Role of Workplace Upward Communication in reducing Employee Silence

According to (Fitz-enz, 1993), Communication in the "best practice" companies is broad-based, continuous and involves multi-directional employee contact. Communications with employees is "a given" and is a formal, focused and on-going responsibility. Communications are not done as an "extra". 

Upward communication includes the transmission of messages from the lower level of the organization to the higher level, namely communication initiated by subordinates with their superiors as stated by Daniels et al, (1997).

Smith et al, (1972) stated that upward communication is a prerequisite for employee involvement in decision-making, problem-solving and policy and procedural development.

Katz and Kahn, (1978) point out that upward communication can provide superiors with information in the following areas: 

1) Performance on the job and job-related problems.

2) Fellow employees and their problems.

3) Subordinate’s perceptions of organizational policies and practises. 

4) Tasks and procedures for accomplishing them.  

Effective upward communication can be promoted by means such as suggestion systems, systematic reporting methods, grievance procedures, opinion or attitude surveys and employee meetings, but the presence of such systems can only be symbolic gestures (Daniels et al, 1997).

Managers and executives admire the advantages of upward communication in many organisations, practical use of upward communication seems to be limited. Gibson and Hodgetts, (1991) suggested that management-based explanations for this lack of satisfaction, particularly since these approaches often do not involve two-way communication.

McCelland, (1988) found a number of "employee-based" explanations for weak upward communication including:

• Fear of reprisal – Employees are afraid to speak their minds.
• Filters – Employees feel their ideas/concerns are modified as they get transmitted upward.
• Time – Managers give the impression that they don’t have the time to listen to employees.

Employee Silence literature also provides evidence that subordinates distort the information they convey to their superiors which means communicating upward in a manner that minimizes negative information (Roberts and O'Reilly, 1974). In other words, managers tend to be more receptive to upward communication when the information is positive.

Once subordinates create the perception that superiors only want to hear good news and promote their own ideas, it should come as no surprise that upward communication with these superiors is extensively filtered (Daniels et al, 1997).

Krivonos, (1976) stated that subordinates tend to tell their superiors what they think the superiors want to hear or only what they want their superiors to hear. Then the information is distorted so that it will please superiors and reflect positively on subordinates. 

Silence is not just about the difficulty of transmitting bad news to the hierarchy (Tesser & Rosen, 1997). It is about the social and relational nature of work.

Reference;

Fitz Enz J. (1997) The 8 Practices of Exceptional Companies . New York, American Management Association.

Gibson, J. W and Hodgetts, R. M. (1991). Organizational Communication – A Managerial Perspective.

Katz, D. and Kahn, R. L. (1978). ‘‘The Social Psychology of Organisations’’, 2nd Edition, New York: Wiley. 

McClelland, V. A. (1988). Upward communication: Is anyone listening? Personnel Journal, 124-130.

Roberts, K. H. and O’Reilly, C. A. (1974). ‘Failures in upward communication in organizations: three possible culprits’. Academy of Management Journal

Rosen, S. and Tesser, A. (1970).'On reluctance to communicate undesirable information: the MUM effect'

Daniels, T. P., Spiker, B. K., and Papa, M. J. (1997). ‘‘Perspectives on Organizational Communication’’. 4th edn. Brown & Benchmark Publishers.