Organizational silence, communication satisfaction and quiet quitting: A study in a public institution

Effective communication and employee contribution are essential for businesses to sustain their existence and achieve organizational goal. This study examines the phenomenon of "organizational silence," which has gained importance in recent years as a prevalent occurrence. It also explores the concept of "quiet quitting," where individuals continue working without formally resigning, effectively abandoning their jobs and making minimal effort to fulfill their responsibilities as employees. Furthermore, this quantitative study aim to analyze and identify the relationship between communication satisfaction and quiet quitting and also organizational silence and quiet quitting. A questionnaire conducted among 232 employees in one public institution in Ankara using the Organizational Silence (Knoll & Dick, 2012), Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire (Downs & Hazen, 1977) and Quiet Quitting scale (Galanis et al., 2023). Collected data is analyzed. The results indicate that organizational silence has a significant and positive impact on quiet quitting, while communication satisfaction level has a significant and negative impact on quiet quitting. Additionally, it was found that communication satisfaction plays a mediating role in the relationship between organizational silence and quiet quitting. This study contributes to the field by adapting the quiet quitting scale developed by Galanis et al. (2023) for the first time in the Turkish context, and it is also important in exploring the relationship with the other two mentioned concepts. The relationship identified between these three concepts in this study is extremely important for guiding future research.