Transformational leadership and voice behaviors. The mediating effect of employee perceived meaningful work
| Pages | 694-708 |
| Date | 03 April 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-01-2017-0016 |
| Published date | 03 April 2018 |
| Author | Shyh-Jer Chen,Miao-Ju Wang,Shih-Han Lee |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM |
Transformational leadership and
voice behaviors
The mediating effect of employee perceived
meaningful work
Shyh-Jer Chen, Miao-Ju Wang and Shih-Han Lee
Institute of Human Resource Management, National Sun Yat-sen University,
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to argue that, in situations where transformational leadership (TL) is
in effect, perceived meaningfulness in work plays a vital role in generating intrinsic motivation among
employees; specifically, this can influence employees to endeavor to benefit their organizations through
engaging in voice behavior.
Design/methodology/approach –In this empirical study, a cross-sectional dyad questionnaire method
was adopted to collect data from 172 employees from 40 companies.
Findings –The results show that perceiving work as meaningful is positively related, through a direct effect,
to promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors. Further, employees perceiving their work as meaningful were
found to fully mediate the relationship between TL and promotive voice behavior, but not prohibitive voice
behavior. These results indicate that employees under TL who consider their jobs to be meaningful engage in
more voice behaviors that might eventually benefit their organizations.
Originality/value –This study demonstrates that meaningful work is a considerable predictor of voice
behavior. The results show that when a person experiences TL, it increases the chances that they perceive
their work as meaningful, which in turn encourages them to engage in voice behavior that can benefit their
organization. The findings from this research suggest that organizations can create “win-win”situations that
benefit both their employees and the organizations themselves.
Keywords Quantitative, Transformational leadership (TL), Perceived meaningful work, Prohibitive voice,
Promotive voice
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Employee voicebehavior has been widely researched,however, empirical findings concerning
psychological mechanism on voice behaviors remain insufficient (Chamberlin et al., 2017).
This is significant, as the few existing studies in thisfield have highlighted the importance of
such voice behaviors can facilitate continuous improvements, generate useful ideas that can
form the startingpoints of innovations (Nemeth andStaw, 1989; Zhou and George, 2001),and
prevent harmful consequences for organizations (Liang et al., 2012; van Dyne et al., 1995).
In accordance with the importance of this field, researchers have heavily investigated topics
such as factors that can enhance employees’voice behaviors; consequently, they found that
voice behaviors have positive effects in terms of professional performance and outcomes
(van Dyne and LePine, 1998; Lanaj et al., 2012, Morrison, 2014; Chamberlin et al., 2017).
Although, scholars have highlighted many predictive factors that may affect one’s voice
behavior in an organization, such as status (Stamper and van Dyne, 2001), tenure
(Avery et al., 2011), and person-centered antecedents (e.g. satisfaction and global self-esteem)
(LePine and van Dyne, 2001; Brockner et al., 1998), few psychological or motivational studies
have considered that perceived engagement in meaningful work (MW) is an important
factor that can boost voice behaviors. Individuals often spend almost two-thirds of their day
at work; thus, it can naturally be assumed that the importance or meaning of work
constitutes a vital factor for people. If a CEO/top manager consistently emphasizes that the
work employees are engaged in is meaningful, will this help the organization reach a higher,
Personnel Review
Vol. 47 No. 3, 2018
pp. 694-708
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-01-2017-0016
Received 19 January 2017
Revised 30 September 2017
Accepted 12 October 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
694
PR
47,3
To continue reading
Request your trial