Work

Disagreeing with Employees’ Constructive Disagreement: On Giving (Non-)Specific Explanations for Rejecting Employees’ Voiced Suggestions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: When employees express constructive disagreement (i.e., engage in voice behavior) with managers, it provides valuable opportunities for organizational improvement. However, managers cannot implement all suggestions, and how they handle rejection can shape employees’ willingness to speak up again. This study explores whether managers’ explanation specificity—offering clear, detailed reasons for not endorsing employees’ ideas—can foster a sense of voice safety, and in turn voice resilience—voice behavior about an issue following a prior instance of voice non-endorsement on a different voiced issue. Two experiments, one conducted with American participants and another with Chinese participants, show that when managers explain their rejections with specificity rather than with vague, non-specific remarks, employees feel safer and more likely to voice a new suggestion. Our findings highlight a practical means for managers to sustain the flow of constructive employee input, underscoring the importance of clear managerial communication within the voice process.

Source: HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)

DOI: 10.34891/hzq2-h577

Authors: Si Qian, Melvyn R.W. Hamstra, L.M. Jawahar, Bert Schreurs, Felipe A. Guzman

Language: English

Topic: Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior

Subfield: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

OpenAlex ID: W6890421949

FWCI:

Cites:

Cited by:

Related to: