The role of digitally-enabled employee voice in fostering positive change and affective commitment in centralized organizations

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the extent to which organizational structure and communication climate influence employee voice and concomitant outcomes. Given the prevalent use of digital technologies, we examined two discrete types of employee voice: identifiable, in-person voice vs. anonymous, digitally-enabled voice. Findings demonstrated that (a) organizational centralization was negatively linked to freedom of speech; (b) freedom of speech increased employee voice both at work and through anonymous social media, and (c) both types of voice had positive relationships with organizational change, which subsequently enhanced commitment. Our study advances employee voice scholarship by (a) highlighting the significance of communication climate and the efficacy of digitally-enabled anonymous voice, and (b) proposing employee voice as a multidimensional construct that encompasses content, identifiability, and modality.

KEYWORDS:

• Employee voice
• anonymous communication
• anonymous social media
• affective commitment
• workplace freedom of speech
• organisational change

Acknowledgements

The authors express gratitude to the members of TeamBlind, Inc. for their help on survey distribution, and Dr. Schrodt and anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Heewon Kim (Ph.D., Rutgers University) is an Assistant Professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University, Rebecca Leach (M.S., Texas Christian University) is a doctoral student in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University.