Employee Voice and Employee Retention

Author(s): Daniel G. Spencer

Source: The Academy of Management Journal , Sep., 1986, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Sep., 1986), pp.
488-502
Published by: Academy of Management

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/256220

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Academy of Management is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
The Academy of Management Journal

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
CAcademy of Management Journal
1986, Vol. 29, No. 3, 488-502.

EMPLOYEE VOICE AND EMPLOYEE RETENTION

DANIEL G. SPENCER
University of Kansas

This study investigates the relationship between the extent to wh

employees have opportunities to voice dissatisfaction and voluntar
turnover in 111 short-term, general care hospitals. Results show th
whether or not a union is present, high numbers of mechanisms f
employee voice are associated with high retention rates. Implicatio
for theory and research as well as management practice are discuss

The relationship between the job satisfaction and employee

been one of the most widely studied but least understood r
the organizational behavior literature. The consistently low
between job satisfaction and turnover found in empirical re
topic clearly indicate that the relationship is not direct. Many
intercede either to cause satisfied employees to leave organizatio
fied employees to remain with organizations. Previous rese
posed and tested a number of moderators that might clarify t
between job satisfaction and turnover (March & Simon, 1958; Mo
Hand, & Meglino, 1979; Price, 1977). The two most prominent h
the number of employment alternatives employees who are con
ing an organization have, and (2) nonwork-related influence
spouse's immobility. Also, research has recently centered ar
Mobley's (1977) model of the process of employees' decisions on
attempts to better understand those cognitive and behavioral p
mediate the relationship between affective reactions to jobs
But even though scholars have expended much effort in th
and researching the relationship between job satisfaction and t
sistently weak empirical relationships are still found.
Steers and Mowday (1981) suggested a heretofore neglected
may intervene in the relationship in question: employees' effor
dissatisfying work situations that would otherwise be major fa
decisions to leave their organizations. Employees who succee
dissatisfying work situations will lower their dissatisfaction; w

University of Kansas General Research Fund Grants 3616-0038 and 3219

support for this research. In addition, it was supported by the University o
Business Research Fund provided by the Fourth National Bank & Trust Comp
ideas and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author. The comme
Mowday, George F. Dreher, and Morris M. Kleiner on earlier drafts are gr
Portions of this paper were presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of
Management, New York, 1982.

488

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1986 Spencer 489

leave changed to intent to remain, the likelihood increases that these employ-
ees will ultimately remain with their organizations. Up until recently, then,
the literature on turnover has focused on only one of several alternatives
open to individuals faced with dissatisfying work situations, leaving; it has
ignored the alternative strategy of attempting to change such situations.

HIRSCHMAN'S CONCEPTS OF EXIT AND VOICE

The proposed relationship between employees' efforts to

satisfying work situations and turnover is implicit in much of
Albert Hirschman (1970, 1974), whose perspective served as the
foundation for the present research. He extensively studied
declining firms in terms of exit and voice. The two terms refer
that members or clients of an organization have when responding to an
economically dissatisfying relationship with that organization. The source
of dissatisfaction might be declining quality of the organization or declining
quality of its products. To voice dissatisfaction is to try to change a problem-
atic situation, and to exit is simply to withdraw from and leave the problem-
atic situation. Most of Hirschman's work is grounded in economics and thus
focuses primarily on the clients of an organization using voice or exit rather
than on its members using these options. Hirschman's concepts are gaining
increasing attention in the organizational behavior literature (Farrell, 1983).
This attention is not limited to studies of employee turnover; other relevant
work includes research on absenteeism (Hammer, Landau, & Stern, 1981),
political behavior (Farrell & Peterson, 1982), organizational due process (Aram
& Salipante, 1981), organizational dissent (Graham, 1986), and the cathartic
effects of voice (Greenberg & Folger, 1983).

EMPLOYEE TURNOVER AND THE LABOR RELATIONS LITERATURE

Unions can be viewed as vehicles for the collective voicing o

dissatisfactions. Previous research has demonstrated that union
associated with employee stability. Freeman and Medoff (19
their own and others' analyses of individual behavior and indust
demonstrated that unionization is consistently and significa
with retention of employees if wage rates and other known
employee exit are controlled for. The control of wage rates is cr
to differentiate the effects of unions in terms of voice from
effects due to union control of equivalent jobs.
The research Freeman and Medoff (1984) reviewed is withou
based on analyses of very large data sets like the National L
Survey.1 Such data sets constrain the specific relationships tha
ied and the levels of analysis at which such relationships can
In particular, very little research exists on the effects of u

1 This survey was conducted by the Center for Human Resource Resear
University.

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
490 Academy of Management Journal September

quitting rates in organizations. Becker (1978) conducted such an organiza-

tion level study, examining the effects of unionization on rates of quitting for
individuals in low-wage occupations in short-term, general care hospitals.
Contrary to results at other levels of analysis, Becker found a weak, margin-
ally significant relationship (p < .10) between unionization and rate of turn-
over while controlling for monopoly effects and a wide variety of other
known predictors of employee exit.
The generalizability of research like Becker's (1978) is limited; such
work is usually specific to the occupation, organization, and region studied.2
However, when an investigator controls data collection, a study is more
likely to include predictors of exit that are not captured in studies using
existing data bases. For example, Becker examined the effects of fringe bene-
fits on rates of quitting in addition to the effects of wages. Freeman and
Medoff (1984) noted that a major criticism of research on unions' effects in
terms of voice is that most existing data sets do not include information on a
principal monetary reward such as fringe benefits and thus do not fully
control for monopoly effects. Another significant criticism of research on
voice effects of unions is Ulman and Sorensen's (1984) demonstration that,
for unionized employees, the effects of strikes and the threat of strikes pro-
vide other alternatives to quitting besides voice realized through the union
grievance mechanism.
Thus, accurately assessing the effects of employee voice on numbers of
exits requires more than assessing the effect of unionization. It requires
exploring the effects of mechanisms, whether union mandated or not, that
organizations put in place to enhance their employees' opportunities for
voicing dissatisfaction. This approach necessitates collecting data specific-
ally for this purpose instead of using an existing data base. This study
employed a data collection strategy similar to that used by Becker (1978).

HYPOTHESES AND STUDY DESIGN

Study One

Two studies provided data for this research. The first sought to deter-
mine if there is a direct relationship between (1) the amount of opportunity
an organization gives its employees to voice dissatisfaction and change dis-
satisfying work situations, and (2) the organization's rate of employee
retention. Thus,
Hypothesis 1: There will be a significant and negative
relationship between the total number of voice mecha-
nisms for employees that an organization has and the
voluntary turnover rate among the organization's em-
ployees.

2 Becker (1978) surveyed hospitals in three contiguous states in the north central United
States.

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1986 Spencer 491

The focus here was on the amount of opportunity available for voice and not
on the quality of that opportunity; the second may, in fact, be a more viable
determinant of retention. Employee voice mechanisms examined in this
research included grievance procedures, suggestion systems, employee-
management meetings, counseling services, ombudsman services, non-
management task forces, question and answer programs, and survey feed-
back.
The following known predictors of rate of employee turnover were con-
trolled for in this study: wage rate, the ratio of fringe benefits to total
compensation, unemployment rate, number of grievances filed (a surrogate
for job dissatisfaction), percentage of minority employment, organizational
size, and occupation-specific employment opportunities in the region (see
Becker, 1978). The effect of unionization of the workforce on the rate of
employee retention was examined separately, but for the purposes of this
study, it is included as a control variable. This study examined only the
retention rates of an occupation dominated by women that has a docu-
mented shortage of workers: registered nursing. Short-term, general care
hospitals that universally employ continuing education for registered nurses
were studied. This population was chosen to control for unwanted variance
due to differences in total employment accounted for by women, shortage of
workers, availability of continuing education, occupational type, and organi-
zational type.
Study Two
The first study did not assess the quality of the hospitals' voice
mechanisms. A second analysis was conducted to examine the relationship
between the number of mechanisms offering employees the option of voice
in an organization and employees' perceptions of the effectiveness of these
mechanisms. From four hospitals participating in the first study, data were
collected on registered nurses' expectancies for resolving work related prob-
lems and their perceptions of the general effectiveness of their organizations'
voice mechanisms. It was proposed that,
Hypothesis 2: A high number of employee voice mecha-
nisms will be positively related to high expectancies of
problem resolution among employees and high levels of
effectiveness for the organization's problem resolution
procedures.

STUDY ONE

Methods

Sample. Organizations were the units of analysis in this study. Participa

ing organizations were short-term, general care hospitals ranging from 50
over 1,000 beds in size. A systematic sample of presidents and executi
directors of hospitals in the north central United States was drawn from
American Hospital Association membership directory. These administrator

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
492 Academy of Management Journal Septernber

received questionnaire packages with a cover letter requesting them to for-

ward the questionnaire and the return envelope provided to their hospitals'
personnel directors. In most cases, personnel directors or members of person-
nel staffs completed the questionnaires. Out of a sample of 278 hospitals,
individuals in 129 of them completed and returned questionnaires for a
response rate of 46.4 percent. Previous studies using similar strategies for
data collection have yielded response rates below 30 percent (Becker, 1978).
Of the hospitals participating in the study, 13.9 percent that did not supply
data on employee turnover were removed from the final sample. Data from
111 short-term, general care hospitals, 15 of which had unionized registered
nurses, were analyzed.
Employee voice mechanisms. The questionnaire asked whether or not a
hospital's registered nurses were subject to the following employee-relations
practices: (1) formal grievance procedure, (2) suggestion system, (3) employee-
management meetings, (4) counseling service, (5) ombudsman, (6) non-
management task forces, (7) question and answer program, and (8) survey
feedback. A composite index of employee voice mechanisms was created by
simply summing the number of these mechanisms that an organization
employed (Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 = .55).
Turnover among registered nurses. Each hospital administrator was asked
to supply the rate of voluntary turnover for its registered nurses for the
previous 12-month period.
Control variables. The questionnaire sought the following numerical infor-
mation on a hospital's registered nurses: (1) wage rate per hour, (2) ratio of
fringe benefits to total compensation, (3) number of grievances they filed,
and (4) percentage of minority employment. It also asked the hospital's size
(number of beds) and the number of hospital beds in the county to appraise
alternative employment opportunities in the region. In addition, it asked if
registered nurses were unionized. Finally, unemployment rates for each
hospital's county and standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA) for the
12-month period under study were obtained from the research and statistics
departments of state employment security divisions.
Results

Table 1 gives means and standard deviations of the study's variables

The mean rate of turnover among registered nurses was 21.1 percent (s.d. =
11.5). Table I also provides Pearson correlations between variables. All correl
tions between variables and turnover were in the predicted direction with
the exception of the positive correlation3 between wage rate and turnover.

3 There is a potential explanation for this finding that Becker (1978), who found simil
results, did not consider. For hospitals with production functions that require high levels
staffing at all hours, average hourly wages are higher because they pay premium differentials
staffing undesirable shifts. In such circumstances, particularly with a shortage of nurses,
would not be surprising that turnover would be high as employees would leave for mo
desirable shifts with other organizations.

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 TABLE 1
Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations for Variables

Variables Means s.d. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. Turnover among
registered nurses 21.1% 11.5 -
Employee voice mechanismsb
2. Grievance procedurec 1.94 .23 -.28* -
3. Survey feedback 1.50 .50 -.24* .07
4. Ombudsman 1.11 .31 -.13 -.03 .04
5. Question-and-answer
program 1.53 .50 -.17* .05 .31* .04 -
6. Employee-management
meetings 1.81 .39 -.01 .15 .13 .10 .24* -
7. Counseling service 1.78 .41 -.15 .22* .16* .12 .17* .27* -
8. Suggestion system 1.60 .49 -.02 .01 .15* .19* .22* .17* .03
9. Nonmanagement task
forces 1.38 .49 -.02 -.10 .24* .01 .23* .24* .21* .10
Control variables
10. Hourly wage rate 8.3 0.8 .27* .15 -.07 -.07 .01 .17* .11 .01 -.09 -
11. Fringe benefits 25.2 6.6 -.01 .11 .18* .04 .09 .11 .20* -.09 .15 .
12. County unemployment
rate 8.1 3.0 -.12 -.06 .12 .02 -.02 -.09 --.07 -.04 -.09 -.02
13. Grievances filed 9.6 14.0 .13 -.43* .06 -.01 .15 -.03 -.08 .00 .16*-
14. Minority employment 8.4 16.7 .17 .06 .10 .09 -.04 .12 .13 .04 -.02 .2
15. Beds in hospital 375.2 258.1 .13 -.06 -.01 -.04 .09 .10 .10 -.07 .11 .3
16. Hospital beds in
county 3592.4 4297.7 .18* .13 -.06 .02 -.06 .17* .05 -.07 -.02 .
17. Unionizationb 1.1 0.3 -.05 .09 -.10 .04 -.04 .05 -.04 -.10 .17 .10

a Descriptive data are based on Ns ranging from 1

b Coded 2 if present, 1 if not present.
c Mean turnover rates: with grievance procedures,
rates in hospitals with grievance procedures: union
*p < .05.

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
494 Academy of Management Journal September

It was hypothesized that the more opportunities employees have to voice

dissatisfaction and have input into changing dissatisfying work situations,
the greater the number of employees that will remain with an organization.
The composite index of employee voice mechanisms correlated negatively
with turnover among registered nurses (r = -.24, p < .05); the greater the
number of employee voice mechanisms that a hospital employed, the lower
the turnover. This significant relationship between the composite index and
rate of turnover holds when a number of known predictors of employee
turnover are statistically partialled out (see Table 2).
Ordinary-least-squares regression was considered appropriate for multi-
variate analysis of the data (cf. Kochan & Helfman, 1981). As indicated in
Table 2, the multiple correlation of the linear combinations of all control
variables, except for unionization, with turnover was R = .36. Adding union-
ization to the predictive equation did not increase the multiple correlation
with turnover. Finally, adding the composite index of employee voice
mechanisms, including the unionization variable, to the predictive equation
significantly increased the multiple correlation with turnover to R = .45 and
the explained variance in the dependent variable to AR2 = .07. This signifi-
cant (t = 2.6, p < .05) increase is reflected by the twofold increase in R2
corrected for shrinkage. Therefore, number of employee voice mechanisms
is significantly associated with rate of turnover among registered nurses

TABLE 2
Results of Hierarchical Regression Analyses of Unweighte
Composite Index of Employee Voice Mechanisms, Unionizati
and Control Variables on Registered Nurse Turnovera

Step 2: Step 3:
Step 1: Assessment of Assessment of
Control Variables Unionization Effect Voice Effect

Independent Variables b 3 tb b 3 tb b e tb
Hourly wage rate 3.31 .23 1.8 3.37 .23 1.8 3.55 .24 1.9
Fringe benefits -.10 -.06 -0.5 -.10 -.06 -0.5 -.03 -.02 -0.1
County unemployment rate -.53 -.14 -1.3 -.52 -.14 -1.2 -.73 -.19 -1.7
Grievances filed .04 .15 1.4 .04 .15 1.3 .04 .16 1.4
Minority employment .09 .13 1.1 .09 .13 1.1 .11 .16 1.3
Beds in hospital .00 .03 0.2 .00 .02 0.2 .00 .05 0.4
Hospital beds in county .00 .03 0.2 .00 .03 0.2 .00 .00 0.0
Unionization -.72 -.02 -0.2 -.66 -.02 -0.2
Employee voice mechanisms -1.92 -.28 -2.6*
Constant -2.67 -3.02 3.68
R .36 .36 .45*
R2 .13 .13 .20
Adjusted R2 .05 .04 .10

a Deletion of missing data r

were conducted to 81.
b Partial t.
*p < .05.

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1986 Spencer 495

when a large number of known predictors of employee turnover are con-

trolled.
In the composite index employed, each employee voice mechanism
received equal weight. When a weighted linear combination of the compo-
nents of this index was created through regression analysis, the multiple
correlation with rate of turnover among registered nurses was R = .41. Little
confidence can be placed in this weighted combination of variables, however,
because when the sample was split into two subsamples composed of even
and odd cases, the regression coefficients were not stable and the two sub-
samples failed to double-cross-validate at an acceptable level (r = .16, n.s.;
r = .31, p < .05).

STUDY TWO

Methods

Sample. Four hospitals that participated in study one volunteered t

allow a survey of nonsupervisory registered nurses' perceptions of their
organizations' voice mechanisms. In two hospitals, one with 53 beds and the
other with 250, questionnaires were administered on site during working
hours; response rates were 44.4 and 23.7 percent. In the second two hospi-
tals (107 and 112 beds), personnel departments distributed questionnaires
with return envelopes addressed to the researcher to be filled out at the
employees' convenience; response rates were 42.8 and 27.3 percent. All
nonsupervisory registered nurses currently on staff at the hospitals received
questionnaires; participation was voluntary.
Nurses' perceptions. Nurses estimated how often they felt they would be
effective in resolving eight work-related problems. The response format ranged
from 10 to 100 percent of the time on 10-percent intervals. Problems given
were related to supervision, tasks, co-workers, pay, or promotions. Two
items represented each of the first three types of problems and one item
represented each of the last two types. The reliability for the eight-item
composite measure of expectancy of problem resolution was satisfactory
(( = .86).
The questionnaire also asked the extent to which nurses agreed or d
agreed with a series of ten statements (see Appendix) designed to reflect t
extent to which the management of their organizations effectively respond
to and used employee voice (a = .89). Finally, three one-item measures asked
employees the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with three state-
ments (see Appendix) designed to assess their perceptions of the effective-
ness of voice mechanisms, the utility of efforts to change dissatisfyi
situations, and their preference for leaving versus attempting to resolve
dissatisfaction.

Results

Table 3 gives means and standard deviations of these variables as well as

Pearson correlations. All correlations are in the expected direction.

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 TABLE 3
Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations f
Variables Means s.d. la lb Ic

1. Expectancy of problem resolu

4.2 2.3 -
a. Supervisory problems
b. Task problems 5.3 2.6 .39

c. Co-worker problems 5.4 2.5 .29 .53

d. Pay problems 3.2 2.3 .24 .30 .37
e. Promotion problems 3.8 2.6 .46 .30 .37 .56
f. Composite expectancy 4.6 1.8 .70 .77 .76 .59
2. Management's responsiveness to voice 3.5 1.2 .31 .40 .34
3. Effectiveness of voice mechanisms 2.8 1.5 .07 -.02 .08
4. Utility of efforts to change dissatisfying situations 4.0 2.0 -.13 -.15 -.19
5. Preference for leaving versus attempting to resolve
dissatisfaction 2.7 1.3 -.06 -.27 -.23 -.16 -.23

a Correlations are based on the combined standardized data from each of the four hospitals

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1986 Spencer 497

TABLE 4
Registered Nurses' Perceptions and Relevant Organizational Char
of Four Nonunion, Short Term, General Care Hospitals with Vary
Numbers of Employee Voice Mechanismsa

High Opportunity Low Opportunity

for Voice for Voice
I Hospital Hospital Hospital Hospital
Variables 1 2 3 4

Relevant organizational characteristics

Number of beds 52 250 112 107

Grievance procedure Yes Yes Yes Yes

Suggestion system Yes No No Yes

Employee-management meetings Yes Yes No Yes

Counseling service No Yes No No

Ombudsman Yes No No No

Nonmanagement task forces Yes Yes No No

Question-and-answer program No No Yes No

Survey feedback Yes Yes Yes No

Total number of mechanisms 6 5 3 3

Turnover among registered nurses 8.3% 20.7% 10.8% 33.3%

Turnover among licensed practical nurses 16.6% 19.4% 21.6% 28.6%
Total organizational turnover 15.0% 23.1% 26.4% 40.0%
Perceived expectancy and effectiveness
Problem resolution expectancies
Supervisory problems 59.4% 43.5% 34.5% 45.0%
Task problems 67.5%b 58.7% 41.3% 55.0%
Co-worker problems 75.6%b 56.2% 47.7% 49.7%
Pay problems 28.7% 30.9% 30.9% 37.3%
Promotion problems 36.2% 42.4% 31.5% 43.3%
Composite expectancy 58.7%b 48.7% 38.7% 47.5%
Management's responsiveness to voice 4.20b 3.88 2.81 3.45
Effectiveness of voice mechanisms 2.87b 3.48 1.91 2.60
3.88b
Utility of efforts to change dissatisfying situations 3.68 2.16 2.47

Preference for leaving versus attempting to resolve

dissatisfaction 2.62b 2.20 3.34 2.80

a Ns = 8, 46, 33, 15, respectively, for Hospitals

b t-test significant at the p < .01 level (combined
to combined perceptions for Hospitals 3 and 4).

Table 4 reports levels of expectancy

ness of voice mechanisms for hospitals
mechanisms. Hospitals 1 and 2 had six and five mechanisms respectively,
and hospitals 3 and 4 had three mechanisms apiece. When these hospitals
are treated as two groups, t-tests for differences between means indicate
significantly higher levels of expectancy and perceptions of voice effective-
ness in the pair of hospitals with the larger numbers of voice mechanisms.
These differences emerged for all variables except expectancies for resolving
problems related to supervision, pay, and promotion. These findings sup-
port the hypothesis that employees of hospitals with large numbers of

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
498 Academy of Management Journal September

employee voice mechanisms will have high expectancies for problem reso-
lution and will perceive a high level of effectiveness in their organizations'
responses to employee voice.
These results should be interpreted with caution. First, the measures of
employee perception are intercorrelated (see Table 3). Second, Table 4 reports
separate means for each hospital in order to indicate the extent to which
these means differ within each of the two designated groups. As these data
clearly indicate, hospital 1 tended to have the highest levels of expectancy
and perceptions of voice effectiveness and hospital 3 consistently had the
lowest levels. More important, although hospital 2 had more voice mecha-
nisms than hospital 4, the levels of expectancy and perceived effectiveness
of voice mechanisms were only slightly higher for hospital 2 in most cases.
The rate of turnover among registered nurses was also higher for both hospi-
tals 2 and 4 than for the other hospitals. Although extrapolation to other
turnover figures is somewhat problematic, Table 4 does indicate that volun-
tary turnover for licensed practical nurses and the organization as a whole
was higher for the hospitals with the fewest employee voice mechanisms.

DISCUSSION

The results of study one suggest that the more an org

employees the opportunity to voice dissatisfaction over aspe
in order to change dissatisfying work situations, the greate
that its employees will remain with the organization. Re
turnover rates in short-term, general care hospitals were si
in hospitals with many mechanisms for the voicing of em
faction. In addition, this relationship held with statistical co
variety of known predictors of rate of employee turnover.
The results of study two, although only suggestive, in
numbers of voice mechanisms are associated with high level
expectancies for problem resolution and high perceived effe
organization's procedures for resolving problems. These f
credibility to the construct, number of employee voice m
implies that when employees have many opportunities to
tion they (1) appear to be predisposed to take advantage of th
and (2) appear to consider procedures for problem resolution
Although previous research has consistently found an ef
ization on retention rate, this research did not find such an
ness in the types of organization and occupation examined m
these negative results. Unionization's effects on voice may h
out. Data indicated that unionized hospitals averaged 4.42 mechanisms and
nonunionized hospitals averaged 4.52 mechanisms; in addition, no signifi-
cant differences emerged when each mechanism was considered individually.
Perhaps this finding is a result of a union-threat effect; nonunionized hospi-
tals may provide voice mechanisms that would otherwise be provided by

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1986 Spencer 499

unions in order to reduce dissatisfaction and thus reduce the threat of

unionization.4
The strengths and limitations of this research are worth consider
This research extended previous work on unions' effects on rates of empl
retention by looking at the potential effects of voice mechanisms themselv
Organizations might institute these mechanisms as a result of unionizatio
or in attempts to improve management process. Additional strengths are
this research controlled for a wide variety of potential predictors of rate
turnover and included critical information on employees' perceptions of
organizational characteristics under investigation.
A limitation is that this research does not represent a complete picture
the phenomena involved in the relationship between the options of v
and exit. Two omissions are worthy of note. First, Hirschman's (1970) mo
focused on exiting in silence versus staying and voicing concerns. Ad
tional options open to employees, such as staying in silence and exiting w
voice, need to be incorporated into the model (Barry, 1974; Birch, 1975). I
fact, Birch (1975) argued that in many cases people are more likely to
with voice than to remain and engage in voice, particularly when there is
possibility of retaliation. Second, this research did not address the issu
loyalty. Hirschman (1970) hypothesized that those clients or employees w
have greater loyalty to a product or an organization will be more likely t
others to respond with voice to correct a perceived decline in organizatio
performance. Barry has criticized the loyalty concept as an "ad hoc equat
filler" (1974: 95) that could be inversely as well as positively correlated w
voice (see also Laver, 1976). But it is difficult to deny that loyalty in the f
of behavioral commitment to an organization-entrenchment due to lengt
service-is likely to have an inverse relationship with employees' exit r
whether or not employees have successfully changed dissatisfying states
affairs (Mowday, Porter, & Steers, 1982).
An important limitation, addressed in the introduction, is that the act
quality of the voice mechanisms under study was unknown. The seco
study indirectly addressed this issue by assessing employees' perceptions
the effectiveness of voice mechanisms. This assessment, however, cannot
substitute for an approach that would ideally involve in-depth content analy-
sis of the nature and quality of each employee voice mechanism at each
organizational site under study. This research assessed employees' percep-
tions of the effectiveness of voice mechanisms at only four of the organiza-
tions represented in the larger study; in addition, sample sizes for these
analyses were small and measures whose psychometric properties were rela-
tively unknown were constructed and used.

4 Curtin (1970) found that unsuccessful unionization attempts generally result in improved
communication practices; in over 60 percent of the companies these practices usually included:
"establishment of regular meetings with the employees, institution of a formal grievance
procedure, formation of an office committee, concerted effort to deal promptly with employee
complaints" (1970: 67).

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
500 Academy of Managemenet Journal September

Another limitation of this research is that although significant relation-

ships emerged from the analysis, they are not very strong. Also, these rela-
tionships are purely associational and thus causality cannot be assumed. A
related problem concerns synchronicity of the data; assessment of number of
voice mechanisms was made at the end of the one-year period for which
retention data was collected. Another limitation is that the research was
conducted in one particular type of organization and on one specific o
tional classification. A further limitation is the relatively low respon
however, comparing the responses obtained against population demog
provided by each of the hospitals and bed sizes obtained from the Na
Center for Health Statistics indicated that the responses were represe
of the population of individuals and of hospitals involved. Future rese
should incorporate tests of the hypotheses in different populations a
research methodologies where causality could be inferred as well a
gies of data collection that would improve rates of response.
The findings of this study reinforce Steers and Mowday's (1981) a
tion that investigations of the process of employee turnover need to
employees' efforts to change unsatisfactory work situations. On the o
tional level of analysis, future research should consider not only
voice mechanisms and their quality, but also informal organizatio
tures that create and sustain those mechanisms. It is not inconceivable that
the rough assessment of total numbers of voice mechanisms that this s
used is tangible evidence of a potentially salient organizational comp
such as managerial philosophy. The individual level of analysis need
model of the process of turnover decisions that incorporates the two m
alternatives available to employees: (1) searching for alternative em
ment to exit from a dissatisfying work situation, and (2) attempting to
a dissatisfying work situation in an effort to remain. Mobley's (1977) m
of the process of turnover decisions focused only on the first cou
action. But what causes employees to take one course of action before the
other or to take both courses of action simultaneously? Perhaps employees'
commitment and expectancies concerning the effectiveness of voice mecha-
nisms and procedures for problem resolution would play a significant role in
this process.
If future research supports the hypotheses examined in this study, one
practical implication is that organizations may be able to effectively reduce
employee turnover by increasing the sophistication of their processes for
resolving complaints. Employees who search for alternative employment
without attempting to change dissatisfying work situations give organiza-
tions no indication that anything is wrong until after they find other work
and hand in their resignations. By listening to, encouraging, and providing
mechanisms for employees who want to change dissatisfying work situations,
perhaps organizations could prevent employees' forming an intent to leave.
In addition, organizations that engage in such activities should be able to
obtain information from employees that could improve the effectiveness of

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1986 Spencer 501

these organizations (Freeman, 1976; Hirschman, 1976), information that is

not available when employees silently leave.

REFERENCES

Aram, J. O., & Salipante, P. F., Jr. 1981. An evaluation of organizational due
resolution of employee/employer conflict. Academy of Management Rev
Barry, B. 1974. Review article: Exit, voice, and loyalty. British Journal of Po
79-107.

Becker, B. 1978. Hospital unionism and employment stability. IndustrialRel

Birch, A. H. 1975. Economic models in political science: The case of "Exit, v
British Journal of Political Science, 5: 69-82.
Curtin, E. R. 1970. White collar unionism. Personnel policy study No. 220,
Conference Board, New York.

Farrell, D. 1983. Exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect as responses to job dissatisfaction: A mul
mensional scaling study. Academy of Management Journal, 26: 596-607.
Farrell, D., & Peterson, J. C. 1982. Patterns of political behavior in organizations. Acade
Management Review, 7: 403-412.
Freeman, R. B. 1976. Individual mobility and union voice in the labor market. American Eco-
nomic Review, 66: 361-368.

Freeman, R. B., & Medoff, J. L. 1984. What do unions do? New York: Basic Books.
Graham, J. W. 1986. Principled organizational dissent: A theoretical essay. In B. M. Staw
Cummings (Eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 8: In press. Greenwich,
Conn.: JAI Press.
Greenberg, J., & Folger, R. 1983. Procedural justice, participation, and the fair process effect in
groups and organizations. In P. B. Paulus (Ed.), Basic group processes: 235-256. New
York: Springer-Verlag.
Hammer, T. H., Landau, J. C., & Stern, R. N. 1981. Absenteeism when workers have a voice: The
case of employee ownership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66: 561-573.
Hirschman, A. 0. 1970. Exit, voice, and loyalty. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Hirschman, A. 0. 1974. Exit, voice, and loyalty: Further reflections and a survey of recent
contributions. Social Science Information, 13(1): 7-26.
Hirschman, A. 0. 1976. Some uses of the exit-voice approach-Discussion. American Economic
Review, 66: 386-391.

Kochan, T. A., & Helfman, D. E. 1981. The effects of collective bargaining on economic
behavioral job outcomes. In R. G. Ehrenberg (Ed.), Research in labor economics: 321
Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.
Laver, M. 1976. "Exit, voice, and loyalty" revisited. British Journal of Political Science,
463-482.

March, J. G., & Simon, H. A. 1958. Organizations. New York: John W

Mobley, W. H. 1977. Intermediate linkages in the relationship betwee
employee turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62: 237-240.
Mobley, W. H., Griffeth, R. W., Hand, H. H., & Meglino, B. M. 1979.
analysis of the employee turnover process. Psychological Bulletin
Mowday, R. T., Porter, L. W., & Steers, R. M. 1982. Employee-organi
psychology of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. New York: Academic Press.

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
502 Academy of Management Journal September

Price, J. L. 1977. The study of turnover. Ames: Iowa State University Press.
Steers, R. M., & Mowday, R. T. 1981. Employee turnover and post decision accommodation
processes. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Staw (Eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior:
235-281. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.
Ulman, L., & Sorensen, E. 1984. Exit, voice, and muscle: A note. Industrial Relations, 23:
424-428.

APPENDIX

All items used 7-point response formats; "R" indicates reverse scoring.
Management's responsiveness to voice mechanisms:
The management of my organization is not interested in resolving indivi
problems. (R)
The management of my organization encourages employees to voice their problems.
The management of my organization has not provided enough mechanisms (for example,
suggestion systems, grievance procedures, etc.) to allow employees to effectively voice
their dissatisfaction. (R)
I get the feeling that my superior does not want to hear about my complaints. (R)
The personnel manager is open to receiving complaints.
My boss comes around regularly to keep in touch with any complaints that I may have.
The personnel manager makes an effort to keep in touch with any complaints that workers
have.
I feel intimidated by my superiors when pursuing a grievance. (R)
Management views grievances as a challenge to their authority. (R)
The organization encourages suggestions to improve situations that are dissatisfying to
employees.
Effectiveness of voice mechanisms:
The mechanisms to resolve employee problems of my organization are very effectiv
Utility of efforts to change dissatisfying situations:
Attempting to change something at work that dissatisfies me would be a waste of tim
Preference for leaving versus attempting to resolve dissatisfaction:
I would rather find a job elsewhere than attempt to change something at work that dis
fies me.

Daniel G. Spencer is an associate professor of business at the University of Kansas,

Lawrence, Kansas. He received his Ph.D. degree in organization and management fro
the University of Oregon. His current research interests include turnover, absenteeism
and processes of resolution of employee-organization conflicts.

This content downloaded from

202.166.207.56 on Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:03:32 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms