1. The Cost of Being Vocal
I can definitely understand how it could be incredibly difficult to speak up to your managers against something that they specifically endorsed, and in the case of our case study, directly instructed you to do something. The fear around this is dependent on the following
- Being seen as uncooperative and unfulfilling of job “duties” (potential grounds for termination)
- Causing belief driven riffs between you and coworkers/management
- Being judged for caring and not being a good “culture fit”
While the first two points here are self-explanatory, I think the third point gets at a bit of an unspoken culture that exists in startups and tech related roles. There is a specific hunger akin to startups that is infectious and can get work done, however, also risks not respecting traditional company infrastructures that may be more likely to protect employees who may want to raise concerns (HR, etc). I think there is also a level of excitement and personal stake that could heighten the cost of being vocal since all employees once again feel more stake in the work that they do and for leadership the tasks that they give out.
2. Reducing Such Threats
We have previously talked about whether we would quit jobs when being fronted with an ethical problem or tasked with potential unethical practices at work. I think that by and large however, many people over the course of their careers will find themselves handling a situation similar in dilemma to the case study, and therefore do not think that quitting is always the answer (perhaps in extreme cases). I think it is far more important that employees and management can feel that they can talk about these issues in a way that is productive. I do think that reducing such threats would largely depend on management and their ability to foster a healthy work environment where employees feel safe being honest about any ethical concerns they may have. The seed that toxic work environments can plant is enough to split companies, break apart cofounders, and cause mass amounts of employees to quit. I actually think that reducing these threats and encourage open communication is integral to company success, not just something that is morally correct.
3. My Plan
It feels hard to imagine how to prepare for something like this although the HBR article did help. I think that for me, my plan in order to do this is to actually index for company culture when applying for roles, as I think that is something that can mitigate a lot of this harm. I would also make sure to generally prepare for the kinds of ethical issues that could arise in positions that I am interested in and be clear about my values up front when joining a company setting a tone for how I may approach certain problems so that these do not come as a shock and potentially lower the cost of being vocal later down the line.
