Published On:Monday, March 01, 2010

When we enter an establishment early on in our careers, we believe in the ideal workplace. We expect everyone to work together and we anticipate environments that are safe spaces where employees can speak up and contribute.

Here is a common trap new employees can fall into. Your boss asks for your thoughts on a subject during a meeting. You were lulled into thinking the question is authentic so you state your position in the meeting but your ideas are not what the boss wanted to hear so not only are you attacked with overt ferocity at the meeting, you are attacked every time you state your ideas in a meeting. Your boss either wants to be sure you will agree to everything or not say anything at all.

Saying nothing at all is fine with this type of boss because there will be no disagreement that can potentially expose the bosses' knowledge or competence gaps.

Other employees fight their bosses to the point where they end up being terminated, which also suits the bosses because they are sending a clear message to the employees who remain, "Don't you dare! If you go against me, your job is not safe."

This cycle of behaviour reminds me of a t-shirt I saw the other day bearing the words, "The beatings will continue until morale improves" with a picture of a skull and cross bones underneath. I thought this was an excellent metaphor for what sometimes happens in the work place because although we don't use physical whips we do use words and the emotions behind them as whips.

Verbal attacks create a false sense of harmony that can be read by unseeing managers as high morale. What is really happening is that morale appears to be ok because attacked persons are reluctant to admit there is a problem because even this admission can lead to unfortunate consequences. They know the boss can make life exceedingly difficult at work either through constant attacks by ignoring them completely so they are careful about what they say.

Then there are others who know something is wrong perhaps a process was incorrectly done or someone was unfairly accused, and they won't speak up because speaking up implicates them in the mistake in some way and they do not want to be linked to the error.

Being hesitant about speaking up is not limited to employees. There are some managers who are afraid to speak up for their staff to their bosses. These managers don't have a voice in the organisation so they can't effectively represent their employees if something is needed.

There are other managers who are ill equipped to handle confrontational or abusive employees so they avoid these employees, allowing inappropriate, hostile behaviours to infiltrate the team. Abusive employees really need direction or corrective action and by ignoring them the boss weakens the entire team.

Some managers appear to allow opinions but manipulate the discussion back to their way of thinking. Employees see manipulation for what it is and it can have the same impact as a frontal attack because in the end, people will not make a contribution because the effort is viewed as futile.

There are managers who always speak about an "open door" policy, they even leave their doors open, but employees rarely enter their office because they usually encounter an unwelcoming atmosphere. Either the manager is busy typing while the employee is speaking or the manager constantly takes calls or they are abrupt or short with employees.

Some bosses avoid employees who want to have a voice because the boss has something to hide or because they can't handle the truth. It may be that the boss is being confronted by an unfair decision or the boss may just not like the employee and they want them to suffer. They don't understand or care that if you negatively affect one person on a team, the whole team is impacted.

Speaking up is about having a voice in your company. There are some companies that are very disciplined about inviting employees to contribute and state their cases. In fact they encourage this because they value creativity, conflict management and team building. The management team consistently invites dialogue, they take corrective action when appropriate, they reward great ideas and they support their staff in developing their creativity.

In other work environments, speaking up is viewed as unwanted. The managers want everyone to sing from the same song sheet, not understanding the power of harnessing diverse views and integrating those views into a stronger solution.

Allowing managers and employees the latitude to express themselves and teaching them how to express themselves constructively, helps everyone to feel valued by the organisation and helps the organisation to grow.

Your ability to speak up is a function of the emotional competence, and openness of the leadership team. They are the primary architects of the culture of your company so here are a few ideas for leaders who are ready to create an environment that is safe for employees to contribute their ideas and thoughts:

*Some employers recognise that not listening to employees will not only lead to low morale, it can cause the management team to make the wrong decisions or miss opportunities for innovation. With this in mind, some companies set up meetings where groups of employees dialogue with the president or another executive who will listen to employees' suggestions and challenges.

*Some companies encourage employees to make suggestions using other communication tools. They use company blogs, employee hotlines, employee surveys or the intranet to accept and respond to feedback. These tools are usually backed up with a process for reviewing suggestions and comments, taking action and communicating the actions or decisions to employees. Assistant Professor Ethan Burris stated, "Formal transparent follow-up is very important. It is counterproductive to ask an employee for feedback if you never do anything with that information. If staff see their ideas just disappear, they'll stop offering them altogether."

*Some employers develop leaders who use emotional intelligence when communicating so they can navigate their emotions and biases. They want to be sure managers are responding to ideas and not external personalities or internal emotions.

*To help with the transition to speaking up, some employers provide training to employees designed to help them communicate and support their ideas clearly and with respect.

Speaking up is really about opening top down, bottom up and lateral communication channels. Sharing important information, listening to employees and implementing their ideas helps them to feel valued and connected to the organisation. This is an important part of the formula for attracting and retaining your best employees.

* Yvette Bethel is CEO of Organizational Soul, an HR Consulting and Leadership Development company. If you are interested in exploring how you can create better collaboration and stronger leadership within your organisation, you can contact her at www.orgsoul.com.