Employee voice is "the ability to have meaningful input into decisions" (Budd, 2004, p. 13). This is effectively industrial democracy: where there is participation by we employees in organisational decision-making; and where we can have a level of autonomy in our work. It is important that we have meaningful communication and consultation between staff and organisational management to collectively effect a change in organisational decision-making (Budd, 2004).
When we speak out, we are challenging the status quo, which carries risk (Weiss & Zacher, 2022). As long as we can see the benefits that speaking out carries (Budd, 2004), and feel safe, speaking out is likely to contribute to our personal career development through increased job engagement (Rees et al., 2013; Weiss & Zacher, 2022) and increased performance (Rich et al., 2010).
However, many employees may be reluctant to speak up on important matters, even when we have something to say (Milliken et al., 2003). The diagram accompanying this post (Milliken et al., 2003, p. 1470) explains how our personal characteristics, the culture of the organisation, and our relationship with our manager feeds into whether we expect a positive or a negative outcome if we speak out. Further, the culture of the organisation and management influence our risk perception as to whether speaking out will make a difference (Milliken et al., 2003). These elements collectively determine whether our internal cost:benefit calculation will fall on the speak option; or on the be silent one.
And where we work in more values-driven sectors - voluntary and public - we are more likely to choose silence than those in the private sector (Shipton et al., 2019). Unvoiced and unresolved issues are likely negatively impact both staff and the organisations we work in; it is up to organisational management to ensure that we all feel safe to freely express our workplace concerns (Milliken et al., 2003; Shipton et al., 2019).
Sadly, "deciding to be silent about issues or concerns at work may be a fairly common choice for employees in organizations" (Milliken et al., 2003, p. 1466), largely through fear of disbelief, retribution, or being ignored. Few of us want to be the bearer of bad news, either; avoiding a 'shooting the messenger' situation (Milliken et al., 2003). And remember that - although many organisations becoming more open to employee input (Ahmad & Bilal, 2023) - the government and voluntary sectors still appear to be dragging the chain (Shipton et al., 2019).
We need to build organisations with a growth mindset (Dweck, 2006), where criticism is seen as a opportunity for improvement, not an irritating dissenting voice to be evicted.
Sam
References:
Ahmad, B., & Bilal, S. (2023). Voicing Is Not Icing! The Role of Career Empowerment in Fostering Voice Behavior Through Career Security: A Time-Lagged Three-Wave Study. Journal of Career Development. Advance online publication, 1-20. https://doi-org.nmit.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/08948453231195557
Budd, J. W. (2004). Employment with a human face: Balancing efficiency, equity, and voice. Cornell University Press.
Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Baltimore Books.
Milliken, F. J., Morrison, E. W., & Hewlin, P. F. (2003). An exploratory study of employee silence: Issues that employees don’t communicate upward and why. Journal of Management Studies, 40(6), 1453-1476. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6486.00387
Rees, C., Alfes, K., & Gatenby, M. (2013). Employee voice and engagement: connections and consequences. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(14), 2780-2798. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2013.763843
Rich, B. L., Lepine, J. A., & Crawford, E. R. (2010). Job engagement: Antecedents and effects on job performance. Academy of Management Journal, 53(3), 617-635. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.51468988
Röllmann, L. F., Weiss, M., & Zacher, H. (2021). Does voice benefit or harm occupational well‐being? The role of job insecurity. British Journal of Management, 32(3), 708-724. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12471
Shipton, H., King, D., Pautz, N., & Baczor, L. (2019). Talking about voice: employees’ experiences. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. https://www.cipd.org/globalassets/media/zzz-misc---to-check/talking-about-voice_employees-experiences_tcm18-54482.pdf
Weiss, M., & Zacher, H. (2022). Why and when does voice lead to increased job engagement? The role of perceived voice appreciation and emotional stability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 132, 103662, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2021.103662.
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