Do not say a word! Conceptualizing employee silence in a long-term crisis context

Prouska, Rea; Psychogios, Alexandros

Abstract

Although research has emphasized the organizational and individual factors that influence employee voice and silence at work, it is less known how employee voice/silence is affected by the economic context, particularly when this context is one of intensive and long-term economic crisis in a country with weak institutional bases. In this study we explore how employee silence is formulated in long-term turbulent economic environments and in more vulnerable organizational settings like those of small enterprises. The study draws on qualitative data gathered from 63 interviews with employees in a total of 48 small enterprises in Greece in two periods of time (2009 and 2015). This study suggests a new type of employee silence, social empathy silence, and offers a conceptual framework for understanding the development of silence over time in particular contexts of long-term turbulence and crisis.

Citation

Prouska, R., & Psychogios, A. (2018). Do not say a word! Conceptualizing employee silence in a long-term crisis context. The international journal of human resource management, 29(5), 885-914. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1212913

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 1, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Aug 1, 2016
• Publication Date: 2018
• Deposit Date: Jun 30, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 6, 2018
• Journal: International journal of human resource management
• Print ISSN: 0958-5192
• Electronic ISSN: 1466-4399
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 885-914
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1212913
• Keywords: Employee voice; Employee silence; Crisis; Social empathy silence; Small enterprises; Greece
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/440543
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09585192.2016.1212913
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International journal of human resource management on 01/08/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09585192.2016.1212913