Harnessing Employee Voice

Sep ‘24

Harnessing Employee Voice

By People Sorted

“Welcome to the stage….

The Employeeeeeee Voooooooiiiicesssss”

*** If you managed to read that without a ‘voice over voice’ I salute you! ***

Let me ask you a question…

Are you listening to your employees? Like really listening?

If the answer is;

“Yeah… kinda’ but they just moan so…”
“We tried but it didn’t work…”
“That sounds like a terrible idea..”
“Whoahh slooow on down there cowgirl, that sounds risky…”

Or just a plain

“No!”

…I’ve got you, ‘cos I’m here to share why listening to hear (yep, no earmuffs here thanks!) and powering-up your employees to shout loudly AND safely, when they need to, is a good idea!

What is Employee Voice?

Employee voice is all about creating a positive and psychologically safe environment where every employee feels heard, valued, and encouraged to share their opinions and ideas, regardless of level.

Where everyone can have their say.

Employee voice is the way people communicate their views to their employer and influence matters that affect them at work.

(CIPD)

The Benefits of Giving Your Employee’s a Voice

When people feel their opinions matter, they become more than just a ‘worker’ doing the bare minimum – they’re more invested and contribute way more!

Work is no longer just about getting sh1t done – it’s about sharing ideas, thoughts…

AND those scary concerns…

BUT I promise you it’s worth it because you’ll experience;

greater employee engagement and job satisfaction

higher levels of productivity and resilience

innovation, creativity and collective learning

inclusive and collective decision-making

positive, transparent and trusting workplace

improved employee retention and talent attraction

high agility and responsiveness to market changes
legal and ethical compliance and accountability

In a nutshell, embracing employee voice isn’t just ‘do-gooder-washing’ (just made up a thang there..!)

It’s the magic that creates a workplace that’s totally awesome with epic levels of employee engagement and trust between leadership and the rest of the organisation!

In turn this means that costly mistakes are less likely to happen as any issues will get fixed faster!

Cool huh!?

“Employee voice is the cheapest smoke alarm you can buy,”

(David MacLeod, co-chair of the Employee Engagement Task Force and co-author of the MacLeod Report)

My Top Tips on Harnessing Your Employees Voices

For your employees to start ‘singing’ like they’re at choir practice (and not like a canary!), you’ll need to;

Make the environment safe – and I mean really safe – because if you don’t do this, the rest won’t work!. Encouraging open expression and comms without fear of reprisal, mockery or judgement is a great place to start.
Value all voices equally no matter where the employee is from in the business, who they work for, what level they are, or who they are!
Actively listen and demonstrate genuine interest in, and respect for, employee opinions and meaningful issues – that means no asking a question and walking away before you have the answer!
Acknowledge and celebrate employees’ ideas and initiatives
Provide effective communication training – no boring shizzle here though thanks ‘cos boring doesn’t work!
Value teamwork and collective input
Create a “you told us … so we did” mindset so that employees see that leadership is listening and acting on their behalf

But How Do We Do It Michelle?

Implement confidential feedback mechanisms – BUT anonymous must mean anonymous or you’ll lose trust and breed a toxic work culture! No Thanks!!
Create facilitated discussions on specific topics that are of concern. By allowing different voices to get in on the act of finding solutions, that they in turn become invested in making change happen.
Make it normal for staff to talk openly with leadership about their concerns alongside their wins – hearing the reality from the ‘horses mouth’ could be invaluable and stop costly mistakes happening! A brilliant way to look at this is from the wonderful Lisa Murphy, who tells us to ask ourselves how easily the most junior person can get their ideas to the most senior! Just sit in that for a moment!

POW!!

“Harnessing the voice of all employees is something that is fundamental to creating a great culture and successful, adaptive and innovative organisation!”

(Lisa Murphy)

Something very special happens to the very fabric of an organisation when every individual’s voice is heard and acknowledged.

By prioritising employee voice, you will create a more engaged, innovative, and successful workplace and reduce toxic work culture that leads to burnout.

Not only is it right for the people, but it’s also right for the business in the long run!

So, who’s listening now??

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