Listening is good for business
Every October in the NHS, the National Guardian’s Office run a speaking up campaign to promote the importance of employee voice and speaking up. This year’s theme is #ListenUp. The message of listening up however, goes far and beyond the NHS and every organisation should see the importance of listening to their people.
Listening can be a great motivator for making people feel valued and giving a greater sense of emotional ownership and participation in decisions of the organisation to which they belong.
The importance of Listening Up
Helping to create an environment where people can feel safe speaking up is undeniable:
- In the NHS, around 38% of staff who have a problem won’t raise it, and those who do, raise it, many have an unsatisfactory experience.
- More recently we have seen the horrendous details of what went on at Harrods – and despite being raised with the store and authorities, staff voices went unheard or unheeded.
- Employee voice is a two-way process. If an organisation wants employee voice to be heard and effective, they must ensure employees feel psychologically safe and at ease using their voices.
What organisations can to do listen better
A key to Listening Up is to understanding that listening is far from a passive action. True listening requires effort, focus, empathy, understanding and follow up. A good definition is…
“Employee Voice is the means by which employees can express their views, ideas and concerns in an organisation coupled with the ability of those views to be heard and acted upon to help make positive change in the organisation”
Meeting the Listening Up challenge
- Provide a safe space and route: Someone Speaking Up may be reluctant to do so in or near their workplace. For some, that may involve finding an office or quiet room. For others it may mean having a conversation over the phone, possibly outside of regular working hours. Some people may even prefer to meet off site. Try to accommodate wherever safe and possible.
- Confidentiality: Be very clear early on in a conversation about confidentiality. If appropriate put it in writing.
- Understanding: Try to understand what someone speaking up may be going through. As well as the underlying concern, people speaking up may have been the subject of, or witness to bullying, harassment or similar behaviours. They may well be concerned that speaking up will lead to them being victimised, marginalised or severely impact their job.
- Recognise that people struggle to speak up: Without the proper protection, whistleblowers can face personal, professional and legal attacks for speaking up. This can at times place a huge burden on wanting to speak up, even harming their mental or physical wellbeing. These potential consequences can often, not surprisingly, deter people from coming forward if the risks of reporting seem too great, or if they fear they won’t be taken seriously.
- Understand different ways people communicate: As you listen be acutely aware how people communicate in different ways.
- Show that you are listening: It may sound obvious but be really clear to demonstrate that you are listening. Give the speaker your undivided attention, and acknowledge the message.
- Listen without judging, or jumping to conclusions: Give the person speaking up time and space to articulate
- Next steps: Be very clear with the person speaking up what the next steps are. If appropriate get their agreement to those steps. Let them know when they can expect to hear back from you. Check in that the person speaking up is happy with the next steps.
- Keep Them Informed: When you have agreed next steps make sure you keep the Person formed Follow up
Build trust in your reporting channels
A CIPD survey of 2,372 employees across the UK in 2019, found that only 50% of employees were satisfied or very satisfied with employee voice.
That’s a large chunk of the workforce left behind. Notably, those employees in small and private sector organisations were more satisfied with voice than those in larger and public sector organisations.
Organisations need to work hard to build trust in any reporting channels if you are to create a culture where speaking up is encouraged and celebrated rather than rebuked and feared.
- Make the process safe
- Make the process clear
- Make sure they act (promptly) where appropriate
- Be as transparent as possible
- Share learnings and lessons learned, improvements being made (where appropriate).
Listening Up tools for your organisation
If you are looking at ways to listen to your people better, there are various approaches I would recommend. Given the sensitivities, many people have around speaking up, an anonymous two-way communication channel is a good place to start.
Regular staff surveys are also a great way to engage and receive feedback around specific topics, or areas of the organisation. These can be a comprehensive deep-dive into wellness, respect or workplace practices with a long-form survey. Pulse surveys are a great way to gauge a topic such as mental health.
If you are interested in learning more, please reach out as I would be happy to have a discussion with you.
Why not book in a demonstration of our anonymous two-way reporting and also see how quick and easy our surveys are to create and complete – together with HR case management reporting, you will see how these all integrate giving you real-time dashboard and reporting data, great insights and an overall picture of the health of your organisation.
The WorkInConfidence online platform is cloud-based and easy to use on PC, phone or tablet. We are quick and easy to get started with, trusted by your people, insightful for your management and proven by our extensive user base.
WorkInConfidence joins up trusted employee voice with management insights into the state of your organisation so you can learn, develop and thrive, no matter your size.
