How often do you truly listen, when someone is speaking?

Not just hear their words, while you multi-task; mentally going through your “to-do” list or pre-emptively formulating your own response, but actually focus, and in that moment, just listen?

Communication is an area that repeatedly comes up as a concern for many organizations.  While speaking is a key component of communication, we believe that listening is the most important, yet more neglected aspect.

For an organization, better listening can help to minimize your risk or exposure, it can help you avoid employee frustration, and it can drive huge improvements.  Here are some ideas on how organizations can do a better job of listening:

Partner with Employees to encourage a culture of communication

To create a culture of communication, it will take an investment of time, effort, and patience – particularly if this is a newer approach to your company.

Establish a brand ambassador program to highlight your unique EVP.  Encourage ambassadors to take regular employee morale pulse-checks.

Celebrate the positive feedback and take action on the concerns in a way that won’t make employees feel exposed.  Be consistent and help employees understand that your organization wants honest, constructive feedback.

Ask for input, regularly

Let your teams know that you want to hear from them, in as many different forums as possible.  Encourage managers to have regular check-ins with their team members – not just when things are going poorly, or for an annual review.  Consider weekly team updates to keep everyone in the loop and help people see the bigger picture.

Conduct regular stay interviews, sitting down with employees across the organization to have a one-on-one conversation.  Find out how employees feel about the EVP and use the information from these interviews to identify any trends, or larger areas for concern to address.

Schedule less formal sessions for employees at all levels with members of the executive to solicit feedback.  Breakfasts with the CEO or Executives, for smaller groups of employees will be less intimidating and may encourage more candid conversation than a more formal meeting.

Hold larger, Town hall meetings.  Have the senior leadership team let the organization know what the organization’s short and medium-term goals are, and how the company is tracking towards these goals.  Take the opportunity to recognize individuals or teams that have made significant contributions.  Let people know what’s coming next, and how they can provide feedback, if they have ideas.

Diverse Communication Channels

Offer as many different channels for employees to provide their input as you can manage.  Something as simple as more old-fashioned physical suggestion boxes in offices gives employees a more anonymous way to provide feedback.  Consider a dedicated phone line, or a more virtual online suggestion box to provide avenues for individual employees to highlight opportunities for improvement or to point out something they appreciate.

Regular surveys will give your organization a way to set a baseline on what you feel is important and then to measure your progress against that baseline, through your employee feedback.

Consider using 360 reviews.  These can be effective tools for giving more individuals the chance to comment on what they like and what they feel is working well and to point out the areas that need more focus.

Mark Twain is famously credited with saying “If we were to speak more than listen, we would have been given two tongues and one ear.”  Help your organization improve by making 2015 the year you invest in listening to your colleagues.