Why Employees Stay Silent When They See Warning Signs of a Problem

Why Employees Stay Silent When They See Warning Signs of a Problem

To address challenges posed by ambiguous threats, employees need to speak up at the earliest signs of trouble. Yet research shows that the more ambiguous a threat, the more likely employees are to remain silent . Why does it happen? The likely explanation is cognitive overload. Employees juggle multiple responsibilities, and ambiguous threats require significant mental effort to assess. As a result, they may shift their focus to more manageable …

"Is it possible to warn employees who are clearly suffering from poor health due to their own poor lifestyle habits, and who are having trouble at work, to take better care of themselves?" This is a question I sometimes get from human resources personnel. There are companies that have a system in place to…