Towards Humanizing Organizations-Employing State-like Employee Strengths for Triggering Voice

Abstract

The stagnating levels of employee engagement, worsened by the distressing and uncertain times due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, makes the requirement for humanizing organizations compelling. The current study examines the newly developed state-like construct of employee strengths at work (ESAW) that engages four attributes out of the five that humanize organizations, unlike the extant trait-like conceptualization of employee strengths that engages only one attribute. Bridging a gap in the literature by linking leadership and strengths theory, the current study empirically examines the mediating effects of the new variable ESAW on the association of empowering leadership and voice by analyzing data from 259 leader-subordinate dyads in manufacturing companies in India. As the study examines a new variable, a multiple-rater and cross-sectional research design are appropriate for providing causal evidence, more so when time lag in the design of the questionnaire provides temporal precedence to the predictor variable. Results reveal that ESAW fully mediates the relationship between empowering leadership and voice behavior, thereby unraveling the causal mechanism by which empowering leadership triggers voice behavior. The significance of the study lies in contributing to humanizing organizations and providing insights for trigger voice behavior from subordinates, having implications for improving organizational effectiveness.