Lata Dyaram

Purpose: This study examines the yin (promotive) and yang (prohibitive) of employee voice based on employee preference for voice channel attributes. Employee inputs may be disregarded, requiring employees to maneuver for unheeded voice and adopt alternate voice tactics. The authors emphasize the ubiquity of lurking employee silence and its affective effects on subsequent cycles of voice or silence. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative design involving semi-structured interviews of employees from service sector firms in India assisted the inquiry. Findings: Employees prefer voice channel attributes that ensure visibility and data substance for promotive voice and anonymity and confidentiality for prohibitive voice. Voice target switching and message reframing were common employee strategies. Silence on both sharing views/opinions (promotive) and voicing issues/concerns (prohibitive) weakens employee future voice incidents, besides suppressing the affect. Post-silence cognitive reappraisal increases voice incidences. Research limitations/implications: Findings may have limited generalizability given the qualitative design of the study. Moving beyond extant episodic voice research, the authors demonstrate the recurrent nature of employee voice and silence. The study broadens perspectives on how varied voice types necessitate nuanced voice channel attributes. Originality/value: Present work brings together organizational behavior (OB) perspective on discretionary voice through human resource (HR)-based channels, helping bridge the gap between previously disparate stands.

While voice contributes to improved organizational functioning, employee ideas and opinions can be diverse and at cross-purposes. Despite voice pertinence, there is little scholarly work on how group composition influences members’ voice behavior. Drawing on the categorization-elaboration model (CEM) perspective of faultline theory and the value-in-diversity paradigm, we examine the effect of team diversity faultlines on members' upward voice. The research model is tested across two time-lagged studies in India. The results of study 1 reveal that gender diversity strengthens the positive influence of age diversity on team communication. Built on study 1, study 2 demonstrates that team communication mediates the link between team diversity faultlines and upward voice, with psychological safety as a boundary condition. We discuss the findings and implications for theory and practice.

This paper highlights the nature of individualistic employee voice in the context of contemporary Indian organisations. As the demand for knowledge workers increase, more organisations are finding that employee voice is critical for developing business intelligence. Yet, organisations often find their employees mostly silent despite the potential of knowledge sharing. Considering the benefits and the implicit costs associated with employee voice, the paper draws on senior executives’ accounts of employee voice that represent varied industry sectors and uses qualitative content analysis. The findings indicate broad themes around the nature, content, boundaries, avenues, and targets of voice along with its underlying mechanisms. The paper extends management perspectives on employee voice behaviour and contributes towards understanding the intricacies of individual dynamics and human experience in voice scholarship. The study has implications for Indian indigenous voice research and practice.

Purpose: Integrating individual and relational centric voice literature, the authors draw on self-presentation theory to analyse the role of status pursuit in employee voice. Status pursuit is believed to be ubiquitous as it is linked to access to scarce resources and social order pecking. Design/methodology/approach: The authors present a cross-level conceptual model outlining relational nuances of employee status pursuit that drive upward voice. Findings: The model integrates status pursuit with peer- and leader-related facets, focusing on three targets of voice: immediate leader (supervisor), diagonal leader (supervisor of another team/unit) and co-workers. The model highlights how employee voice can be directed to diverse targets, and depending on interpersonal attributes, how it serves as underlying links for upward voice. Originality/value: While employee voice can help to address important workplace concerns, it can also be used to advance employees' self-interest. Though there is a wealth of research on the importance of employee voice to organisational performance and individual wellbeing, especially through collective representation such as trade unions, there is a lack of literature on how employees navigate the social-relational work setting to promote their interests and develop status.