Perils of silent employees and art of managing

An introverted employee who is also productive can be a silent superstar, but you would not know this until some form of impact analysis or performance appraisal is carried out in a timely fashion. Image: Shutterstock

It has been a while, and you have not heard any complaints, negative feedback, or problems referred to you. You may even start to think you have discovered the secret to being the most effective manager. And then, one day, the chaos of a coup rears its head with a vengeance. As a manager, it is a dangerous situation to be in, catastrophic even. In an age where there is so much focus on employee well-being, coaching and mentoring, self-management and empowerment, it certainly makes for an interesting situation for a manager when employees still refuse to speak to you because they fear the repercussions. So, what are your options? Before chugging the blame on the employees, maybe look at your attitude and behaviours. A lot of the communication problems can be solved at your level if only you are ready to pay attention to these:

• No feedback is not equal to no problems. Your employees are a source of vital information about the company's performance. Their feedback is not an unnecessary risk; rather, it is a priceless repository of perspectives and experiences. Embrace them.
• Your employees' experiences are driven by their personal interests and investment in the company's interest and your feedback. Therefore, your employees' lack of conversation and comfort-seeking can signal their disconnect from the company's mission and culture. 
• You are directly responsible for their experiences. Just because they get directives from top management does not make you free of your role as their manager, counsellor and sometimes friend. 
• Acknowledging and addressing when they bring you the complaints is not a sign of your failings. Instead, it signifies their confidence in you.
• You will sometimes have to surpass the structural and cultural boundaries and reach out to your employees. Taking a more organic view of the organisation and the employees can make it easier for you to visualise their challenges. 

Why pay attention to the silent ones?

An introverted employee who is also productive can be a silent superstar, but you would not know this until some form of impact analysis or performance appraisal is carried out in a timely fashion. However, this is a dangerous practice and can lead to resentment and distrust in your employees. The ones who are silenced are often believed to identify less with the organisational goals, and this shows up later in their voice behaviours, productivity, quitting behaviours, initiative-taking, and general engagement with the organisation. The cost of ignoring employees who are silent or who are silenced is then reflected in you spending time and money on fresh hiring, training and socialisation processes. Another misconception that is generally made is that silent employees are always quiet. Instead, they probably disengage as soon as you walk into the room. They might still have a group of people with whom they share their discontentment, which keeps growing since their problems are never addressed. Engage with your employees is often a case of supply and demand. You don't ask, and they don't tell. Since they never share, you never ask them. This loop gets consolidated over time and can lead to either an outburst or, worse, attrition.

Also read: Managing global teams: Challenges and strategies for leaders

What can you do?

Addressing these issues as a manager becomes imperative when you start to see the impact of your employees' silence on performance and productivity. The prolonged disengagement with the organisation and with you causes them to distance themselves from their work, and more often than not, they end up doing the bare minimum. How can you break this cycle? It requires work on the organisation's culture, climate, structure, systems and personal approach. 

• Challenging the current culture: If you let it happen for long enough, silence will engrain itself within the walls of organisational culture and breaking it down can be challenging. 
• Incorporating communication in the structure: Using hierarchy, span of control, and power distribution to establish free-flowing communication is more easily achieved than changing the organisation's culture. 
• Incorporating initiatives that support 'Silence': Very often, employees confuse extraversion with voice behaviours and silence with introversion. Therefore, even if it sounds counter-intuitive, celebrating silent employees can lift the burden off their backs to participate in the organisational camaraderie. A quick check-in with them might bring out their reservations and frustrations and allow them a space for an open dialogue.
• Establishing systems to promote communication: Not just information systems for day-to-day business but developing and establishing communication based on relational coordination and goodwill. Companies that encourage people to mingle across verticals solve their restricted-flow-of-information problem organically and for a long period. Employees then find it easier to speak up rather than fester with resentment when they have a chance to share their perspectives outside of the siloes of their confined spaces.
  

Having silent employees should not alert you. However, having silent employees with an agenda can destroy the work culture and hurt the organisation. Instead of shunning them, tactics to include them can prove less tiring and more productive in the long term.

Swati Tripathi, Assistant Professor, OB and HR, IMI New Delhi

[This article was published with permission from <a href="https://www.imi.edu/" target="_blank">International Management Institute.</a>]