Determinants of Employee Voice Behaviour in Malaysia: the Mediating Role of Psychological Safety

Lou, Mei Han (2024) Determinants of Employee Voice Behaviour in Malaysia: the Mediating Role of Psychological Safety. Masters thesis, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

This research aims to investigate the determinants influencing employee voice behaviour and examine psychological safety as a potential psychological mechanism. By researching the factors that determine employee voice behaviour and the role that psychological safety plays as a mediator in this process can provide organisations with useful insights that can be used to build a work environment that encourages employee voice behaviour and improves psychological safety. Therefore, this research will investigate the determinants of employee voice behaviour in Malaysia that are affected by ethical leadership, proactive personality, workplace fun, feeling trusted, and mediated by psychological safety. Given the current dynamic and intensely competitive business environment, organisations must generate and implement new ideas. More than ever, managers are finding themselves in a position where they are obliged to rely on their subordinates’ voluntarily contributed ideas and information rather than official communication systems. In Malaysia, employees have low engagement in voice behaviour. They frequently keep quiet when dealing with organisational problems because their voice behaviour frequently entails risks for mistakes on their part. Thus, managers must possess a comprehensive understanding of the contextual factors that promote employee communication behaviours, specifically employee voice behaviour. The survey collected data from 169 employees of various companies in Malaysia. The data were analysed using SPSS. The findings suggest that employee voice conduct is positively influenced by ethical leadership, proactive personality, and psychological safety. In addition, it is worth noting that ethical leadership and the perception of being trusted exert a favourable impact on the establishment of psychological safety. Furthermore, it is important to note that psychological safety plays a significant role in mediating the connection between ethical leadership, workplace enjoyment, perceived trust, proactive personality, and employee voice behaviour within Malaysian organisations. The primary finding of this study is that Malaysian organisations are supplied with insights about the significance of implementing appropriate human resource management (HRM) practices to enhance employee voice behaviour within their organisation.