How Can Servant Leadership Promote Employees’ Voice Behavior? A Moderated Chain Mediation Model

Abstract

PurposeBased on Social Exchange Theory, this paper constructs and evaluates the mediation model of servant leadership on employees’ voice behavior through psychological security and error learning ability and discusses the moderation role of work autonomy in the model.DesignThis research used 424 employees and their direct superiors as the research objects and then conducted a paired survey at three points. Mplus7.4 software analyzed the empirical data.FindingsThe results are shown servant leadership is positively correlated with employees’ voice behavior, but psychological security and error learning ability play a partial mediation role in the positive impact of servant leadership on employees’ voice behavior. while psychological security and error learning ability play a chain mediation role in the positive impact of servant leadership on employees’ voice behavior. Besides, work autonomy moderates the chain mediation path by enhancing the positive impact of servant leadership on psychological security. the higher the employees’ work autonomy is, the stronger the positive impact of servant leadership on psychological security will be, and the stronger the chain mediation effect of psychological security and error learning ability between servant leadership and employees’ voice behavior.Practical ImplicationsManagers should abandon the traditional “command and control” management mode, focus on the servant leadership style and improve employees’ psychological security through a comfortable and independent working environment. Besides, managers should set up a suitable error learning atmosphere mechanism, appropriately allow employees to work, give them a specific work autonomy, increase employees’ work flexibility, and encourage employees to provide a cheerful voice for the development and progress of the organization.Origin/valueFrom the perspective of Social Exchange, this study more comprehensively discusses the internal action path of the impact of servant leadership on employees’ voice behavior, enriches the antecedent variables of employees’ voice behavior, expands the existing research on the mediation mechanism of servant leadership, deepens the understanding of the efficiency mechanism of servant leadership, and has enlightenment significance for managers to stimulate employees’ voice better.