Employee voice is the suggestions or comments that employees make to improve their organization. While employee voice may be perceived as positive, the underlying motivations of employees could render their contributions meaningless at best, or harmful at worst.

Recognizing that employees’ motivation to speak up can be driven by defensive or disengaged origins, Ceridwyn King concludes that when employee voice is motivated by being other-oriented, a concept she calls “prosocial,” their contributions are most healthy in helping an organization progress. By other-oriented, she means truly caring about the success of the company.