SERVANT LEADERSHIP, PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT, AND VOICE BEHAVIOR: A MULTILEVEL MODERATED MEDIATION

Abstract

In today's organizations, creating conditions for employee voice and empowerment is important in order to support innovation at work and organizational performance. Although leadership has been examined as a predictor of voice behavior, many of the mechanisms by which different leadership styles affect employees' tendency to speak up have yet to be empirically investigated. The aim of this study is to explore the transfer effect between servant leadership and employee voice behaviour by testing the mediation of psychological empowerment and a moderated mediation model. We utilized a quantitative research methodology based on a survey of 300 employees from 25 service organizations to test our proposed hypotheses. We proposed that psychological empowerment mediates the link between servant leadership and voice behavior, and organizational culture moderates the degree to which these relationships are significant. Participants were 300 US service organization employees. Survey was carried for three-month duration and collected 285 usable returns. The sample was equally distributed by sex (50% female, 50% male), age (mean = 34.5 years) and education level (70% college graduates). The results also show that the psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between servant leadership and employee voice behavior (β = 0.35, p < 0.01). Furthermore, the effect of online popularity on residents' involvement is also moderated by organizational culture and is stronger in high-commitment cultures (ΔR²Â = 0.07, p < 0.05). To improve the employee voice, organizations might want to encourage servant leadership and a supportive organizational culture that enables employees. This study provides the leadership literature with an understanding of voice behavior by combining servant leadership with psychological empowerment and supplies pragmatic implications for managers to enhance employee engagement and innovation.

Keywords: Servant Leadership, Psychological Empowerment, Voice Behavior, Organizational Culture, Employee Engagement, Management Scienc