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

Abstract

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.

True meaning and due duty: examining how and when career calling promotes employee taking charge

“…In line with this presumption, we propose that employees who feel a calling attaches great importance to the meaning gained from work rather than focusing on the material benefits (Chang et al, 2021;Hirschi, 2012), which motivates them to continuously take charge as an effective way to realize work meaning (Bailey et al, 2019;Lysova et al, 2019). In addition, calling-oriented employees generally report higher commitment and obligation to the organization (Neubert and Halbesleben, 2015;Rawat and Nadavulakere, 2015;Romney, 2021), impelling them to fulfill their obligation through taking charge based on normative beliefs (Chen et al, 2022;Eisenberger et al, 2001).…”

“…It differs from analogous other-concerned constructs such as voice and citizenship behaviors. For example, taking charge goes beyond voice that identifies and communicates problems or opportunities for organizational change (Chen et al, 2022) because the essence of taking charge lies in implementation (Kim et al, 2015). Taking charge is also distinct from organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) since it emphasizes employees' initiative to challenge difficulties and help change their work environment (Kim et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2022), while OCB does not have change-oriented attributes (Xie et al, 2017).…”

“…employee proactivity; Cai et al, 2022). Although previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of calling in advancing voice (Chen et al, 2022;Romney, 2021) and OCB (Xie et al, 2017), knowledge about whether career calling promotes taking charge remains scarce. Career calling is an internal psychological construct with three salient features, including goal orientation, meaning and purpose pursuit, and prosocial intention (Duffy et al, 2018).…”

“…Lastly, the altruistic and prosocial element of career calling determines that individuals with a calling are driven by something beyond self-interest and consequently more likely to sacrifice resources to benefit the organization through taking charge at work (Elangovan et al, 2010;Chen et al, 2022). Empirical studies have affirmed prosocial motivation elicited by career calling as a critical determinant of employees' proactivity (Cai et al, 2022;Chen et al, 2022;Xu et al, 2022). Based on the WCT, we propose that perceived calling can enhance employee taking charge because it is a meaningful, purposeful, and prosocial goal of living a calling.…”

The influence of the career calling on the employees’ creative deviance

“…Nevertheless, the studies on why these employees can persist in creative deviance are still sparse. With the rapid development of China’s economy, employees’ pursuit of economic rewards is less fanatical than before, thus many scholars call for researches on promoting employees’ positive behaviors from the perspective of career calling ( Liu Z. et al, 2021 ; Chen et al, 2022 ). Career calling implies the willingness of individuals to engage in certain jobs to realize their value and meet their self-realization needs ( Duffy et al, 2012a ).…”