Employee Voice and Private Sector Workplace Outcomes in Britain, 1980-2004

Non-union direct voice has replaced union representative voice as the primary avenue for employee voice in the British private sector. This paper provides a framework for examining the relationship between employee voice and workplace outcomes that explains this development. As exit-voice theory predicts, voice is associated with lower voluntary turnover, especially in the case of union voice. Union voice is also associated with greater workplace conflict and poorer productivity. Non-union voice is associated with better workplace financial performance than other voice regimes.