Social networks and employee voice: The influence of team members’ and team leaders’ social network positions on employee voice

• Social network perspective on employee voice.
• Employees’ informal N/W positions moderate the effects of formal workflow positions.
• Leaders’ team N/W positions moderate relationship between employee workflow and voice.
• Examination of both positive (friendship) and negative (avoidance) social networks.
• Contribution to voice as well as networks and leadership literatures.

We examine the role of employees’ and team leaders’ social network positions, an important, yet understudied class of variables, in affecting employees’ voice behaviors. Using multi-level, multi-source data from 185 employees nested within 43 teams and their team leaders, we find that employees who hold central positions in the formal, workflow network in the team are more likely to speak up with ideas and suggestions. This relationship is weakened when they are central to the team’s avoidance network. In addition to employees’ own network positions, team leaders’ positions in such informal networks also play a role in qualifying the employee workflow centrality–voice relationship. Specifically, the positive relationship between employees’ workflow centrality and their voice is strengthened when their team leaders occupy central positions in the friendship network, but is weakened when they are central to the avoidance network in the team. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.