Last week I had the honor of participating in a Workplace Diversity event held by the St. Anthony Foundation, which focused on the theme of “Somebodies and Nobodies”. The vexing question that came up repeatedly was how to create a workplace environment where it would be safe for employees to bring up problems. I have to admit that I’m not optimistic about protecting truth-speaking in the workplace. As long as human resources departments are charged with supporting management actions rather than advocating for subordinate employees, managers will be able to abuse their power and retaliate against employees for the slightest inconvenience.

While I was drawing on my own experience when I offered my opinion at St. Anthony’s, I’ve since found my impressions can be supported by a joint Harvard/Penn State study on fear in the workplace. I hope business leaders will think seriously about the outcome of this study and consider how worker silence could expose their organization to litigation, undermine productivity, and ultimately destroy their public reputation. It’s not just about alleviating employee stress and doing the right thing anymore: it’s about the bottom line. The culture of fear is bad for business. It’s time to initiate an open conversation, and the first thing to talk about is rankism.