By Louisa Baczor, Research Advisor at the CIPD
The CIPD’s UK Working Lives research demonstrated the importance of employee voice as a means of influencing other aspects of job quality. Having a voice at work is the primary vehicle through which individuals can influence matters that affect their working lives. While we found that workers are generally satisfied with their opportunities to express their views in the organisation, the survey highlighted issues around management ability to effectively capture employee voice, and especially the voices of particular workforce groups.
The findings showed that employers tend to be good at seeking the views of staff, but do not necessarily respond to suggestions or take them into account when making decisions. Giving employees opportunities to have a say (commonly through all-staff surveys) may be counterproductive if people feel that their organisation lacks a genuine interest in their opinions. Voice is often viewed as a management tool to drive employee engagement and commitment. However, it can ‘become little more than internal marketing. This is a particular danger if management alone decides whether or not workers can have a voice and which mechanisms to utilise’ (Johnstone and Ackers 2015, p7). Our HR Outlook survey (2017) found that over half of organisations are creating initiatives to improve employee voice, but suggested that employee attitudes including apathy, lack of engagement and fears around expressing their voice can act as barriers. For employee voice to be meaningful and create value for individuals and organisations, a more human-centred approach should be taken that recognises individual needs and motivations for voice.
Manager attitudes and behaviour play a critical role in influencing people’s ability to express their voice at work. The extent to which managers are receptive to employee suggestions and feedback can determine how safe individuals feel to openly speak up. If people only feel encouraged to share views that are helpful to the organisation in some way, such as making suggestions for the way things could be improved, they may choose not to speak up about other matters out of fear of disrupting the status quo. But it’s important that alternative viewpoints, however uncomfortable, are raised to solve problems and potentially improve the well-being of employees. The UKWL report highlighted that middle-managers can feel under excessive pressure at work, which could lead to a lack of prioritisation of employee voice; particularly types of voice that are deemed challenging. It’s therefore critical that they receive support and coaching to actively listen to their team members, and understand the value of doing so.
Workplace social media is one channel for managers to respond to employee views and suggestions. While the use of Enterprise Gated Networks (ESNs) is increasing, only 11% of employees currently have access to them. People’s use of social technology outside of work has inevitably increased their expectations of being able to use it at work, and how their voice should be heard in the organisation. ESNs can also provide a space for marginalised voices to emerge, since conventional mechanisms are often not representative of the diversity of the workforce in terms of who participates. Our UKWL research showed that white workers experience better opportunities for expressing voice than non-white workers, as well as heterosexual employees and those in higher-level occupational groups.
However, digital technology doesn’t replace the need for workplace representation. A variety of formal and informal mechanisms must be provided to create a culture in which employee voice can flourish.
References
Johnstone, S., & Ackers, P. (Eds.). (2015). Finding a Voice at Work?: New Perspectives on Employment Relations. OUP Oxford.
