{
  "title": "“My door is open”: why employees still stay silent",
  "url": "https://shr.swiss/blog/porte-ouverte-silence-collaborateurs-recherche-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-10-15",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Many line managers believe they have addressed the issue of speaking up by declaring themselves available. Research on organisational silence shows that an open door is almost never enough.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Frontline Management",
  "place": {
    "name": "Geneva",
    "region": "Genève",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Frances Milliken, Elizabeth Morrison and Patricia Hewlin (2003, Journal of Management Studies) interviewed employees about situations in which they had a concern but did not express it: a large majority described at least one."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The overlooked distinction: availability is not openness",
      "point": "James Detert and Ethan Burris (2007, Academy of Management Journal) compared several managerial behaviours."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What this challenges in common management practices",
      "point": "Detert and Amy Edmondson (2011, Academy of Management Journal) describe “implicit voice theories”: beliefs taken for granted — do not criticise a project in front of your manager’s manager, do not speak up without a ready-made solution — that inhibit speaking up even with a well-intentioned manager."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What team research adds",
      "point": "Amy Edmondson (1999, Administrative Science Quarterly) showed that psychological safety — the shared belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for a question, a mistake or a disagreement — is associated with team learning behaviours: asking for help, reporting a problem, discussing a failure."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Defensible conclusions and their limits",
      "point": "Most of these studies rely on surveys and interviews, with measures that are often self-reported; they establish robust, replicated associations, not demonstrated causality."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical implication to test in Geneva",
      "point": "Replace “Any questions?” with a specific question that legitimises reservations: “What could cause this schedule to fail?” Then, over one month, observe two simple things: how many problems are reported to you before you discover them yourself, and what you did with the first warning you received — did you thank the person who raised it, follow it up, or discuss how it was expressed? No questionnaire is needed."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Hewlin",
      "year": "2003",
      "source": "Journal of Management Studies"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Morrison",
      "year": "2014",
      "source": "Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Burris",
      "year": "2007",
      "source": "Academy of Management Journal"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Edmondson",
      "year": "2011",
      "source": "Academy of Management Journal"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Edmondson",
      "year": "1999",
      "source": "Administrative Science Quarterly"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 545,
  "image": "https://shr.swiss/img/blog-Training-Frontline-Management-Geneva-porte-ouverte-silence-collaborateurs-recherche-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://shr.swiss/blog/porte-ouverte-silence-collaborateurs-recherche",
    "en": "https://shr.swiss/blog/porte-ouverte-silence-collaborateurs-recherche-en",
    "de": "https://shr.swiss/blog/porte-ouverte-silence-collaborateurs-recherche-de",
    "it": "https://shr.swiss/blog/porte-ouverte-silence-collaborateurs-recherche-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://shr.swiss/formation-management-de-proximite-geneve",
    "city": "https://shr.swiss/formations-ville/geneve",
    "blog": "https://shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}