Do you really want to speak? Antecedent of Voice Behavior in Organization

Abstract

Background: Voice behavior refers to the behavior that proactively communicates ideas, suggestions, attention, and information about organizational-related issues to promote organizational effectiveness. Employees are often reluctant to voice their thoughts out of fear of negative consequences, such as a threat to their career position and status quo. Study aims: To describe the factors influencing employees to voice their opinions. Method: 151 employees from various organizations voluntarily agreed to participate in this study (Xage=30.42, SDage: 7,683, Ma= 43.7%; F=56.3%) by filling out an open questionnaire on voice behavior. Data analysis was performed using NVivo 12 Plus. Result: Thematic analysis showed that four factors were evident: motivation, organization, individual, and situational. They served as inhibiting and supporting factors for voice behavior. Conclusion: There are four factors that motivate or inhibit employee voice behavior: motivational, organizational, situational, and personal. Aside from personal factors such as self-confidence and fear, the findings suggest that supervisors, workload, and opportunity can also both motivate and inhibit employees' voice behavior.