The study of knowledge employee voice among the knowledge-based companies: the case of an emerging economy

PurposeA review of previous studies on the voices of employees and knowledge workers clarifies that paying attention to employees' voice is critical in human resource management. However, limited studies have been conducted on it, and much less emphasis has been placed compared to other human resource management activities such as human resource planning. Therefore, the voice of knowledge employees has been one of the critical issues that have attracted a great deal of attention recently. Nonetheless, there is no evidence of various comprehensive and integrated voice mechanisms. As a result, this study aims to design knowledge workers' voice patterns in knowledge-based companies specialising in information and communication technology (ICT) in Iran in May and June 2020.Design/methodology/approachThis study is a qualitative grounded theory research. We collected the data from a target sample of 15 experts in knowledge-based ICT companies using in-depth semi-structured interviews. Since all the participants had practised the employee voice process, they were regarded as useful data sources. Data analysis was also performed using three-step coding (open, axial and selective) by Atlas T8, which eventually led to identifying 14 components and 38 selected codes. We placed identified components in a paradigm model, including Personality Characteristics, Job Factors, Economic Factors, Cultural Factors, Organisational Policies, Organisational Structure, Climate Of Voice in the Organisation, Management Factors, Emotional Events, Communications and Networking, Contrast and Conflict and, etc. Then, the voice pattern of the knowledge staff was drawn.FindingsThe results showed that constructive knowledge voice influences the recognition of environmental opportunities and, additionally, it helps the competitive advantages among the employees. By forming the concept of knowledge staff voice, it can be concluded that paying attention to knowledge staff voice leads to presenting creative solutions to do affairs in critical situations. The presentation of these solutions by knowledge workers results in the acceptance of environmental changes, recognition and exploitation of new chances and ideas, and sharing experiences in Iranian knowledge-based companies.Practical implicationsStrengthening and expanding the voice of employees in knowledge-oriented companies can pave the way to growth and development towards a higher future that prevents the waste of tangible and intangible assets.Originality/valueCompanies' ability to engage in knowledge workers is a vital factor in human resource management and strategic management. However, the employee voice has not been involved integrally in the context of corporate.

Employee Voice: A Mechanism to Harness Employees’ Potential for Sustainable Success

Listening to employees’ concerns reduces their dissatisfaction, but moreover, for an organization to achieve sustainable success, employees must raise their creative voice and give their input in decision-making without the fear of rejection in a psychologically safe environment. Ethical leaders facilitate such a participative style of management. A bureaucratic culture, as is generally encountered in Pakistan’s work settings, poses real challenges to those who dare to speak up, therefore the importance of ethical leadership, leader–member exchange (LMX), and psychological safety cannot be neglected as coping mechanisms to sustain the employee voice for mutual gains. To investigate ethical leadership’s mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions on voice behavior, we examined a moderated mediation model with the leader–member exchange as a moderator and psychological safety as a mediator. Grounded in social exchange theory (SET), the current study uniquely posits and tests that employees feel psychologically safe in the presence of an ethical leader with whom they have high-quality social exchanges. Data were collected from 281 employees from the public corporations and private enterprises of the petroleum sector of Karachi. Results of the analysis, through SPSS and AMOS, revealed that psychological safety mediated the relationship of ethical leadership and voice behavior, while the indirect effect of ethical leadership on voice behavior (via psychological safety) is stronger for those employees who enjoy high-quality exchanges with ethical leaders. LMX was also found to moderate the relationship between ethical leadership and voice behavior. Contributions, recommendations, and limitations of the current study and further research areas are also discussed. The study offers practical insight on the mechanism of ethical leadership on employee voice behavior and recommends leaders to develop social exchanges to improve voice behavior for sustainable success.

“Called” To Speak Out: Employee Career Calling and Voice Behavior

This study is the first one to explore the relation between career calling and employee voice and two potential mediators of this relationship, felt responsibility for constructive change and employee optimism about the future. Surveys from 406 employees of a law enforcement agency in the Midwest U.S. were analyzed using logistic regression and bootstrapping method with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine support for the hypotheses’ main and mediating effects. A behavioral measure was used to capture employees’ promotive voice behavior. Results indicated that individuals with stronger career calling were more likely to engage in promotive voice, after controlling for personality, perceptions toward work, and organizational tenure. In addition, career calling was positively associated with both felt responsibility and employee optimism. Finally, felt responsibility for constructive change fully mediated the relationship between career calling and promotive voice. The implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Can Insider Status Promote Employee Voice Behavior?

This research investigates employee voice behavior (EVB) as a behavioral consequence of perceived insider status (PIS) through felt obligation behavior. Based on social identity theory, this research postulates that when employees realize that they are an insider, they tend to see themselves as a citizen of an organization and proactively engage in voice behavior. In order to evaluate this relationship, we collected 983 self-completed surveys from participants of public organizations in Fiji. The findings show that as insiders, employees unbegrudgingly engage in voice behavior when trying to provide corrective changes. This relationship was also partially mediated by felt obligation behavior (FOB). Interestingly, this study is the first one to use social identity theory to explain how employees form close attachment to the organizations they work for, driving greater feelings of belongingness and altering their behavior to engage in voice behavior. Therefore, we find social identity theory to be very relevant in explaining the relationship between PIS and EVB through FOB. This makes a significant contribution to the social identity theory. Finally, the current study offers practical implications, limitations, and further research directions.

Employee Voice Behavior of Governmental Organization

Previous research has tested the effect of cultural intelligence on voice behavior by using transformational leadership as a mediating variable.. This study presents a different perspective by using the ethical leadership variable as a mediation. This study examined the effect of cultural intelligence on voice behavior with ethical leadership as a mediating variable. Research data were collected from 492 employees of the governmental organization in Indonesia. The results showed that cultural intelligence had a significant effect on employee voice behavior and ethical leadership which mediated the relationship between cultural intelligence and employee voice behavior. This research can be used as a reference for application in multicultural organizations, especially in the application of voice behavior.