 Communication is key to business. If employees don't communicate ideas or point out problems, organizations can struggle to improve efficiency and offer innovative products and services. That's why leaders and organizations often encourage workers to voice their ideas and perspectives. If employees speak up and express their ideas and opinions, the thinking goes, then they're not remaining silent about other problems or concerns. It turns out that's not the case. In an Academy of Management journal paper, researchers analyzed multiple studies involving thousands of employees to understand the link between voice, how often employees volunteer constructive ideas or issues at work, and silence, the extent to which they intentionally withhold ideas or issues. The conclusion was that the two behaviors were virtually independent. The research found that voice and silence are driven by different psychological factors. Silence is primarily driven by lack of psychological safety, the belief that acting may bring about harmful interpersonal consequences. In contrast, voice is more strongly driven by perceived impact, a sense that one's opinions matter and can affect change. The implication is that leaders need to treat voice and silence as distinct and adopt different behaviors and processes to manage each. When it comes to perceived impact and voice, leaders need to make sure employees believe that their ideas will be listened to, taken into consideration and that their voice could affect decisions or operations. This requires not only directly inviting ideas, but also explaining what happened to these ideas and if they were abandoned, why? When it comes to psychological safety and reducing silence, managers need to pay attention to their own and others' reactions to employees and protect these employees from any negative reactions or social backlash. It also requires inviting input on sensitive topics using multiple methods. For instance, using one-on-one meetings, anonymous surveys, and meetings with skip-level leaders will provide employees with the ability to select the method they feel most comfortable with when sharing their honest opinions. Ultimately, leaders must understand the unique drivers of voice and silence and create mechanisms that ensure that ideas, suggestions, and problems are all communicated.