Matching the demographic and work profile of employees to workplace bullying and employee silence

Workplace bullying may lead to employee silence in many organizations. As such, this study attempts to examine the existence of employee silence, which might have a negative effect on organizational productivity and profitability. The objectives of the study are (1) to find out the extent of the existence of workplace bullying and employee silence among employees of a higher learning institution, (2) to analyze the differences among types of demographic characteristics and work-related information in relation to workplace bullying and employee silence, and (3) to determine the relationship between workplace bullying and employee silence. The pilot study was conducted at Open University Malaysia (OUM) among 50 respondents using the survey method with the questionnaire as the research instrument for data collection. Results show that workplace bullying is comparatively less prevalent. However, employee silence does exist. Non-academic staff members are more likely to exhibit silence compared to academic staff members. Also, there is a positive relationship between workplace bullying and employee silence in the higher learning institution. Hence, the spiral of silence theory does apply to the academic sphere. ******************************************************************************************************************************************* Keganasan di tempat kerja boleh menyebabkan kesunyian pekerja dalam banyak organisasi. Oleh itu, kajian ini cuba untuk mengkaji kewujudan kesunyian pekerja, yang mungkin memberi kesan negatif terhadap produktiviti organisasi dan keuntungan. Objektif kajian ini adalah (1) untuk mengetahui tahap kewujudan buli tempat kerja dan kesunyian pekerja di kalangan pekerja institusi pengajian tinggi, (2) untuk menganalisis perbezaan di antara jenis ciri demografi dan maklumat yang berkaitan dengan pekerjaan berhubung ke arah buli tempat kerja dan kesunyian pekerja, dan (3) untuk menentukan hubungan antara buli tempat kerja dan kesunyian pekerja. Kajian rintis dijalankan di Open University Malaysia (OUM) di kalangan 50 responden menggunakan kaedah tinjauan dengan soal selidik sebagai instrumen kajian untuk pengumpulan data. Keputusan menunjukkan bahawa buli di tempat kerja agak kurang lazim. Walau bagaimanapun, kesunyian pekerja wujud. Ahli kakitangan bukan akademik lebih cenderung untuk memperlihatkan keheningan berbanding anggota staf akademik. Selain itu, terdapat hubungan positif antara buli di tempat kerja dan kesunyian pekerja di institusi pengajian tinggi. Justeru, teori bisu yang diamalkan berlaku untuk bidang akademik