Making employees satisfied by giving them voice through leadership and organisational justice

This study explores how employee voice affects job satisfaction, focusing on the indirect effects of leadership and organisational justice based on Social Exchange Theory. The empirical data analysis from 196 workers in manufacturing organisations adopts a path model to test the direct and mediation effects.

The findings show that employee voice positively and significantly affects overall job satisfaction. Moreover, the analysis reveals the mediation effects of the leader-member exchange relationship and distributive justice. Interestingly, distributive justice acts as a mediator in the relationship as long as it involves the leadership variable. The study illuminates the relationship between employee voice and overall job satisfaction and the influence of the leadership dimension and organisational justice. The positive association between the variables examined from an employee-centred perspective complements existing knowledge on the relationship between leadership and justice perceptions in influencing employees’ attitudes. The consequent implications, therefore, are discussed.