Hyunsun Park, 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.
“It felt really hollow,” Park recalled. “All 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.”
Despite the prestige and pay, she walked away to pursue more meaningful work. She enrolled in a master’s program, fell in love with the field of organizational behavior, and eventually committed to a Ph.D. Today, Park’s research works to understand people and organizations.
What fascinated Park most wasn’t just the study of organizations; it was the people within them. She became fascinated by a simple question: Why don’t employees speak up when they see something going wrong? Park soon discovered that this deceptively simple question was deeply complex in practice.
Her research led down a path of discovery that would shape her doctoral research. Park homed in on a concept known as employee voice — the act of speaking up with concerns, suggestions, or warnings. But she wasn’t interested in the obvious cases. She wanted to understand what happens when the threat isn’t clear. What happens when the warning signs are ambiguous, and the danger is uncertain?
“In American culture, we value speaking up,” she said. “But in the workplace, it’s not that easy. People worry about how their managers will react. Will they look foolish? Will they be punished or even lose their job?”
Her research, published in the "Journal of Applied Pyschology", 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. “When the signals are unclear, people freeze,” she explained. “They assume someone else — usually a manager — will figure it out.”
One quote from her interviews stood out:
“I noticed something was off with the readings, but I wasn’t sure if it was serious. I didn’t want to raise a false alarm, so I stayed quiet.”
This hesitation, Park argues, can be dangerous. “These are the moments when employees should speak up the most,” Park explained. “They’re on the front lines. They notice things first. But ironically, this is when they’re least likely to say anything.”
It turns out, managers are often just as confused by ambiguous signals. This creates a dangerous silence — one where early signs of trouble go unaddressed until it’s too late. In industries like chemical engineering or electronics — where she conducted many of her interviews — early warning signs can mean the difference between a minor issue and a major disaster.
Park’s work doesn’t just diagnose the problem. She offers a path forward. She advocates for organizations to build a culture of “preoccupation with failure.” This is a mindset where employees are trained and encouraged to notice and speak up about potential issues, even when they’re 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.
Park hopes her research will empower employees to trust their instincts and speak up sooner. “Employees 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.”
Your voice matters, even when you’re not 100% certain. Park’s research shows that moments of ambiguity are when your voice is needed most.