How employee voice influences supervisors’ performance ratings: The role of supervisors’ implicit followership theories

Research on employee voice has highlighted the potential consequences for individuals and organizations when speaking up to supervisors. Literature shows that employee voice influences employees’ performance ratings. Nevertheless, these findings are inconsistent, providing evidence for the influence of moderating effects on this relationship. This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between employee voice and supervisors’ performance rating by taking into consideration supervisors’ implicit followership theories. To test the moderation effect of supervisors’ implicit followership theories, this study uses an experimental design and a German sample of professional accountants ( n = 183). The results show that employee voice affects supervisors’ performance ratings positively and that this relationship is moderated by supervisors’ negative implicit followership theories. When supervisors have negative implicit followership theories they rate employees better in their performance. The study provides insights into supervisors’ responses to employee voice and the influence of implicit assumptions that supervisors have about followers.