A recent workplace story in Singapore sparked strong reactions online: an employee shared that after giving honest feedback during a check-in, she was asked to leave the company shortly after. The takeaway many people voiced was a familiar one — “Never answer too honestly in the workplace.”
While the story itself is confronting, it points to a deeper and more important issue: how feedback is given, received, and held within workplace cultures, and what this means for mental well-being.
Honesty vs Psychological Safety
Most organisations say they value openness. Employees are encouraged to “speak up” and “share feedback.” Yet in practice, the psychological safety required for honest conversations is not always present.
Psychological safety refers to the belief that one can express ideas, concerns, or observations without fear of punishment or humiliation. When feedback — even if imperfectly phrased — is met with defensiveness or abrupt consequences, it sends a powerful message to others watching: silence is safer.
Over time, this can lead to:
- Employees withholding concerns
- Increased stress and emotional vigilance
- Disengagement and quiet withdrawal
These are not performance issues — they are well-being signals.
The Role of Culture and Context
Singapore workplaces are diverse, but many still operate within cultures that value harmony, respect for hierarchy, and indirect communication. In such environments, how something is said can carry as much weight as what is said.
This does not mean employees must be insincere. It does mean that feedback often lands better when:
- Observations are separated from judgement
- Feedback is framed around shared goals
- Suggestions are offered as questions or possibilities
For example, rather than stating that an organisation lacks structure, one might ask how decisions are typically made and whether there is room to clarify processes.
These approaches reduce defensiveness and help keep conversations constructive.
When Feedback Is Ignored — or Shut Down
On the other end of the spectrum, some employees do speak up repeatedly, only to find their feedback acknowledged but not acted upon. Over time, this can be just as damaging.
When feedback disappears into silence, people learn that speaking up has no impact. This creates a culture of learned silence, where employees stop raising concerns not because everything is fine, but because it feels pointless.
From a mental well-being perspective, this erosion of trust increases frustration, emotional fatigue, and disengagement.
Why These Conversations Matter for Well-Being
Feedback conversations are not neutral. They involve vulnerability, power dynamics, and emotional risk — especially for newer employees or those on probation.
When organisations lack clear norms around how feedback is invited, discussed, and followed up on, both employees and managers may feel unsafe. Employees fear consequences; managers fear loss of control or challenge to authority.
This is where approaches like Psychological First Aid (PFA) are relevant. PFA does not require people to solve problems or provide therapy. It encourages calm presence, respectful listening, and appropriate responses — skills that are highly applicable to feedback conversations.
Moving Towards Healthier Feedback Cultures
Healthier workplaces do not avoid discomfort; they manage it well.
This includes:
- Being clear about the purpose of feedback conversations
- Responding with curiosity rather than defensiveness
- Closing the loop, even when suggestions cannot be implemented
- Recognising the emotional effort it takes to speak up
For employees, this means learning to frame feedback thoughtfully.
For leaders, it means recognising that how feedback is received sets the tone for trust, safety, and long-term engagement.
A Final Reflection
The lesson from stories like these is not that honesty is dangerous — but that honesty without psychological safety is risky.
Workplaces that genuinely value well-being invest not only in encouraging people to speak up, but in building the skills, structures, and culture needed to hold those conversations with care.
When feedback is treated as a shared responsibility rather than a threat, organisations become not only more effective — but more human.
