The Paradox of Thinking about “People” as “Resources”: A Study of Employee Objectification and Employee Voice

Abstract

Employee voice is vital for organizations—it helps in error detection, drives innovation, and improves performance. Yet, managers are often reluctant to encourage employee voice. To address this, researchers and practitioners often urge managers to think of employees as valuable resources for better decision-making. I argue that this perspective presents a paradox. Drawing from research on employee voice and employee objectification, I argue that thinking of employees as resources has a dual effect: it motivates managers to encourage voice but also increases the likelihood of treating employees as objects for organizational gain. I further suggest that when objectified, managerial encouragement of voice loses its impact on employees—employees no longer feel responsible to engage in voice. As a result, urging managers to think of employees as resources ultimately backfires and does not lead to employee voice. I test this idea across five complementary studies: a pilot archival study, three pre-registered experiments, and a field survey. I also highlight the theoretical and practical implications of my findings.