Can employees' trust their supervisor? The role of high-performance work systems and stewardship climate on employee voice.

The focus of this research is to investigate the factors that influence employee voice behaviour by examining the integration of high-performance work systems, stewardship climate, and trust in supervisor. Drawing on social exchange theory and leader-member exchange, this study investigates the positive relationship between trust in supervisor, high-performance work systems, stewardship climate and employee voice. Data were collected in three stages from 376 Nigerian telecommunications customer-contact employees. Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling was used to test the dataset. The findings indicate that high-performance work systems have a favourable association with employee voice, while stewardship climate has an adverse correlation with employee voice. Moreover, trust in supervisor is found to mediate and enhance the favourable relationship between high-performance work systems, stewardship climate, and employee voice. The relevance of this study to service industries, management research, and its practical implications is discussed.