{"682540":{"#nid":"682540","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Hyunsun Park\u2019s Research Discovers That a Preoccupation With Failure Empowers Employee Voice","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/directory\/faculty\/park\/index.html\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHyunsun Park\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor of Organizational Behavior at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, never expected to attend graduate school. In fact, she was determined to avoid it. Two years into her job as an equity analyst for Bloomberg, her initial plan to get out of school fast and make money grew stale.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt felt really hollow,\u201d Park recalled. \u201cAll we talked about was how much money we were making or losing. There was no conversation about how people were feeling, how they were working together, or whether they were satisfied.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDespite the prestige and pay, she walked away to pursue more meaningful work. She enrolled in a master\u2019s program, fell in love with the field of organizational behavior, and eventually committed to a Ph.D. Today, Park\u2019s research works to understand people and organizations.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat fascinated Park most wasn\u2019t just the study of organizations; it was the people within them. She became fascinated by a simple question:\u202fWhy don\u2019t employees speak up when they see something going wrong? Park soon discovered that this deceptively simple question was deeply complex in practice.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer research led down a path of discovery that would shape her doctoral research. Park homed in on a concept known as\u202femployee voice \u2014 the act of speaking up with concerns, suggestions, or warnings. But she wasn\u2019t interested in the obvious cases. She wanted to understand what happens when the threat isn\u2019t clear. What happens when the warning signs are ambiguous, and the danger is uncertain?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn American culture, we value speaking up,\u201d she said. \u201cBut in the workplace, it\u2019s not that easy. People worry about how their managers will react. Will they look foolish? Will they be punished or even lose their job?\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer research, published in the \u0022\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/record\/2024-84505-001\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJournal of Applied Pyschology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0022, revealed a troubling pattern. Employees are least likely to speak up when they face ambiguous threats. Through interviews, field studies, and experiments involving over 1,400 participants, Park found that cognitive overload and a deep-rooted reliance on managerial judgment often silenced employees. \u201cWhen the signals are unclear, people freeze,\u201d she explained. \u201cThey assume someone else \u2014 usually a manager \u2014 will figure it out.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne quote from her interviews stood out:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI noticed something was off with the readings, but I wasn\u2019t sure if it was serious. I didn\u2019t want to raise a false alarm, so I stayed quiet.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis hesitation, Park argues, can be dangerous. \u201cThese are the moments when employees should speak up the most,\u201d Park explained. \u201cThey\u2019re on the front lines. They notice things first. But ironically, this is when they\u2019re least likely to say anything.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt turns out, managers are often just as confused by ambiguous signals. This creates a dangerous silence \u2014 one where early signs of trouble go unaddressed until it\u2019s too late. In industries like chemical engineering or electronics \u2014 where she conducted many of her interviews \u2014 early warning signs can mean the difference between a minor issue and a major disaster.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPark\u2019s work doesn\u2019t just diagnose the problem. She offers a path forward. She advocates for organizations to build a\u202fculture of \u201cpreoccupation with failure.\u201d This is a mindset where employees are trained and encouraged to notice and speak up about potential issues, even when they\u2019re not sure. Companies like Netflix, she noted, are already investing in training programs to help employees analyze early warning signs and feel confident raising concerns.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPark hopes her research will\u202fempower employees to trust their instincts\u202fand speak up sooner. \u201cEmployees should realize the kind of power that they have, and they should feel free to challenge leadership and management and the decisions that are being made. Their voices are critical when they see signs of a problem.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYour voice matters, even when you\u2019re not 100% certain. Park\u2019s research shows that moments of ambiguity are when your voice is needed most.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/hbr.org\/2025\/04\/why-employees-stay-silent-when-they-see-warning-signs-of-a-problem\u0022\u003ERead More: Harvard Business Review\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHyunsun Park\u2019s research explores why employees hesitate to speak up, especially in ambiguous situations, and proposes ways to empower organizations to foster a culture where early concerns are voiced and addressed.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Hyunsun Park\u2019s research explores why employees hesitate to speak up, especially in ambiguous situations, and proposes ways to empower organizations to foster a culture where early concerns are voiced and addressed."}],"uid":"36730","created_gmt":"2025-05-27 15:57:57","changed_gmt":"2025-05-27 16:05:04","author":"klowe36","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-05-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-05-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677133":{"id":"677133","type":"image","title":"Hyunsun Park, assistant professor of Organizational Behavior","body":"\u003Cp\u003EHyunsun Park, assistant professor of Organizational Behavior\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1748360923","gmt_created":"2025-05-27 15:48:43","changed":"1748361238","gmt_changed":"2025-05-27 15:53:58","alt":"A woman leans against a railing and smiles","file":{"fid":"261001","name":"hyunsun-park.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/05\/27\/hyunsun-park.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/05\/27\/hyunsun-park.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":305913,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/05\/27\/hyunsun-park.jpg?itok=FrqZ9Dda"}}},"media_ids":["677133"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["kristin.lowe@scheller.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}