Employee silence can mask an array of significant workplace problems, according to a recent study published in Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior. Surmising that all is well \u2014 just because all is quiet \u2014 can be a dangerous assumption on the part of supervisors and organizational leaders. In reality, \u201cboth performance and employee morale may suffer\u201d as a result of leaders\u2019 failure to understand their employees\u2019 silence.<\/p>\n
What constitutes employee silence? It isn’t merely a lack of speech. Silence in the workplace context is defined as when an employee does not share concerns, suggestions, points of view or other information that might be helpful or relevant. In other words, it\u2019s when \u201cemployees may have feedback or criticisms to share, but feel inhibited from offering them \u2014 and would seem by definition to imply a certain lack of engagement, or fear of consequences,\u201d explains management firm Globoforce.<\/p>\n
The problem of silence is a prevalent one: Employees at every level are aware of problems, inefficient systems, inappropriate behavior or actions, and positive opportunities for growth, yet they don’t always address these concerns and suggestions with someone in a position to take action. Simply put, employees don’t use their voice.<\/p>\n
To clarify, employee voice is an \u201cinformal\u201d and \u201cdiscretionary communication by an employee of ideas, suggestions, concerns, information about problems, or opinions about work-related issues\u201d to a higher-up or other employee able to take positive action about the communicating employees\u2019 ideas and concerns. Having a voice, and using it, requires employees to be engaged in their work; conversely, refraining from offering an opinion or idea suggests that employees are afraid of the consequences or feel inhibited.<\/p>\n
Some other reasons employees don’t speak up include the following: an office’s climate of fear, hierarchical structure, abusive leadership, attitudes of powerlessness and detachment, and a change-resistant office culture. (Check out the full chart of factors that impact employee voice here.) Silence doesn’t only result in missed opportunities; it can also negatively impact decision-making and change processes. Lack of communication can lead to three significant disadvantages, notes the research: 1) employees don’t feel valued; 2) employees sense a lack of control; and 3) employees exhibit a “discrepancy between beliefs and behavior,” also known as cognitive dissonance.<\/p>\n
Yet employers and other office leaders can encourage employee communication using five key methods:<\/p>\n
Employee silence can mask an array of significant workplace problems, according to a recent study published in Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior. Surmising that all is well \u2014 just because all is quiet \u2014 can be a dangerous assumption on the part of supervisors and organizational leaders. In reality, \u201cboth performance and employee morale […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[409],"tags":[321,165,320],"class_list":["post-2461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-office-hazards","tag-employee-silence","tag-occupational-safety-and-health-administration","tag-organizational-behavior"],"yoast_head":"\n