Transformational leadership and employee voices in the hospitality industry

Purpose - This study aims to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and employee voice behavior and the role of relational identification and work engagement as mediators in the same. Design/methodology/approach - This study uses structural equation modeling to analyze the data from a questionnaire survey of 251 Taiwanese hospitality industry employees. Findings - The findings demonstrate that transformational leadership has significant relationships with relational identification, work engagement and employee voice behavior and that relational identification and work engagement sequentially mediate between transformational leadership and employee voice behavior. Practical implications - The results of this study provide insights into the intervening mechanisms linking leaders' behavior with employees' voices, while also highlighting the potential importance of relational identification in organizations, especially concerning the enhancement of employees' work engagement and voice. Originality/value - The findings reveal the mechanisms by which supervisors' transformational leadership encourages employees to voice their suggestions, providing empirical evidence of the sequential mediation of relational identification and work engagement. The results help clarify the psychological process by which leaders influence their followers.