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Develop an Employee Listening Strategy

Optimize listening efforts to ensure the highest impact on people and the organization.

  • The gap between organizational listening efforts and employee experiences is amplified when employees provide feedback and action is not taken.
  • Without a clear purpose to inform listening efforts, feedback collection becomes superficial, leading to a failure to use insights, which ultimately undermines trust and engagement.

Executive Summary

Critical Insight

  • Employees are raising their voices, but organizations are not always effectively listening. A purposeful listening strategy is critical to ensure employee listening efforts are intentional and result in meaningful action.

Impact & Result

  • Develop an employee listening strategy to set the foundation for effective listening. Ensure efforts are intentional and aligned with organizational strategies by developing a clear purpose statement.
  • Improve the organization’s listening efforts through a current state analysis to uncover common themes. Translate common themes into listening goals and develop activities to support the achievement of listening goals.
  • Support the employee listening strategy by equipping managers with the tools and training to sustain employee listening efforts. Monitor the strategy and make adjustments over time as employee and organizational needs shift to keep the strategy relevant.

Research & Tools

1. Define the driving need

Outline the driving need, determine organizational readiness, establish a steering committee, align with organizational strategies, and develop a purpose statement.

2. Complete a current-state analysis

Inventory current listening efforts and channels, understand overall listening effectiveness, gather employee feedback, and summarize common themes.

3. Prioritize listening goals and develop activities

Translate themes into listening goals, outline required activities, assess the impact and effort required and prioritize listening goals, determine if adjustments to existing channels are needed, review frequency and timing of listening efforts, select metrics, and create a profile to finalize each activity.

4. Communicate the strategy

Create customized communications for the employee listening strategy, identify tools and training resources required by managers to support and sustain the employee listening strategy, plan an evaluation and iteration process for the strategy.

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