The role of contextual voice efficacy on employee voice and silence

Given recent studies have begun to question the siloed nature of employee voice research this paper attempts to theorise the boundaries between Organisational Behavior (OB), Human Resource Management (HRM) and Industrial and Employment Relations (I/ER) voice. Researchers examine specific organisational contexts that may influence employees' voice behavior, with OB researchers paying particular attention to the micro contextual influences of leadership behavior and psychological safety climate on individual voice behavior; HR researchers emphasizing the meso role of HR practices that may facilitate employee voice; and I/ER researchers focusing more on how macro institutional supports such as unions and collective bargaining can protect employees and facilitate voice. The paper proposes a model of contextual voice efficacy as a bridge between these disparate literatures, and develops propositions as to how OB, HR and I/ER voice mechanisms can combine together in a single model.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the boundaries of employee voice research and proposes a model to integrate the mechanisms of organizational behavior, human resource management, and industrial and employment relations in promoting employee voice.