Employee Silence

Employee silence refers to situations where employees withhold information that might be useful to the organization they belong to, whether intentionally or unintentionally, often because they do not speak up to a supervisor or manager. Within organizations, people regularly have to decide whether to speak up or remain silent, whether to share or withhold their ideas, opinions and concerns, and in many cases they choose the safer response of silence, withholding input that could be valuable to others. It occurs not only between management and employees but also during conflict among employees and as a result of organizational decisions, and because it keeps managers from receiving information that could help improve the organization, the underlying situation is unlikely to change for the better on its own.