Navigating Communication Media: Online versus Face-to-Face Voice Solicitation and Employee Voice

Abstract: The widespread use of information communication technology (ICT) in organizations has shifted the mode of interaction between leaders and employees from face-to-face to online communication. This transition in communication media presents new challenges for leaders in mobilizing the effort and expertise of their employees. To address this issue, this research investigates the impact of different communication media used by leaders to solicit input from employees on employee voice behavior. Drawing from media richness theory, we propose that, in comparison to the traditional face-to-face approach, online leader voice solicitation results in lower media richness, leading employees to be less inclined to speak up. Furthermore, the aforementioned effect is weakened when there is a high level of question openness or leader-member exchange (LMX). The proposed hypotheses are supported by a scenario experiment and a multi-source multi-wave field survey. Our findings provide theoretical and practical implications in the trend of organizational digitalization.

Keywords: information communication technology; voice solicitation; media richness theory; voice behavior; question openness