Does workplace fun affect employees’ voice behavior? Leader–member exchange as a mediator

Although the relationship between workplace fun and employee performance is well-documented, research on the link between workplace fun and voice behavior is still in a nascent stage. Integrating workplace fun, leader–member exchange (LMX), and voice behavior theories, in the current research we examined LMX as a mediator of the link between workplace fun and voice behavior. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 307 subordinates and 82 supervisors employed by eight Chinese companies, and used structural equation modeling to analyze the data. Results show that workplace fun was related both directly and indirectly (via LMX) to employees’ voice behavior. Our findings offer insight into the mechanistic processes through which workplace fun affects employees’ voice behavior, and suggest that to promote employees’ voice behavior, a fun work environment and high-quality LMX relationship should be established in organizations.