If you’re like a lot of managers, you pride yourself on your open door and all the other ways you signal to employees that you welcome their input.And you probably believe that you’re actually hearing what’s on most people’s minds—after all, workers speak up in meetings, chat with you in the hall, and copy you on e-mails. Well, you’re not hearing as much as you think or as much as you need to.
许多管理者敞开办公室大门，设法向员工发出自己欢迎各种意见的信号，并以此为傲。这样的管理者可能认为自己听到了多数人的心声——员工会在会议上发言，在走廊上与管理者聊天，用电子邮件与管理者沟通。然而，管理者了解的东西并没有自己想象的那么多，而且知道得还不够多。
In the latest phase of our decade’s worth of research on organizational silence, we piggybacked six questions onto the annual Cornell National Social Survey to explore how and when employees holdback. As you’d expect, they clam up when they’re afraid that speaking could get them into trouble. But surprisingly, the most common reason for withholding input is a sense of futility rather than fear of retribution.
我们研究组织沉默十年，前不久在一年一度的康奈尔全国社会调查（Cornell National Social Survey）中加入了六个问题，探索员工保持沉默的原因。可以想见，员工担心引来后患，就不会开口。然而令人惊讶的是，让员工保持沉默最普遍的原因是感觉徒劳无益，而不是害怕报复。
futility  n. 无用；徒劳；无价值
retribution n. 报应；惩罚；报答；报偿
In part because employees do sometimes speakup, bosses are often unaware of their workers’ self-censorship.They imagine they’re hearing what’s important when in fact they’re being met with silence they’re simply unaware of.Think of the times you’ve kept your own mouth shut.There have probably been numerous instances, even if you’re generally candid (“I speakup a lot, but not about that issue, or in that setting, or to that manager”).The combination of tight-lipped employees and oblivious bosses buries constructive criticism, not to mention the unvarnished truth.Most important, itprevents good ideas from bubbling up through the organization.
员工有时的确会表达意见，这是管理者意识不到员工自我审查的部分原因。管理者以为自己了解了重要的信息，其实他们没有意识到员工的隐瞒。想想看，即使你是个率直的人，也会在很多时候缄口不言（“我经常坦率表达意见，但这个问题、这种场合或者面对这位管理者，我不想开口”）。沉默的员工加上不敏锐的管理者，会导致建设性的批评意见被埋没，真正的事实更是无从得知。最重要的是，这种情形会抑制组织中好的创意。
Data from the 439 respondents who work fulltime and aren’t self-employed allow us to debunk four common myths managers believe about the flow of ideas and information from the rank and file.
参与调查的439位非自雇全职员工给出的信息，让我们得以揭示管理者对组织中员工想法的四种普遍迷思。
MYTH 1Women and nonprofessional employees withhold more information than men and professional staffers because they are more concerned about consequences or more likely to see speaking up as futile.
迷思一：与男性和专业人员相比，女性和非专业人员更多地保持沉默，因为这部分人更担心祸从口出，或是更认为提意见没有用。
There are no statistically significant differences between workers of different genders,education levels, or income levels in thelikelihood of holding back because of fear or assumptions of futility.
不同性别、学历和收入层次的员工，由于担心或觉得徒劳而保持沉默的比例并没有显著的差异。
MYTH 2 If my employees are talking openlyto me, they’re not holding back.
Fully 42% of respondents report periodically speaking up but also withholding information when they feel theyhave nothing to gain—or something to lose—by sharing what’s on their minds.
迷思二：员工与我坦率交流，所以没有隐瞒。高达42%的参与者表示有时会坦白表达意见，但如果感到这样做没有好处乃至有坏处，他们还是会隐瞒。
MYTH 3If employees aren’t speaking up, it’s becausethey don’t feel safe doing so, despite all my efforts.More than 25% say they withhold feedback onroutine problems and opportunities for improvement to avoid wasting their time,not because they fear consequences.
迷思三：员工不表达意见，是因为他们顾虑会带来后患，可是我很努力了。超过25%的受访者表示，他们会对常见问题及其改进机会保持沉默，避免浪费时间，不是因为担心有什么后患。
MYTH 4 The only issues employees are scaredto raise involve serious allegations about illegal or unethical activities.About 20% say a fear of consequences has led them to withhold suggestions for addressing ordinary problems and making improvements.Such silence on day-to-day issues keeps managers from getting the information they need to prevent bigger problems—performance and otherwise—down the road.
迷思四：只有涉及违法或不道德行为的严重指控才会让员工不敢发声。约20%受访者表示，对于普通问题及其改进，他们也会由于担心后果而保持沉默。员工对日常问题保持沉默，管理者无法获得必要的信息来避免更严重的问题——工作表现和其他方面都有可能出问题。
詹姆斯·德特尔、特伊桑·伯里斯、戴维·哈里森|文
James R. Detert is an assistant professorof management at Cornell’s Johnson School.Ethan R. Burris is an assistant professorof management at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. David A. Harrison is the Smeal Professor at Penn State’s Smeal College of Business.
詹姆斯·德特尔特是康奈尔大学约翰逊商学院管理学助理教授。伊桑·伯里斯是得州大学奥斯汀分校麦克库姆商学院管理学助理教授。戴维·哈里森是宾夕法尼亚州立大学斯米尔商学院教授。
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