The Influences of Social Status and Organizational Justice on Employee Voice: A Case of Customer Care Workers

Abstract

Employee voice plays a critical role in facilitating positive organizational change and development. This study seeks to identify the antecedents of challenging promotive voice, which indicates constructive challenge geared toward improvement. Specifically, we investigate the influences of formal, informal, and self-perceived status as well as the effects of interpersonal and procedural justice. The results demonstrate that: (a) informal status such as age was positively associated with challenging promotive voice; (b) self-perceived status was positively linked to challenging promotive voice; (c) both interpersonal and procedural justice increased challenging promotive voice; and (d) interpersonal justice moderated the relationship between self-perceived status and challenging promotive voice such that the effect of status was less pronounced when perceptions of interpersonal justice was higher. The findings highlight the significance of structural influences on voice behavior, calling for further research on status disparities, organizational justice climate, and employee engagement.