by Bruce L. Katcher, Ph.D.
It’s a sad commentary that about half of all
employees are too scared to openly express their views at work.
They don’t speak up because of:
Fear of retribution — Many organizations
foster a climate of "shooting the messenger" when any bad news is
expressed by an employee.
Job insecurity — In today’s layoff-happy
environment, employees feel it is best to keep their mouths shut
whenever possible.
A lack of management responsiveness —
When they voiced their opinions in the past, no one listened, so
why should they risk doing so again?
An uncaring organizational climate —
Many feel like a mere cog in a big, uncaring machine with very little
chance of being heard.
A lack of openness has negative consequences
for both employers and employees. When employees don’t feel free
to speak up:
- Important problems go undetected;
- Good ideas are never surfaced;
- Relationships between managers and employees deteriorate; and
- Motivation declines because employees view their work as no
longer worth their full psychological commitment.
What Can Be Done?
1) Senior Management Must Foster a Spirit
of Openness
Ever notice the deafening silence when a senior
manager asks a group of employees if there are any questions? Why
does this happen? In the past many employees have witnessed that
others were ignored, belittled, or embarrassed when they spoke up.
Senior managers must consciously try very hard
to ask for opinions and then listen carefully. Doing so will increase
the probability that their direct reports will be more likely to
be open to new ideas as well.
2) Get Rid of Suggestion Boxes
There is no better way I know to stifle openness
than to tell employees to "stuff" their suggestions in a box. The
use of such a policy clearly signals to employees that voicing their
suggestions openly to their manager or senior management would be
unacceptable or ineffective.
3) Train Yourself and Managers How to Listen
Listening is a critically important management
skill that can help improve employees’ willingness to speak up.
Some of the key principles are listed below:
Use unconditional positive regard. Try not to
rush to evaluate opinions and suggestions. View all of them with
a positive outlook.
Dummy up. Use the technique made famous by Colombo
of continually asking questions and telling employees that you "don’t
understand" or "are confused."
Avoid threatening questions like Who told you
to do it that way? and Who is responsible? that will restrict the
type of responses you will receive.
Be an active listener. You must be fully psychologically
engaged when listening to employees by maintaining eye contact,
nodding your head at the appropriate times, and saying things like
"I see," and "uh-huh" in response to their words.
Use open-ended questions such as Could you please
tell me more about that? or How would you handle this problem?
Use restatements. Simply repeating or paraphrasing
what an employee has just said will typically encourage him or her
to continue speaking. Can a spirit of openness be improved? The
answer is yes. However, it will take time and consistent effort
by senior managers and supervisors.
I am very much interested in your comments about
this topic. Please reply with your comments to Bruce@discoverysurveys.com.
Bruce L. Katcher, Ph.D., is president of The Discovery Group located
in Sharon, Massachusetts. He can be reached, via e-mail, at brucekatcher@erols.com.
Copyright 2000, Bruce L. Katcher, The Discovery Group.
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