Katherine Halewood

I joined SUMS in October 2023 as a doctoral researcher, bringing with me over 25 years of experience working up to senior leadership roles across both the hospitality and transport sectors, as well as more recent experience running my own leadership coaching and consultancy business. Across these varied environments, I consistently observed how the quality of conversations between managers and employees shape voice outcomes. These experiences sparked a deep curiosity about why some leaders create spaces where people feel genuinely heard, while others can shut down meaningful dialogue. As a result, my research focuses on examining voice quality within leader–follower relationships, specifically to understand both manager and employee perceptions of what constitutes high-quality and low-quality voices  in manager-employee interactions and how the phenomena affects reciprocal responses between employees and managers. Ultimately, I hope my work will support organisations in developing healthier, more constructive communication practices that empower both managers and employees to improve individual and collective well-being and performance.