Organizational dissent is the "expression of disagreement or contradictory opinions about organizational practices and policies".Kassing, J. W. (1998). Development and Validation of the Organizational Dissent Scale Since dissent involves disagreement it can lead to conflict, which if not resolved, can lead to violence and struggle. As a result, many organizations send the message – verbally or nonverbally – that dissent is discouraged. However, recent studies have shown that dissent serves as an important monitoring force within organizations. Dissent can be a warning sign for employee dissatisfaction or organizational decline. Redding (1985) found that receptiveness to dissent allows for corrective feedback to monitor unethical and immoral behavior, impractical and ineffectual organizational practices and policies, poor and unfavorable decision making, and insensitivity to employees' workplace needs and desires. Furthermore, EilermanEilerman, D. (January 2006). Conflict: Cost and opportunity. Retrieved September 17, 2007 argues that the hidden costs of silencing dissent include: wasted and lost time, reduced decision quality, emotional and relationship costs, and decreased job motivation. Perlow (2003) found that employee resentment can lead to a decrease in productivity and creativity which can result in the organization losing money, time, and resources.
Types of dissent There are three types of dissent: articulated, latent, and displaced (Kassing, 1998).
Articulated Involves expressing dissent openly and clearly in a constructive fashion to members of an organization that can effectively influence organization adjustment. This may include supervisors, management, and corporate officers.
Latent Employees resort to expressing dissent to either their coworkers or other ineffectual audiences within the organization. Employees employ this route when they desire to voice their opinions but lack sufficient avenues to effectively express themselves.
Displaced Involves expressing dissent to external audiences, such as family and friends, rather than media or political sources sought out by whistle-blowers.
Factors influencing dissent expression Kassing (1997) states there are three factors that influence which dissent strategy an employee will decide to use: Individual Relational Organizational
Individual influences Individual influences concern qualities that employees bring to the organization, expectations they have acquired, and behaviors they enact within organizations.
Preference to avoid conflict Roberto (2005) claims that employees may have a preference for avoiding conflict. Therefore, they find confrontation in a public setting uncomfortable. Individual's sense of powerlessness and senses of right and wrong are contributing factors (Kassing & Avtgis, 1999).
Verbal aggressiveness and argumentativeness Kassing and Avtgis (1999) demonstrated that an individual's verbal aggressiveness and argumentativeness influence the manner in which an individual will approach expressing dissent. Verbal aggressiveness involves attacking another person's self concept. This may include character attacks, competence attacks, ridicule, and threats. Argumentativeness, on the other hand, is when an individual argues about controversial issues.
Individuals will choose their strategy for expressing dissent based on the strength of their arguments. Kassing and Avtgis (1999) found an individual who is more argumentative and less verbally aggressive is prone to use articulated dissent. On the other hand, an individual who lacks argumentative skills will resort to using a less direct and more aggressive strategy, latent dissent.
Work locus of control Work locus of control can also be a contributing influence. An individual with an internal locus of control orientation believes that they have control over their destiny. They feel the only way to bring about a desired outcome is to act. Individuals who see their lives as being controlled by outside forces demonstrate an external locus of control (Robbins, 2005). Kassing's (2001) study demonstrated that employees with an internal locus of control used articulated dissent whereas an employee with an external locus of control preferred to use latent dissent.
Relational influences Relational influences include the types and qualities of relationships people maintain within their organization.
Employee relationships Employees develop and maintain various relationships within organizations. These relationships can influence the choices employees make about expressing dissent. Employees may feel uncomfortable voicing their dissenting opinions in the presence of others because they feel the best way to preserve relationships is to keep quiet. Homogeneous groups also place pressure on individuals to conform. Since many people fear being embarrassed in front of their peers, they can easily be lulled into consensus (Roberto, 2005).
Superior–subordinate relationship The superior–subordinate relationship is an important relational factor. Employees who perceive they have a higher-quality relationship with their supervisors are more often to use articulated dissent. They feel their supervisors respect their opinions and that they have mutual influence and persuasion over the outcome of organizational decisions. Conversely, employees that perceive their relationship with their supervisor as low-quality will resort to latent dissent. They feel that there is no room to voice their opinions (Kassing, 2000).
Management which models the use of articulated dissent contributes to the use of articulated dissent among its employees (Kassing & Avtgis, 1999). Subordinates who witness their supervisors successfully articulating dissent may be more likely and more willing to adopt similar strategies. However, a supervisor must keep in mind that expressing dissent can be very difficult and uncomfortable for lower-level managers and employees. Therefore, supervisors should not only take actions to encourage dissent, they must be willing to seek out individuals willing to say no to them (Roberto, 2005).
Organizational influences Organizational influences concern how organizations relate to their employees.
Organizational norms Once an employee joins an organization, it is through assimilation that they learn the norms of the organization. Perlow (2003) states that organizations placing "high value on being polite and avoiding confrontation" can cause employees to be uncomfortable expressing their differences. Employees make assessments about motives and restraints when others dissent and use this knowledge to inform their own decisions about when and how to use dissent (Kassing, 2001). Furthermore, some corporate assumptions are accepted without questioning. For example, employees will defer to the expert's opinion (Roberto, 2005).
Organizational identification Organizational identification and workplace freedom of speech has an effect on an individual's choice of expressing dissent (Kassing, 2000). If an individual highly identifies himself or herself with the organization, they are more likely to use the dissent strategy that mirrors the organization's values. If the organization demonstrates it values dissent and promotes workplace freedom of speech, the highly identified employee will demonstrate articulate dissent.
Openness An organization that limits the opportunities for employees to voice their opinions, demonstrates contradictory expectations, and gives the perception that openness is not favored, will lead employees to select latent dissent strategies (Kassing & Avtgis, 1999).
Perceptions of organizational dissenters The perceptions of supervisors and coworkers can be used to further determine an individual's choice of dissent strategy. Employees will take notice of other dissenters and the consequences of their actions and will use this information to refine their "sense of organizational tolerance for dissent, to determine what issues merit dissent, and to inform their future dissent strategy choices" (Kassing, 2001).
Kassing (2001) found that articulated and latent dissenters were perceived differently. People perceived articulated dissenters to be more satisfied, more committed, possess higher quality relationships with their supervisors, and seen as employees who believed they have influence within their organizations than latent dissenters. Furthermore, articulated dissenters, compared to latent dissenters, were perceived to be less verbally aggressive.
Triggering events Organizational dissent begins with a triggering event. This triggering event is what propels individuals to speak out and share their opinions about organizational practices or politics. An individual will consider the issue of dissent and whom it concerns before deciding what dissent strategy to use. The types of issues that cause employees to dissent vary. The majority of employees expressed dissent due to resistance of organizational change. Other factors include employee treatment, decision making tactics, inefficiency, role/responsibility, resources, ethics, performance evaluations, and preventing harm (Kassing, 2002).
In addition to the dissent-triggering event, the focus of the issues can be relevant to how one expresses dissent. Kassing (2002) believed individuals may focus on improving matters within the organization that affect themselves (self-focused), they may focus on the welfare of the organization of the whole (other-focused) or they may focus on issues concerning their co-workers (neutral).
Articulated dissent An individual will use upward articulate dissent in response to functional and other-focused dissent-triggering events. Organizations are more receptive to upward articulate dissenting when it is in regards to functional aspects. This type of dissent gives the perception that dissenters are being constructive and are concerned with issues of "principle rather than personal-advantage". It allows the employee to signal their commitment to cooperative goals.
Latent dissent Individuals may also express latent dissent in response to functional and other-focused dissent-triggering. They determine to use latent instead of articulate when they believe that management is not receptive to employee dissent. This indicates that individuals would use articulate dissent if they feel those channels are not available and accessible. Latent dissent is also used in protective dissent–triggering events.
Displaced dissent Individuals will readily use displaced dissent regardless of the focus or triggering event. External audiences provide individuals with a low-risk alternative to express dissent. The downfall for organizations, however, is the loss of employee feedback. If an employee expresses their dissent to outsiders, the organization will not hear about it and will assume that less dissent exists within the organization. When an organization fails to address potential issues, employees may then view the organization as discouraging dissent and will resort to using either latent or displaced dissent in the future.
Benefits of upward dissent In 2002, Kassing's research found upward dissent can be beneficial to both the organization and the individuals involved.
Organizational benefits Upward dissent serves as an important monitoring force and allows the organization to identify problems and issues before they become damaging.
Individual benefits Employees who express upward dissent seem more satisfied, to have better work relationships, and to identify with their organization.
Upward dissent strategies