How servant leadership and career development policy shape constructive and destructive voice behavior

This study examines the effects of servant leadership, career development policy, and employee engagement on constructive and destructive voice behavior in Indonesia’s logistics and port management industry. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory (SET), this study argues that, in a high-power-distance cultural context, support from leaders and organizations may generate different forms of reciprocity. Data were collected through a survey of 315 employees of a port logistics company and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that servant leadership and career development policy positively influence employee engagement. Employee engagement, in turn, positively affects both constructive and destructive voice behavior. Career development policy directly promotes constructive voice behavior, whereas servant leadership significantly reduces destructive voice behavior. These findings support the interpretation that, in hierarchical work settings, reciprocity may be expressed either as active reciprocity through constructive voice or as restrained reciprocity through the withholding or reduction of destructive voice. In practice, port logistics organizations are advised to combine structured career development policies with servant leadership practices to encourage constructive participation and reduce destructive expressions in the workplace.