Employee Voice Opportunities Enhance Organizational Performance When Faced With Competing Demands

Abstract

Public personnel management should strive to balance the needs of employees, employers, and society, but there is insufficient empirical research to conclude whether such goals conflict or coincide. Using longitudinal data from multiple independent sources, this study analyzes the relationship between employee voice opportunity in personnel management (employee rights), organizational performance (employer interest), and competing demands from citizens (societal objectives). The results showed that public agencies encouraging employees to voice their rights outperformed their counterparts when faced with high or very high levels of competing demands from citizens after controlling for various factors. However, this appreciation for employee voice does not always yield positive-sum organizational outcomes when the competing demands on work are lower. These findings suggest that treating employees fairly and empowering them may lead to better long-term organizational performance in the face of high levels of competing demands from stakeholders, but the benefits of this approach may not always outweigh the costs, potentially due to the substantial expenses or risks associated with the promised payoffs.