Open Doors and Iron Cages

Abstract

Organizational dissent and employee voice have been linked to benefits for companies and employees, but part of realizing those benefits is how a supervisor responds to subordinates’ communication. Two studies presented here explored supervisors’ responses to dissent. Results from Study One indicated a continuum of responses to dissent from instrumental support to rejection. However, managers in all points along that continuum claimed to be “open” to employees. In contrast to previous research, supervisors were apt to choose not to act on dissent rather than sanctioning the dissenter. Results also specified conditions that increased the likelihood of employee dissent being successful. Study Two further explored those conditions by comparing supervisors’ recollections of dissent to their perceptions of the effectiveness and appropriateness of that dissent. Both studies draw attention to multiple perspectives of employee dissent and to the importance of supervisors’ perceptions in their responses and in the dissent process.