Framing potential losses at work increases upward communication from employees to supervisors

What is it about?

The way work problems are framed may determine whether employees voice concerns in discussions with supervisors. We asked employees to describe a problem at work, then we asked employees to either describe the potential losses that could occur if the problem was not fixed, or to describe the potential gains that could be acquired if the problem was fixed. In agreement with Prospect Theory, results revealed that employees were more willing to speak up to supervisors about these problems in the loss framing condition. This positive relationship between loss framing and employee voice was magnified when employees thought about collective losses. We replicated these findings in field studies within health care, consulting, and auditing organizations.

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Photo by ThisisEngineering on Unsplash

Photo by ThisisEngineering on Unsplash

Why is it important?

While some determinants of employee voice are relatively stable and difficult to change (such as employees’ personality and organizational climate); our findings show that framing is a malleable tool that can be used by supervisors to influence the amount of upward communication in organizations. Our findings help to predict when employees will decide to take on the risks associated with raising discussions of problems with supervisors at work, and in contrast, when employees will decide to remain silent about organizational problems.

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