Passive and defensive silence are forms of employee silence in organizations. Employee silence is a state in which employees refrain from sharing information or critical opinions. In addition, they may not call attention to issues at work, such as illegal or immoral practices or developments that violate personal, moral, or legal standards.
Silence is not always golden. When employees withhold information, an emotion or an important conversation, it’s not helpful for organizations and co-workers.
A good starting point to mitigate the negative consequences of employee silence is to understand the reasons why employees do not speak up.
Once you are aware of the reasons for silence, you will be able to overcome the specific type of silence and determine the best course of action.
As always, start with yourself by asking: “Am I contributing to employee silence around me?”
Also, remember that silence does not automatically mean that employees do not care or that they always have negative attitudes towards the organization.
According to Michael Knoll and Rolf van Dick, in Do I Hear the Whistle…? A First Attempt to Measure Four Forms of Employee Silence and Their Correlates, there are four types of silence.
We will consider the first two types of silence in this part: passive and defensive silence.
Passive Silence
In passive silence, employees do not speak up because they believe that their opinion is neither wanted nor valued by their supervisors and top management.
This lack of interest, in addition to a climate where conformity is promoted and dissent is suppressed, demotivates employees to participate.
Consequently, such passive withholding of relevant ideas, based on submission and resignation, leads to disengaged behavior. These employees have given up hope for improvement and are not willing to exert the effort to speak up, get involved, or attempt to change the situation.
Such employees are less and less interested in the company and can be described as “quiet quitters.”
How to address this:
- Take a real interest in your employees.
- Ask for and actively listen to their concerns and opinions.
- Hear, acknowledge and appreciate their views.
- Demonstrate that their ideas are useful and valuable, and put them into practice.
- Openly listen to a dissenting opinion or criticism. Conflicting opinions are necessary for creativity and innovation.
Defensive Silence
Defensive silence is the active withholding of relevant information in order to protect oneself. It is based on the fear that the consequences of speaking up could be personally unpleasant.
Fear is a key motivation for withholding ideas and opinions.
Other reasons that are at play here include: reluctance to transmit bad news, lack of psychological safety, and lack of opportunity to voice their concern.
Employees disagree with specific actions and are aware of alternatives. However, they think withholding information is the best personal strategy.
Despite this, they are still interested in their work and their organization. Employees in this state can be described as “suffering in silence.”
How to address this:
- Ensure psychological safety in the workplace.
- Encourage and reward employees who speak up.
- Proactively approach people who you know are withholding information.
- When confronted with dissention or criticism, take the concern seriously and demonstrate that there will be no negative consequences.
Have you experienced or observed these types of employee silence?
If your organization is suffering from employee silence, please book a call to discuss employee and management training. https://laurelandassociates.com/contact
May your learning be sweet,
Deborah
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