To speak up effectively or often? The effects of voice quality and voice frequency on peers' and managers' evaluations

Prior research connecting employee voice with better career outcomes has almost exclusively focused on how frequently employees speak up. In the current research, we shift the focus to voice quality-recipients' perceptions of the value of an employee's voice communications, as inferred by message characteristics (i.e., rationale, feasibility, organizational-focus, and novelty). Grounded within social exchange theory, we argue that peers and managers develop more positive evaluations (i.e., higher performance and promotion ratings) of employees who express higher-quality voice, above and beyond how frequently they speak up, because voice quality better demonstrates employees' capability, commitment, and helpful intentions, which obligates the reciprocation of rewards. We further assert that voice frequency moderates these effects, such that high-quality voicers are evaluated more positively, and low-quality voicers are evaluated more negatively, as voice frequency increases. After conducting four studies through which we developed and validated a superordinate measure of voice quality, we conducted time-lagged surveys with peers and managers to assess these hypotheses. Results fully supported our predictions for the direct benefits of voice quality on voicers' outcomes, above and beyond voice frequency; yet, the hypothesized interaction only emerged for peer-rated outcomes.

Automated summary

This study shifts the focus to the quality of employee voice communication, finding that high-quality voicers are more likely to demonstrate capability, commitment, and helpful intent, leading to positive evaluations and rewards. Additionally, voice frequency plays a moderating role in this process, with high-quality voicers receiving more positive evaluations as frequency increases, and low-quality voicers receiving more negative evaluations.