What they want to say and what they say: Employee voice gap and associated outcomes in the Chinese context

Abstract

This study addresses an understudied research area in current voice research—the employee voice gap, defined as the extent to which employees perceived actual voice falls short of their demand for voice. Drawing on social exchange theory, we propose that the employee voice gap can be a significant reason for turnover intention, and such a relationship is mediated by employees’ perceptions of working conditions and industrial relations climate. We also argue that these relationships exist at the firm level and that the aggregated voice gaps are associated with organizational turnover rates. We provide empirical evidence for the relationships using the 2019 China Employer-Employee Matched Survey data of 4602 employees from 301 firms. The findings of our study point to similar voice gap patterns to those found in the North American context, indicating the universal effects of workplace voice gaps. In addition, our analysis reveals that having more voice than needed is not associated with these outcomes. Our study enriches the employee voice literature in general and in the Chinese context specifically through an interdisciplinary lens.