial behavior (LSSB) inhibits employees' UPFB through the mediation of identification with the leader. We further argue that employees' perceived insider status enhances this hypothesized relationship. Our analysis of two-wave data collected from 236 Chinese employees indicated that identification with the leader partially mediated the negative relationship between LSSB and UPFB. Moreover, the effect of LSSB on identification with the leader and the aforementioned mediating relationship were stronger for employees who perceived themselves as insiders than outsiders. These findings provide theoretical implications for research on UPFB and LSSB and offer some suggestions that managers can follow to inhibit UPFB. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.

The “Double-Edged Sword” Effects of LMX Ambivalence———An Integrated Model of Two Approaches Based on Cognitive Flexibility and Job Anxiety

Purpose

Bootleg Innovation helps enterprises create unconventional innovation achievements, and has gradually become an important approach for radical innovation under the background of open innovation. Through the integration of the cognitive-affective processing system and conservation of resources (COR) theory, the present study takes integrative complexity as a moderator, and explores the mechanism of LMX ambivalence on employees’ bootleg innovation.

Participants and Methods

A total of 387 employees and 110 supervising managers participated in the two-wave dyadic survey. To test our hypotheses, we performed the hierarchical regression and conducted bootstrapping analyses to test our hypotheses.

Results

Findings indicated that LMX ambivalence not only improves employees’ cognitive flexibility and promotes bootleg innovation, but also aggravates employees’ job anxiety and hinders bootleg innovation. In addition, integrative complexity significantly moderates the above two mediating paths. Specifically, when integrative complexity was higher, the negative mediating effect of job anxiety was attenuated, and the positive mediating effect of cognitive flexibility was enhanced.

Conclusion

Contrasting with previous research, this research analyzed the triggering mechanism of bootleg innovation combined with the dynamic interaction of environmental stimulus, emotion and cognition. The findings provide novel insight into how to achieve bootleg innovation.

Does small and medium enterprise differential leadership increase subordinate knowledge hiding? Evidences from job insecurity, territorial consciousness and leadership performance expectation

Leadership is considered as a significant antecedent of knowledge hiding in SMEs (small and medium enterprises), but the differential dimension of leadership has been evidently neglected in both theoretical and empirical areas. Drawing on conservation of resource theory and social cognitive theory, this research investigates whether and how SME differential leadership influences subordinate knowledge hiding. Specifically, we analyze the underlying mechanisms of a chain-mediator—job insecurity and territorial consciousness and a boundary condition—leadership performance expectation. Multi-wave and multi-source data were collected from a sample of 704 Chinese SME employees and 140 relevant leaders and applied HLM meso-mediational frameworks, and Bootstrap technique with non-parametric percentile residuals for deviation correction. The results show that differential leadership plays a potential role in promoting subordinate knowledge hiding through the serial intervening mechanism of job Insecurity and territorial consciousness in SMEs. Furthermore, the positive relationship between SME differential leadership and job insecurity becomes stronger among subordinates under higher leadership performance expectation; the positive indirect relationship between SME differential leadership and subordinate knowledge hiding is stronger with higher levels of leadership performance expectation. This study contributes to the existing academic literature by empirically analyzing the under-investigated correlation between differential leadership and subordinate knowledge hiding in SMEs, and by exploring the underlying mechanisms and a boundary condition.

Enabling the Creative Performance of Indian IT Employees Through Their Voice: The Mediating Role of Psychosocial Prosperity

Organizations largely depend on their employees’ creativity to attain a competitive advantage. Drawing on Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) theory, this study examines whether employees’ voice behavior (promotive and prohibitive) can be harnessed to improve their creative performance. By exploring the mediating role of psychosocial prosperity and moderating effects of employees’ perception of their influence at work and their feelings of alienation, this study offers a unique model that enhances the literature on voice and creativity. Data collected from 285 Information Technology professionals in India reveals that both forms of voice lead to creative performance, and psychosocial prosperity mediates this positive relationship. This finding offers different insight for scholars as much of the voice literature expects prohibitive voice to yield negative results for the employee because of its associated risks. Also, employees’ perceived influence at work strengthens the positive effect of promotive voice on psychosocial prosperity, while alienation weakens the relationship between psychosocial prosperity and creativity performance. The study concludes by discussing the implications, limitations, and directions for future researchers.

Mechanisms of knowledge workers’ adaptive perfectionism on taking charge

Purpose

This study aims to explore the mechanisms of adaptive perfectionism on employees’ taking charge (TC), the mediating role of work family enrichment and the moderating role of perceived organizational support (OS) in the relationship between adaptive perfectionism and employees’ TC.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on 305 knowledge workers working in diverse organizations in China to examine the hypotheses.

Findings

The results showed that adaptive perfectionism had a significant positive effect on employees’ TC. Both directions of work-family enrichment (WFE) and family-work enrichment (FWE) play a mediating role between adaptive perfectionism and employees’ TC. Perceived OS moderates the relationship between WFE/FWE and employees’ TC. Perceived OS moderates the indirect effects of adaptive perfectionism on employees’ TC through WFE and FWE.

Originality/value

This study explores the impact of adaptive perfectionism on employees’ TC, expands the scope of existing perfectionism research, enriches the research on adaptive perfectionism outcome variables and provides evidence and reference for follow-up research.

Influence of Organizational Learning and Dynamic Capability on Organizational Performance of Human Resource Service Enterprises: Moderation Effect of Technology Environment and Market Environment

This study aims to explore the influence of organizational learning and dynamic capability on organizational performance of human resource service enterprises with the moderating role of technology environment and market environment. Data were gathered from 360 human resource service enterprises, and applied the hierarchical linear regression method and structural equation model to test the hypotheses. We found that organizational learning has a significantly positive impact on resource integration capability, as well as has a significantly positive impact on resource reconfiguration capability of human resource service enterprises. Resource integration capability and resource reconfiguration capability have a significantly positive impact on organizational performance. Moreover, results indicated that the resource integration capability and resource reconfiguration capability partially mediate in the relationship between organizational learning and organizational performance. Furthermore, technology environment and market environment have positive moderation effect between resource integration capability and organizational performance of human resource service enterprises, as well as have positive moderation effect between resource reconfiguration capability and organizational performance of human resource service enterprises. The current study contributes to a better understand the impact mechanism of organizational learning on organizational performance from the perspective of organizational learning theory and dynamic capability theory. In addition, this study provides implications for human resource service enterprises and managers to improve organizational performance.

Acting on Leader's Emotions: How and When Emotion Recognition Ability Motivates Voice?

Purpose

Employee voice has been considered as an important means to understand the cutting-edge information, gain social status and performance advantage for leaders, employees and the organization, respectively. However, our knowledge about how and when employees’ emotions influence voice remains limited.

Design/Methodology/Approach

In order to better illustrate the role of emotion on voice, based on emotion as social information theory and similarity attraction theory, we proposed a research model through which emotion recognition ability affects voice via perceived ambidextrous leadership. A sample of 182 comprised of full-time employees and their 43 immediate supervisors was collected through questionnaires in China, and analyzed via hierarchical regression method.

Findings

We found that subordinate’s emotional recognition ability has a significant positive effect on promotive and prohibitive voice, and that perceived ambidextrous leadership plays a significant mediating role between subordinate’s emotional recognition ability and promotive voice, while no mediating role is found between subordinate’s emotional recognition ability and prohibitive voice. In addition, in contrast to leader-subordinate gender dissimilarity, leader-subordinate gender similarity is more effective in strengthening the impact of emotion recognition ability on perceived ambidextrous leadership, and thus promotes employee voice.

Originality/Value

This research not only advances our understanding of employee voice, but also provides specific reference for management practices from the perspective of gender.

Unethical Leadership and Employee Extra-Role Behavior in Information Technology Sector: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

During the COVID-19 pandemic, enterprises were obliged to employ social media and digital tools to complete ordinary work. The pandemic has created a series of complexities and challenges, which have hampered harmonic contact between leaders and followers. The indirect relationship between unethical leadership and extra-role behavior (EXB) via psychological empowerment (PYE) is investigated in this study. We also look into the role of perceived organizational support (POS) as a moderator in the link between unethical leadership and PYE, as well as the indirect link between unethical leadership and EXB. Data were obtained from 258 supervisor–employee dyads from various small- and mid-sized information technology (IT) enterprises using time lag data. Unethical leadership has an impact on employee psychological empowerment as well as EXB. The findings of this study indicated that POS also mitigated the negative consequences of unethical leadership on employee psychological empowerment. Similarly, the role of psychological empowerment as a mediator in the link between unethical leadership and employee EXB is influenced by POS. This study will also benefit researchers and practitioners interested in human resource practices in the IT industry.

The Inhibitory Effect of Perceived Organizational Politics on Employee Voice Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model

Research on the mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions of perceived organizational politics’ (POP) effect on employee voice is underdeveloped. Based on conservation of resources theory, we proposed a moderated mediation model in which organizational embeddedness acts as a mediator to explain why POP inhibits promotive and prohibitive voice. Additionally, we posited sense of impact as a boundary condition affecting this relationship. A time-lagged survey of 227 employed MBA students from a university in southwestern China revealed that organizational embeddedness mediates the relationship between POP and promotive and prohibitive voice, and sense of impact moderates the relationship between POP and promotive voice, such that the relationship is stronger when sense of impact is weaker. The moderating effect was not significant for prohibitive voice. These findings have implications for theory, practice, and further organizational research.

Determinants of Proactive Work Behavior of Employees During the COVID-19 Crisis

Abstract. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations have been forced to use social media and digital applications to carry out routine tasks. This posed several complications and challenges that hindered harmonic interaction between managers and their subordinates. This study investigates the indirect association between toxic leadership and proactive work behavior via psychological safety (PYS). We also investigate the role of perceived insider status (PIS) as a moderator in the association between toxic leadership and PYS as well as the indirect connection between toxic leadership and proactive work behavior. The work is based on the timelag results of 282 supervisor-employee dyads from different small and mid-sized information technology (IT) firms. The results show that toxic leadership has a significant impact on employee PSY and proactive work behavior as well as revealing that PIS substantially mitigated the negative effects of toxic leadership on employee PYS. Similarly, PIS influences the mediating role of PYS in the association between toxic leadership and proactive work behavior of employees. This research is helpful for academics and practitioners involved in human-resource practices in the IT industry.

A contingency perspective on employees' voice behavior in response to career plateau beliefs

With a conceptual basis in conservation of resources theory, this paper investigates the relationship between employees' career plateau beliefs and their voice behavior, using parallel arguments that reflect resource-conservation versus resource-acquisition logics. The career plateau beliefs–voice behavior link, whether negative or positive, might be invigorated when employees encounter adversity in the workplace, such as due to work pressures (work overload and work–family conflict) or because of how their organization makes decisions (organizational politics and organizational underperformance). Survey data from employees in the Canadian information technology sector provide empirical support for the resource-acquisition logic: career plateau beliefs enhance employees' propensity to offer ideas for organizational improvement, particularly if they suffer from excessive workloads or conflicting work–family demands, perceive organizational decision making as political, and are unhappy about their organization's performance. These novel insights point to the critical role of a stagnated career in triggering, instead of dampening, proactive voice behaviors.

Efficacy beliefs and employee voice: the role of perceived influence and manager openness

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore how and when an employee's belief in their voice self-efficacy leads to promotive and prohibitive voice behavior. By banking on social cognitive theory, this study examines perceived influence at work as a mediator and managerial openness as a moderator in the link between voice self-efficacy and the two forms of voice.

Design/methodology/approach

This study's data come from 285 Indian information technology (IT) employees by adopting a cross-sectional survey design. The effect of moderator and mediator is examined by employing structural equation modeling in AMOS 22.

Findings

The results reveal that perceived influence at work partially mediates the positive link between voice self-efficacy and the two forms of voice behaviors. The test of moderation also exposes that prohibitive voice is more contingent on managerial openness as compared to promotive voice.

Originality/value

This is one of the initial studies to explore perceived influence at work as a mediator in the association between voice self-efficacy and employee voice behavior. The treatment of voice as a bidimensional construct in this study discloses the difference between the two forms, contributing to the voice literature and inviting further research.

When does benevolent leadership inhibit silence? The joint moderating roles of perceived employee agreement and cultural value orientations

Purpose

This study's purpose is to examine benevolent leadership's effect on employee silence, as moderated by perceived employee agreement on leader behaviors and cultural value orientations.

Design/methodology/approach

Two-wave survey data were collected from 240 Chinese employees working in various industries. Hierarchical regression and simple slope analysis were used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Benevolent leadership was negatively related to employee silence. When perceived employee agreement on leader behaviors was high, employees with high power-distance orientation or low vertical individualism were more sensitive to benevolent leadership and engaged in less silence.

Practical implications

Managers are advised to exhibit benevolent behaviors to mitigate employees' tendency to remain silence. Organizations and managers can also design interventions to encourage employees with low power distance or high vertical individualism to speak up.

Originality/value

This study advances the understanding of the relationship between benevolent leadership and employee silence. By highlighting the moderating role of employees' perception of leader behaviors and their cultural value orientations, this study helps explain the conditions that when employees choose to keep silence or not.

Relationship between nurse's voice and self-leadership: A time-lagged study

AIM

Less empirical attention has been paid to the positive relationship between voice behaviour and voice speaker development, such as self-leadership. The present study explores the relationship among nurses' voice, perceived insider status and self-leadership.

METHOD

This study was based on time-lagged survey data collected from 608 frontline nurses. jamovi and PROCESS macro were used for analysis.

RESULTS

Promotive voice and prohibitive voice were positively associated with self-leadership. Perceived inside status mediated the relationship between promotive voice/prohibitive voice and self-leadership. Prohibitive voice was more strongly related to self-leadership than promotive voice.

CONCLUSIONS

When nurses dare to voice, nurses' self-leadership can be enhanced through perceived insider status improving, especially for nurses who dare to prohibitive voice.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT

Nurse managers should protect the privacy of voice, continually provide feedback on voice and set up special encouragement for prohibitive voice.

Voice behavior of Indian IT employees: a moderated mediation model

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore how promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors of Indian information technology (IT) employees vary in their relationship with other factors. This study investigates a moderated mediation model involving different factors like managerial openness, voice self-efficacy, turnover intentions and promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a cross-sectional design to collect data from 254 executives working in the IT companies located in India. This study uses IBM SPSS 22 along with the Hayes’ PROCESS module to investigate the moderation and mediation effects.

Findings

The results reveal that both promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors fully mediate the negative relationship between managerial openness and employee turnover intentions. The results also support that voice self-efficacy strengthens the relationship between managerial openness and promotive voice behavior but not prohibitive voice behavior.

Originality/value

This is one of the very few studies to explore voice behavior from the Indian context and thus heeds to the call made by researchers to explore voice in a non-Western context. The treatment of voice as a combination of promotive and prohibitive voice rather than as a unitary concept enhances the voice literature and invites further research.

Speaking Up at Work: The Role of Perceived Organizational Support in Explaining the Relationship Between Perceptions of Organizational Politics and Voice Behavior

Voice is a risky and more challenging type of organizational citizenship behavior in that it is designed to bring about change. Using conservation of resources and social exchange theories, we investigate relationships between voice, perceptions of organizational politics, and perceived organizational support (POS). We also investigate the mediating role of POS in the politics–voice relationship to determine the extent to which POS can explain this relationship. Lagged survey data from supervisor–employee dyads ( N = 257) were collected 6 weeks apart. Results show that perceptions of organizational politics were negatively related to voice, while POS was positively related to voice. POS had a mediating effect on the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and voice. Our results underscore the importance of contextual factors in encouraging or prohibiting voice and may help managers and organizations understand how best to encourage this important change-oriented workplace behavior.

Why Am I Willing to Speak Up? The Impact of Spiritual Leadership on Employee Voice Behavior

The sustainability of organizations highlights the significance of inspiring employees, especially their inner lives or spiritual identities, and leaders play a vital role. Consistent with social cognitive theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the linking mechanisms and conditional processes underlying the relationship between spiritual leadership and employee voice behavior. Three-wave survey data were collected from 366 full-time employees and their line managers, and a moderated mediation analysis was performed. The results show that career success expectation fully mediates the relationship between spiritual leadership and employee voice behavior. Additionally, felt obligation is found to indirectly strengthen the effect of spiritual leadership on employee voice behavior via career success expectation. In light of the results, practical implications are provided for managers and future researchers to enhance the sustainability of organizations.

Perceived Organizational Politics, Engagement, and Stress: The Mediating Influence of Meaningful Work

The research aimed to assess proposed associations between organizational politics and employee engagement, employee stress (or more correctly 'strain'), and work meaningfulness. Very few studies have examined these associations. Confirmatory factor analyses established the dimensionality and reliability of the full measurement model across two independent samples (N = 303, N = 373). Structural equation modeling supported the proposed direct associations between organizational politics, operationalized as a higher order construct, and employee stress and employee engagement. These relationships were shown to be partially mediated by meaningful work. As such, politics had significant indirect effects on engagement and stress through meaningful work. The results also showed a significant and direct association between stress and engagement. Overall, the results shed important new light on the factors that influence engagement, and identify work meaningfulness as an important psychological mechanism that can help explain the adverse impact of organizational politics on employee engagement and stress. The results also support the dimensionality and validity of a new set of measures of perceived organizational politics focused on generalized perceptions about the use and abuse of relationships, resources, reputation, decisions, and communication channels. More generally, the results serve as a platform for further research regarding the negative influence of organizational politics on a range of individual and organizational outcomes.

Mitigating the Harmful Effect of Perceived Organizational Compliance on Trust in Top Management: Buffering Roles of Employees' Personal Resources

This study considers how employees' POC-defined as their beliefs that the organizational climate stifles change and values compliance with the status quo-reduce their trust in top management, as well as how this negative relationship might be buffered by access to two personal resources that support organizational change: openness to experience and affective commitment to change. Data from a sample of Pakistan-based organizations reveal that POC reduce trust in top management, but this effect is weaker at higher levels of openness to experience and affective commitment to change. These findings are significant in that they indicate that employees who operate in organizational climates marked by "yea-saying" can counter the difficulty of improving their job situation by drawing from adequate personal resources.

Servant leadership and employee voice behavior: a cross-level investigation in China

This study tested the influence and mechanisms of servant leadership on voice behavior, including the mediating role of psychological safety, and the moderating role of supervisor-subordinate Guanxi. Data were collected from 430 civil servants and their immediate supervisors in Changsha, China. Cross-Level investigation revealed that servant leadership had a significant influence on voice behavior, psychological safety mediated the relationship between servant leadership and voice behavior, while supervisor-subordinate Guanxi negatively moderated the relationship between servant leadership and voice behavior.