Beyond Carrots and Sticks Encouraging a Speak Up
Beyond Carrots and Sticks: Encouraging a Speak Up Culture Elizabeth Wolfe Morrison, New York University Sean R. Martin, Boston College Ethics By Design Conference June 3, 2016
Speaking Up (Employee Voice) Informal and discretionary communication of ideas, suggestions, concerns, information about problems, or opinions about workrelated issues to persons who might be able to take appropriate action (Detert & Burris, 2007; Morrison, 2014; Tangirala & Ramanujam, 2008; Van Dyne & Le. Pine, 1998)
Importance of Employee Voice Better decision making Voice Ability to adapt, improve, learn Avoidance of major problems
People Often Don’t Speak Up n In a study of employees from 22 diverse organizations, 70% reported feeling afraid to speak up about certain issues (Ryan & Oestreich, 1991) n In a study of 40 early-career professionals, 85% felt they could not speak up about one or more issues of concern: including ethical issues (Milliken, Morrison, & Hewlin, 2003) n Fewer than 10% of health care professionals confront their colleagues when they become aware of poor clinical judgment (Souba et al. , 2011) n Research suggests that only about half of all employees who observe wrongdoing report it (Miceli et al. , 2008) n Lower status employees particularly likely to remain silent (Morrison, See & Pan, 2014)
The Psychology of Silence Futility Fear Employees need to feel that speaking up is psychologically safe and worth the effort
Futility: It’s not worth the effort -- No one wants to hear it
“Deaf Ear Syndrome” It is hard for managers to be open and responsive to negative information n Threat n Overload n Beliefs
Fear: Speaking up is Dangerous
The Many Types of Fear n o i t lia ta e R s e nc r e e re qu a C nse Co Damaged Relationships Ne gat Ima ive ge Ne gat Lab ive els Harm to Others
Fear of Punishment “I was not comfortable confronting either Mr. Skilling or Mr. Fastow with my concerns. To do so, I believe, would have been a job-terminating move. ” (Sherron Watkins, New York Times, 2/15/02) “Managers would take mental notes and …would hold it against you. . . You had to watch what you said. If you did an okay job and never said anything controversial, you would move up. ” (female chemist, Milliken et al. , 2003)
Are These Fears Justified? n They may be… n People who speak up about moral issues can be seen as less warm and friendly than those who comply with ethically questionable practices (Wellman, Mayer, Ong & De. Rue, in press) n Managers often don’t like people who speak up about problems (Burris, 2012) n Peers may respond even less positively when women speak up (Mc. Clean, Martin, Emich & Woodruff, under review)
Are Image Fears Justified? n But sometimes they may not be… Follow-up Question Response “Do you know of anyone who has ever lost their job because they spoke up? ” “Everyone knows that we never fire anybody. I’ve never seen it happen. ” “Has anything ever happened for asking hard questions? ” “Nothing whatsoever. Nothing happens to anybody for asking any questions. ”
Where do Voice-Inhibiting Beliefs and Fears Come From? Work Environment (boss, culture, group climate) Implicit Theories and Mental Schemas
Implicit Theories and Schemas n Deeply seated beliefs about authority and dissent that have little to do with the realities of the current context (Detert & Edmondson, 2011; Kish. Gephart, Detert, Trevino & Edmondson, 2009) n e. g. It’s dangerous to challenge a superior n Hard-wired (evolution) and learned (early socialization) n Resistant to change n Org. context needs to override them
Common Approaches to Encouraging Voice n Suggestion boxes n Anonymous reporting hotlines But these channels do not necessarily create a culture where employees feel that speaking up is welcomed or safe
Ways of Generating Voice n A study of several thousand people working in credit unions throughout the Southwest Leader Behaviors Correlation ( r ) Active solicitation . 47 Follow-up behaviors . 34 Managerial openness . 30 Informal mechanisms . 31 Formal mechanisms . 08
Fostering Speaking Up: The Importance of Leadership Style Leader Openness Transformational Leadership Individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, trust Ethical Leadership Modelling ethical conduct, discussing ethical issues Approachability, receptiveness to input
Fostering Speaking Up: The Importance of Leadership Leader Behaviors Consultation Follow Up Acknowledging Fallibility Reducing Power Differences
WHAT ABOUT ETHICAL VOICE?
Types of Voice n Promotive Voice n Speaking up with an idea or improvementoriented suggestion for change n Prohibitive Voice n Pointing out a problem of potentially harmful practice that should be stopped n Ethical Voice n Speaking up about an ethically questionable or problematic issue
Types of Voice n Is speaking up about ethical issues different? n We have surprising little information about this n How does what we know about other types of voice apply to ethical voice? We need more data n So here’s some basic descriptive data… n
Types of Voice n I gathered 69 responses from an online sample n I asked them to rank the different types of voice according to How easy each type seems n How scary each type seems n How potentially hurtful to others n How likely to make you look bad n How confident you would be doing it n
Types of Voice % Saying "easiest to do" 60 50 40 30 20 10 ** ** 0 Promotive Voice Prohibitive Voice Ethical Voice
Types of Voice % Saying "scariest to do" 70 60 50 40 30 20 ** 10 ** 0 Promotive Voice Prohibitive Voice Ethical Voice
Types of Voice % Saying "hurtful to others" 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 ** Promotive Voice Prohibitive Voice Ethical Voice
Types of Voice % Saying "make me look bad" 60 50 40 30 20 10 ** ** 0 Promotive Voice Prohibitive Voice Ethical Voice
Types of Voice % Saying "confident about" 70 60 50 40 30 20 ** * 10 0 Promotive Voice Prohibitive Voice Ethical Voice
Types of Voice n Ethical voice – anecdotally, at least – seems to be the LEAST EASY type to do n It seems to be the SCARIEST n People might feel the LEAST CONFIDENT doing it n Like with pointing out problems, people worry more about HURTING OTHERS and LOOKING BAD themselves
Very New Courage Research (Detert) n Inductively generated 35 different behaviors that require courage at work n 6 of those behaviors explicitly concerned speaking up about or taking action on ethical issues n Over 700 respondents rated those 35 behaviors in terms of the courage they require All 6 of the ethical behaviors all appeared in the top 10 behaviors requiring the most courage n All 6 also appear in the top 10 of least frequently observed n
How Does What We Know Apply? n A second study with online respondents (n=156), assigned to one of three conditions n Rating how frequently they n n n Have ideas (Condition 1) Notice problems (Condition 2) Notice ethically questionable issues or practices (Condition 3) They rated whether they speak up with voice of the kind featured in their condition n They rated their boss and work context on voice related variables as well as a variable I created to capture “fear” n
How Does What We Know Apply? n Do people speak up when they have ideas, notice problems, or spot ethical issues? Speaking Up by Voice Type 5 4. 8 4. 6 4. 4 ** 4. 2 ns 4 Promotive Prohibitive 1 – 7 Scale: higher =more voice Ethical
How Does What We Know Apply? n How frequently do people even have ideas, notice problems, or spot ethical issues? Frequency I. . . 3. 5 3 2. 5 2 ** ns 1. 5 1 Have ideas Notice problems Notice ethical issues 1 = Never; 5=All of the time
How Does What We Know Apply? n Can you clearly recall the last time you had an idea/noticed a problem/noticed an ethical issue? n “no’s” were removed Did you report your. . . to your boss? 0. 5 0. 4 0. 35 0. 3 0. 25 0. 2 0. 15 0. 1 0. 05 0 * ** Idea? ns Problem? Ethical Issue?
How Does What We Know Apply? (Relationship strengths between classic factors and different types of voice) n What influences speaking up? n How does it relate to what is being raised? n Analyzed by leader and contextual influences
Leadership Influences (Relationship strengths between classic factors and different types of voice) Ethical Leadership to Voice Promotive. 49** Prohibitive. 51** Ethical. 41** Transformational Leadership to Voice Promotive. 57** Prohibitive. 49** Ethical. 41** Leader Soliciting to Voice Promotive. 58** Prohibitive. 58** Ethical. 54** Leader Openness to Voice Promotive. 54** Prohibitive. 49** Ethical. 39** Humble Leadership to Voice Promotive. 41** Prohibitive. 56** Ethical. 50** No significant differences
Contextual Influences (Relationship strengths between classic factors and different types of voice) Futility to Voice Promotive -. 62** No significant difference Prohibitive -. 64** Psychological Safety to Voice Promotive Prohibitive. 32*. 71** Significant differences Promotive-Prohibitive Promotive-Ethical ** ns Ethical -. 50** Ethical. 38** Prohibitive-Ethical **
Applying Lessons n Ethical voice is similar to other types of voice in some ways n We can apply lessons from prior research Training regarding leadership behaviors n Active solicitation in addition to passive approaches n Don’t just put the onus on followers n Perceived safety among one’s group n
Applying Lessons n Ethical voice does seem to be different in some ways from other types of employee voice It appears scarier to do n Most likely to make one look bad n Requires a HUGE amount of courage n People are much less confident about it n n Perhaps we could begin addressing not only the access and channels for voice, but the fear and low confidence that people harbor
Encouraging Speaking Up Leader Behaviors Consultation Soliciting Information Humility Reducing Power Differences Acknowledging Fallibility Avoiding Hierarchy Triggers Follow-up Taking Timely Action But! Much more information is needed if we really want to encourage ethical voice
THANK YOU
APPENDIX/ADDITIONAL SLIDES
Full Ranking Data Easy Promotive Voice Prohibitive Voice Ethical Voice % Ranking 1 st 57 32 11 % Ranking 2 nd 34 35 31 % Ranking 3 rd 15 27 58 Scary Promotive Voice Prohibitive Voice Ethical Voice % Ranking 1 st 9 32 58 % Ranking 2 nd 27 47 24 % Ranking 3 rd 60 22 16 Hurtful to others Promotive Voice Prohibitive Voice Ethical Voice % Ranking 1 st 6 47 47 % Ranking 2 nd 14 40 47 % Ranking 3 rd 79 16 5 Make me look bad Promotive Voice Prohibitive Voice Ethical Voice % Ranking 1 st 14 35 51 % Ranking 2 nd 21 41 38 % Ranking 3 rd 62 22 16 Confidence about Promotive Voice Prohibitive Voice Ethical Voice % Ranking 1 st 63 25 12 % Ranking 2 nd 28 30 42 % Ranking 3 rd 14 40 46
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