Give Your Employees A Voice

This week we're continuing with the first question of 2024, which was (and I'm paraphrasing) "What do we do when our leaders create so many great events to boost employee morale and experience, but they are seen as an entitlement - and entire departments are even refusing to attend.

I'm answering in three videos and you can find my first answer here.

Now let's focus on 3 Listening Strategies you can use to get to whatever the underlying discontent is that's prompting this reaction. 

1. Walk the floor, build relationships with your employees, and ask the hard questions. For instance, "If you had a magic wand, what is one thing you would do to change our organization and the way we work?"

2. Gather people in a room, pose a question and give them 3 index cards. One says START, the next says STOP, and finally CONTINUE. Ask them, "In order to create a better culture or employee experience, what should we STOP doing, what should we START doing, and what should we CONTINUE doing? 

3. Gather people from all departments in a room (up to 10 each session) and ask the hard questions. For instance, how would you rate our organizational culture on a scale of 1-5? If you gave us anything less than a 5, what could we do differently to make it a 5?

Then, take all that information and look for low-hanging fruit and themes. Take care of the low-hanging fruit and let them know what you did. If you see themes that require further discussion (and you will) Gather interdisciplinary teams of leaders and direct line team members and collaborate to come up with a solution that works for the company and employees. Involvement in the solution is key to ensuring buy-in.

Next week we'll discuss what actually makes people feel valued - hint: it's not pizza parties. 

Donna Cutting is the author of 3 books including Employees First! Inspire, Engage, and Focus on the HEART of Your Organization.