Organizational adaptation to working from home in a crisis situation (COVID-19): the interaction between leaders’ openness and followers’ voice
IntroductionWe investigated the effect of time spent at home on employee voice behavior and leadership openness during Covid 19. According to DeRue’s adaptive leadership theory which offers an interactionist perspective to explain adaptive organizational behavior during an environmental crisis, we p...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1181807/full |
| _version_ | 1797820226327281664 |
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| author | Barnabás Buzás Barnabás Buzás Klára Faragó Klára Faragó |
| author_facet | Barnabás Buzás Barnabás Buzás Klára Faragó Klára Faragó |
| author_sort | Barnabás Buzás |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionWe investigated the effect of time spent at home on employee voice behavior and leadership openness during Covid 19. According to DeRue’s adaptive leadership theory which offers an interactionist perspective to explain adaptive organizational behavior during an environmental crisis, we proposed that in the WFH’s (work from home) reduced and limited communication space, leaders, who need more feedback, will encourage employees to express their opinions and will show more willingness to listen to them. Meanwhile, employees will ask more questions and make more suggestions to alleviate uncertainty and misunderstanding.MethodsUsing an online questionnaire, a cross-sectional study (N = 424) has been carried out with employees working from home for a different amount of their working time during the pandemic. Data were analyzed using structural equation models (SEM) in which the effect of leadership openness on employee voice behavior was assessed through the mediation of affective commitment, psychological safety, and intrinsic motivation.ResultsThe results showed that in the WFH situation, time spent in home office had a low but significant direct negative effect on promotive voice behavior. At the same time, leadership openness was growing with the amount of time spent at home. Leadership openness counteracted the negative effect of WFH on voice behavior: although leadership openness did not have a direct significant effect on voice behavior, it had a positive effect on psychological safety and work motivation which, in turn, influenced positively both promotive and prohibitive voice behavior. Employee’s voice, for its part, further augmented leadership openness.DiscussionIn our research we could demonstrate the contingent nature and the mutual influence patterns and feedback loops of leaders-employees exchange. In the WFH situation the openness of the leader is growing with the amount of time spent at home and with the amount of promotive voice manifested by the employee. In consent with DeRue social interactionist adaptive leadership theory, a mutually reinforcing process of leadership openness and employee voice could be demonstrated. We argue that leadership openness is a key factor to motivate employee voice behavior during WFH. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:35:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-41742ff61cf046ba9b444b5f3805d18b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:35:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-41742ff61cf046ba9b444b5f3805d18b2023-05-25T15:53:22ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-05-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.11818071181807Organizational adaptation to working from home in a crisis situation (COVID-19): the interaction between leaders’ openness and followers’ voiceBarnabás Buzás0Barnabás Buzás1Klára Faragó2Klára Faragó3Doctoral School of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, HungaryDepartment of Organisational and Leadership Psychology, ELTE Faculty of Education and Psychology, Budapest, HungaryIntroductionWe investigated the effect of time spent at home on employee voice behavior and leadership openness during Covid 19. According to DeRue’s adaptive leadership theory which offers an interactionist perspective to explain adaptive organizational behavior during an environmental crisis, we proposed that in the WFH’s (work from home) reduced and limited communication space, leaders, who need more feedback, will encourage employees to express their opinions and will show more willingness to listen to them. Meanwhile, employees will ask more questions and make more suggestions to alleviate uncertainty and misunderstanding.MethodsUsing an online questionnaire, a cross-sectional study (N = 424) has been carried out with employees working from home for a different amount of their working time during the pandemic. Data were analyzed using structural equation models (SEM) in which the effect of leadership openness on employee voice behavior was assessed through the mediation of affective commitment, psychological safety, and intrinsic motivation.ResultsThe results showed that in the WFH situation, time spent in home office had a low but significant direct negative effect on promotive voice behavior. At the same time, leadership openness was growing with the amount of time spent at home. Leadership openness counteracted the negative effect of WFH on voice behavior: although leadership openness did not have a direct significant effect on voice behavior, it had a positive effect on psychological safety and work motivation which, in turn, influenced positively both promotive and prohibitive voice behavior. Employee’s voice, for its part, further augmented leadership openness.DiscussionIn our research we could demonstrate the contingent nature and the mutual influence patterns and feedback loops of leaders-employees exchange. In the WFH situation the openness of the leader is growing with the amount of time spent at home and with the amount of promotive voice manifested by the employee. In consent with DeRue social interactionist adaptive leadership theory, a mutually reinforcing process of leadership openness and employee voice could be demonstrated. We argue that leadership openness is a key factor to motivate employee voice behavior during WFH.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1181807/fulladaptive leadership theoryleadership opennessemployee voice behaviorwork from homeCOVID-19psychological safety |
| spellingShingle | Barnabás Buzás Barnabás Buzás Klára Faragó Klára Faragó Organizational adaptation to working from home in a crisis situation (COVID-19): the interaction between leaders’ openness and followers’ voice Frontiers in Psychology adaptive leadership theory leadership openness employee voice behavior work from home COVID-19 psychological safety |
| title | Organizational adaptation to working from home in a crisis situation (COVID-19): the interaction between leaders’ openness and followers’ voice |
| title_full | Organizational adaptation to working from home in a crisis situation (COVID-19): the interaction between leaders’ openness and followers’ voice |
| title_fullStr | Organizational adaptation to working from home in a crisis situation (COVID-19): the interaction between leaders’ openness and followers’ voice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Organizational adaptation to working from home in a crisis situation (COVID-19): the interaction between leaders’ openness and followers’ voice |
| title_short | Organizational adaptation to working from home in a crisis situation (COVID-19): the interaction between leaders’ openness and followers’ voice |
| title_sort | organizational adaptation to working from home in a crisis situation covid 19 the interaction between leaders openness and followers voice |
| topic | adaptive leadership theory leadership openness employee voice behavior work from home COVID-19 psychological safety |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1181807/full |
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