Who speaks up at work? Dispositional influences on employees' voice behavior

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between the five-factor model of personality (FFM) and employees' voice behavior in Greece. Design/methodology/approach -Employees' personality characteristics were assessed along with their voice behavior towards their supervisor and the top management of their company. Data were collected from a cross-sectional sample of 334 professionals. Findings -The findings demonstrate the relationship between personality and voice behavior towards the immediate supervisor, but not towards the top management of the company, and show that conscientiousness and emotional stability are the strongest predictors of employees' voice behavior.Research limitations/implications -The results of the study should be interpreted with caution, since they are based on self-report measures. However, the findings suggest that two personality dimensions (emotional stability and conscientiousness) are significantly related with employees' voice behavior towards their supervisor. Practical implications -The findings suggest important practical implications for HR practices, such as employee communication and personnel selection, since at least two personality dimensions are related with employees' voice behavior. The study also emphasizes the significance of first line supervisors' communication style in enhancing employees' voice behavior. Originality/value -This is the first study exploring the relationship between the FFM and employees' voice behavior carried out in a EU-country, such as Greece. Note1. We thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting this point.

Big Five Factors and Employees’ Voice Behavior among Employees in Small-Medium Enterprise in Penang

“…Voice among the employees is intention that not only in a form of interpersonal communication with management, it brings meaning to the change-oriented communication for the situational improvement (LePine & Van Dyne, 2001). However, if an employee is feeling difficulty to share information, speak up and give feedback, there is possibility that could negatively affect his trust, morale and motivation (Nikolaou et al, 2008). Roberts and O'Reilly (1974) studied about upward communication in organization could be influenced by trust in superior.…”

“…Empirical researches conducted by LePine and Van Dyne (2001), Avery (2003) and Nikolaou et al (2008) have explored more information about relationship between Big Five factors personality and employees' voice behavior. The Big Five factors were used to measure the individual differences.…”

“…Norman's (1963) work has labeled the five factor as extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and culture, which are commonly used and referred in the researches after his, until current, subsequently called as "Norman's Big Five" or simply "Big Five" (Barrick & Mount, 1999). In this research, names used by Nikolaou et al (2008) are adopted for this research; they consist of openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Moreover, Big Five factors are widely accepted as the dominant paradigm of personality, and being used in many personalities related researches.…”

“…LePine and van Dyne (1998) found that it is important of innovation in recent business environment situation and they encourage more researches that help to enhance our understanding of voice. In the research by Nikolaou et al (2008), they found that there is more and more important for an organization relies on employees who are willing to express their new ideas and make constructive suggestion for change in order to initiatively respond to the challenges of the business environment. An organization's innovation shouldn't solely depend on the source of top management level only, it should also gather from innovative competencies of employees from the lower level.…”

“…Thus, this study utilizes the study made of Nikolaou et al (2008) in determining the relationship between Big Five factors (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) and employees' voice behavior in Malaysia's SME context. Moreover, this study intends to explore the significant factors of Big Five personalities with the employees' voice behavior.…”