Let’s Talk About It: An Examination of Voice Behaviors And Outcomes For Social Issues

Broader societal concerns in the past few years have fueled greater emphasis on addressing important social issues within organizations, such as sustainability, culture, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Employee voice—in which employees raise concerns, issues, problems, or ideas—is a key mechanism through which organizations can change and improve their efforts in addressing these important social issues. However, studies on such social issues typically do not examine employee voice. Likewise, existing research in the voice literature typically neglects social issues as a specific content of voice and instead primarily addresses issues directly related to work (i.e., task-related issues). As such, the projects in this symposium examine voice on social issues. Collectively, they examine why and when employees are more likely to speak up about social issues, as well as why and when leaders are more likely to listen to and implement employee voice on these issues. In doing so, they contribute to the management literature by uniquely advancing knowledge on employee voice and social issues at work. Why and When Leader Input Solicitation on DEI Issues Yields Employee Silence Presenter: McKenzie Preston; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Michael Parke; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Race and the Costs of Voice (Un)enacted: Implications for Voice Safety and Inclusion Presenter: Crystal I Chien Farh; U. of Washington Presenter: Blair Middlebrook; U. of Washington Presenter: Robin Fowler; U. of Michigan Presenter: Gwendalyn Camacho; Seattle Pacific U. Is All Voice Created Equal? Examining Employee Input on Overlooked Topics of Concern Presenter: Insiya Hussain; U. of Texas at Austin Presenter: Min Ju Lee; U. of Texas at Austin Presenter: Ethan Burris; U. of Texas at Austin Reckoning, Repair, and Regeneration: A Case Study of Voice Content Within the Agricultural Industry Presenter: Bradford Edward Baker; Georgia Institute of Technology