How to encourage employees to speak up

In the 1999 workplace comedy Office Space, Peter Gibbons, played by Ron Livingston, works as a programmer at a software company called Initech. After a therapist hypnotizes him to stop caring about his job, he tells two consultants tasked with downsizing Initech about how little work he does, as well as about his micromanaging bosses.

What do the consultants do? Because of Peter’s honesty, they promote him and fire his bosses.

While most workplaces don’t operate this way, encouraging employees to speak their minds and use conflict as an opportunity to address their concerns in a timely, empathetic manner can engage a workforce, Katya Laviolette, chief people officer at password management company 1Password, told HR Brew.

Uncover issues. While HR leaders can’t hypnotize their employees to share what’s on their minds, they can create the space for them to feel comfortable discussing issues. One way to do this, Laviolette suggested, is for HR to be a “bridge” and facilitate discussions between employees who have unresolved issues.

HR should say, “Hey, what’s going on? I’ve observed this. Let’s talk,” Laviolette said. “You [have] to get the issues on the table, get the facts on the table, take the emotions out of it, and try to move things forward.”

It’s also important for HR leaders to do an “introspection [or] post-mortem” with employees after they’ve had these conversations, so they can ask how it went and what could’ve gone better. “You’re always constantly iterating,” she added.

You steer. HR also needs to anticipate and address potential areas of conflict, Laviolette said. Doing so can help create a more inclusive workplace. The Israel-Hamas war is a timely example of this, she said.

“With the Israel-Hamas war, I put out two notes about it to [my] organization,” Laviolette said. “We didn’t hide behind it, we addressed it…We also said, if you need to take space for issues such as this that are affecting you, please talk to your manager and do so.”

When employees are encouraged to speak up, they’ll be more likely to bring the best version of themselves to work, Laviolette said.

Spoiler alert: Things don’t work out for Peter at Initech. But your employees don’t have to have the same fate.