An extension to the EVLN model: the role of employees’ silence

Purpose Individuals’ intentional responses to declining job satisfaction have been associated with the EVLN model. Employees’ silence, as an independent construct, can be understood as an individual, intentional and deliberate decision to retain important information for the organization. The purpose of this paper is to analyze employees’ silence, which can be understood as a fifth individual response to job satisfaction declining, along with the remaining four responses proposed in the EVLN model. It is proposed as an extension to the original model through the introduction of employee silence; the model is referred to as the EVLNS model. Design/methodology/approach The present study is quantitative, hypothetical-deductive, correlational and transversal. The sample is composed of 756 professionals working in the higher education sector. The paper used structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses to test its hypotheses. Findings Results showed that employees’ silence has a dual factorial structure, which is composed of an adhesion dimension and a rejection dimension. The study also finds that these two dimensions can be integrated as an extension of the original EVLN model. It is found that, although they are related, these dimensions also capture a certain degree of independence, with different levels of influence of job satisfaction. Practical implications An important implication is that silence is a complex phenomenon, suggesting that this is more than the simple absence of voice and may have different motives. Additionally, it is important to emphasize that job satisfaction can contribute to different individual responses and managers must act accordingly. Originality/value The study contributes to a better understanding of the individuals’ potential responses to declining job satisfaction through the extension of the original EVLN model with the introduction of a fifth response – the employees’ silence.