THE INFLUENCE OF HELPING BEHAVIOUR AND VOICE OF PLEASANT MEMBERS ON THEIR TEAM INCLUSION

Organisations are increasingly encouraging inclusion for innovation, problem solving, improved retention, and related positive psychological consequences. However, most research in the domain of work inclusion is policy based, while research in team-level inclusion is still in early stages and mostly focused on the nature and consequences rather than the antecedents of team inclusion. This study bridges this gap by exploring and investigating interactions among three predictors of team inclusion – positive affect,  personality trait, and helping behaviour and voice which are behavioural attributes.  Using social exchange theory as a weaving argument, we test the effects of these three on team inclusion. We propose that individuals with positive affect will have improved team inclusion when they engage in helping behaviours towards their team members. We further propose that the level of voice they manifest, will impact the indirect relationship of positive affect and team inclusion through helping behaviour. We argue that pleasant people are perceived of high transaction value to the team when they often offer to help, and this valuation gets validated when they suggest constructive changes for the team. Business students (n = 105) enrolled in a management course participated in the study. The gathered data covered pre and post semester duration to capture membership of each student in their teams for four months.  Findings show that the indirect relationship between positive affect and team inclusion via helping behaviour is strong only for high levels of voice. We believe that these findings will help managers and organisations take informed decisions and design better interventions for overall inclusion. The findings also provide a criterion to identify team members for communication training for a more inclusive team.