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A large share of the American workforce is staying quiet rather than voicing concerns at work — and it's creating a serious problem for businesses, according to new research from executive coaching firm Radical Candor.
The survey, which polled 600 U.S. employees across all levels — from entry-level staff to HR professionals, managers, and executives — paints a picture of a workplace culture where honesty feels risky. Kim Scott, a CEO coach and co-founder of Radical Candor, describes it as a growing "trust gap" between leadership and the people who work for them.
The disconnect is striking. Nearly half of executives say that not getting honest feedback is their biggest concern. Yet on the other side of the table, nearly half of individual contributors say that psychological safety is their top worry at work — and more than 61% say they regularly watch colleagues go silent rather than share a dissenting opinion.
"At a moment where so many companies are laying people off, people are afraid to say the truth," Scott says.
Managers Haven't Been Taught to Give Feedback
One of the root causes of the problem, according to the survey, is that most managers were simply never trained to have hard conversations. More than 70% said they had little to no opportunity to practice giving feedback before moving into a leadership role. Without that training, many default to defensiveness — or worse, they punish the employees who come to them with honest criticism.
The fallout hits workers hard. More than half of individual contributors say feedback and coaching are rare or nonexistent at their company. And when feedback does come, nearly 62% of all respondents say it tends to be too vague to be useful, dancing around the real issue rather than addressing it head-on.
That vagueness has consequences. A 2024 study by HR platform Textio found that employees who receive poor-quality feedback are 63% more likely to leave within the year.
Some managers shy away from honesty because they don't want to upset people. But Scott argues that kind, clear feedback — even when it stings — is exactly what employees need to grow.
AI Is Making the Anxiety Worse
Workplaces that are already struggling with trust aren't finding much relief in the rise of artificial intelligence — in fact, it's often adding fuel to the fire.
When asked what skills matter most in an AI-driven world, the vast majority of respondents pointed to human qualities: building clarity and alignment, coaching and developing people, and genuinely caring about relationships. Technical know-how came in far behind.
Yet more than half of executives admit they're underinvesting in people development — and 76% of workers say they've noticed. In some companies, learning and development budgets have been redirected entirely toward AI tools, a move Scott calls shortsighted.
Employees who fear being replaced by AI are less likely to flag problems with it — or find creative new ways to use it. Fear, in other words, is a bad environment for innovation.
"Right now, what you need are your people to use their most creative minds to think of whole new ways to work," Scott says. "You need to treat employees like assets to be invested in."
What Leaders Can Actually Do
Building a culture where people feel safe speaking up starts with leaders proving, through action, that honesty won't be punished.
Christine Cruzvergara, chief education strategy officer at Handshake, shared a practical approach: during a first meeting with each direct report, she asks five questions designed to build genuine trust and understanding — things like how they prefer to receive feedback, what their professional goals are, and how they like to be recognized. It's a simple way to signal that you're invested in them as a person, not just a worker.
The goal, Scott says, is a workplace where both leaders and employees feel comfortable giving each other real feedback — and where doing so actually makes the relationship stronger, not more fragile.