Satisfaction with voice by
organisation size (%)
40
32
21
28
21
8
10
19
5
8
3
4
0
1
that employees are happier in the
workplace as a result. Expressing
views that help to craft their jobs
in ways that speak to their own
interests and expertise can also
raise job satisfaction.
Voice channels
Employee voice can be heard
through several channels in the
workplace, such as suggestion
schemes and ‘open-door’
policies, or via everyday
interactions with colleagues in
meetings and through email and
telephone conversations.
The most common channel for
voice was found to be one-to-one
meetings with a line manager,
with 62% expressing their views
through this channel. This
suggests that line managers can
play a critical role in enabling
individuals to voice their ideas
and concerns. Almost half (49%)
of employees express voice
through team meetings, while
only 17% mentioned trade unions
as a voice channel.
These findings indicate that
informal mechanisms for voice
are the most commonly used. For
organisations, failure to hear these
informal voices can result in
negative business performance
and/or reputational damage – as
shown recently by harassment
scandals – as well as affecting
wellbeing and motivation.
A different slant Strategic HR
Issues raised by employees
Understanding the issues that
employees want to raise helps
organisations encourage their
articulation before they become
damaging. When we asked
respondents which issues they
experience in the workplace we
found that work pressure,
including unmanageable
workloads and/or long hours,
was the most common issue
experienced (43%), while just
under a third have been affected
by considerable organisational
change (29%) and redundancy/
job security concerns (21%).
Worryingly, more than a fifth
(22%) of those who have raised
an issue at work felt that they
received no advice or support.
Barriers and enablers
of voice
The data revealed that leadership
style, including ethical leadership,
trustful relationships and line
manager encouragement of
voice, can help employees to
express themselves.
Senior figures play an
important role in diffusing
tensions and enabling staff to
articulate concerns and issues
(individual voice), as well as
drawing out ideas for enhancing
practice (organisational voice).
Individual voice is much less likely
to occur where leadership is weak.
We found that three in 10
(30%) employees don’t feel
comfortable taking risks and
sharing thoughts with others in
the organisation, which can make
it more likely that they stay silent.
Worryingly, nearly three in 10
(28%) employees report that their
sense of psychological safety –
feelings about taking risks and
sharing thoughts with others in
the organisation – is low at work.
This suggests people’s belief that
the organisation cares about their
wellbeing and that they can talk
about matters of concern to them
is seriously undermined where the
work environment is perceived as
unsafe to speak up in.
Employee creativity and
innovation are expressed in an
environment that offers overt
support and is flexible enough to
A significant proportion of
employees (38%) also reported
that they have little, if any,
control over their terms and
conditions of employment
such as pay, holidays and
flexible working.
Employees’ experiences
of voice
When it comes to speaking up
about these issues only a quarter
(27%) of employees feel able to
freely express themselves at work,
and this is particularly low in the
public sector (12%). One quarter
(26%) reported that they often
choose not to speak up, instead
remaining ‘silent’ even though
they have something they’d like
to say.
Only a small proportion deal
with their workplace issues
through involving a selected
representative (2%), a member of
HR (6%) or a colleague (19%).
Nearly a third (31%) have taken
an issue up with their line
manager, but more than half
(60%) have not raised it with any
of these parties.
Our survey found that there
are many reasons employees may
choose not to express their voice,
including a perception that ‘noone
in the organisation would
want to help me’ (14%), that they
would be embarrassed (19%) or
that there is no-one they can
raise an issue with (11%).
Forms of voice experienced in the workplace (%)
hrmagazine.co.uk June 2019 HR 39
05
Satisfied
Neither satisfied
nor dissatisfied
Very satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Not applicable
Don’t know
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
One-to-one meetings with your line manager/
who you work with
Team meetings
Employee survey
All-department or all-organisation meetings
Trade union
None of the above
Employee or worker focus groups
Online forum or chatroom for employees (i.e.
an enterprise social network)
Non-union staff association or
consultation committee
Other
38 62
51 49
63 37
77 23
83 17
88 12
88 12
89 11
96 4
98 2
0 No Yes 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
250+ 2-249
/hrmagazine.co.uk