Those who are heard get wings: the importance of listening sessions

In an age of fast-paced communication and high workloads, sincerely listening to employees is often a challenge for organisations. This can lead to stress, demotivation and the loss of valuable resources. Fortunately, listening sessions offer a powerful solution to bridge this communication gap and create an environment where employees feel heard and valued. Because those who are heard get wings.

Stressor: lack of feedback

A recent survey by Page Personnel reveals that, contrary to expectations, lack of recognition appears to be the biggest workplace stressor, followed by the amount of work. A striking finding is that over half of workers consider leaving their jobs because of stress, of which 20% actually do so. For job seekers, lack of feedback proves to be a source of stress in particular, even more so than being rejected.

Listening is not rocket science

These findings highlight the importance of a supportive and communicative work environment. Many employers focus primarily on attracting new talent, but at Square Circle, we believe that actively working to retain and engage employees is equally important. Listening sessions are an effective way to understand what is going on and address the lack of recognition.

Listening sessions: more engagement

Listening sessions are confidential one-to-one conversations and/or group discussions with several employees holding different positions. They allow you to go deeper into hot topics, discover drivers and throw up initial solutions. This leads to higher awareness among management, HR and executives on the one hand, and more commitment among staff on the other. A win-win!

Strategic communication

By organising listening sessions, you will gain crucial strategic insights about communication as an organisation: “Do we know what is going on among people? What are we doing to engage our employees? Have we adequately prepared the messaging before we roll out the communication? Are the executives ready to communicate the message?” However, it is not easy to answer these questions when you are in the middle of it. That is why at Square Circle we offer practical and strategic support, while maintaining a helicopter view.

Experiences with listening sessions

We have been conducting listening sessions for several clients for more than 15 years, each from a different angle. For instance, following a survey on resistance to strategic change, or following a more in-depth employee survey from which some important points of interest emerged.

A common response from participants is “The focus is so much on the business that there is little time for a good conversation. This listening session is a very good initiative”. Listening sessions are indeed an important first step in creating an open and confidential environment where employees can have their voices heard and have an impact on organisational culture.