A Test of a Dual Model of Positive and Negative EORs: Dialogic Employee Communication Perceptions Related to Employee-Organization Relationships and Employee Megaphoning Intentions

Abstract

This study investigated how employees’ perceptions of an organization’s dialogic employee communication influence their evaluations of their positive and negative relationships with the organization. The study further examined how employees’ relationship assessments could drive their intentions for positive and negative megaphoning about their organizations. To test the differentiating effects of dialogic employee communication on positive and negative employee-organization relationships (EORs) and, subsequently, employee megaphoning intentions, we used a dual measure with the positive and the negative EORs. The online survey of 527 full-time U.S. employees showed that dialogic employee communication – particularly mutuality orientation – distinctively influenced the employees’ EOR assessments. The survey results also showed that stronger and more-positive EORs led to increased positive megaphoning intentions, and that stronger and more-negative EORs led to increased negative megaphoning intentions. This study found that positive EOR mediated the links between dialogic employee communication and both positive and negative intentions, but that negative EOR mediated only the link between dialogic employee communication and the negative megaphoning intention