Recent research has shown us what many already knew of course, is that to listen to your employees and involve them in the company thinking, and improves engagement and performance- pure genius!!
The problems start when the myriad of listening techniques and tactics start to confuse the original intentions of involving staff in the business.
Consultation exercises and surveys are extremely limited and often fail to get quantifiable results that are not entirely subjective or representing the views of the minority with the loudest shout. Many businesses confuse “engagement” with the actions of disseminating information on a “tell” and not “listen” basis
“Employee Voice” is an attempt to create a living dialogue between a company and its staff at all levels, for the first time, a listening dialogue as opposed to a telling or informing one. Two way communication – how novel!
It is the listening aspect that creates positive movement in staff attitudes, creates greater trust and improves motivation. So how exactly do you install “Employee Voice” into an Organisation?
The difficulties are two fold; Trust and competence
Trust that staff feel in starting this two way conversation is often eroded due to fear of reprisals, exposure to critics’ or denial. Then there is the reaction from management from the knowledge that “things are not all rosy in the garden” too often this results in either denial or a reaction that is blunt and sometimes threatening. Staff hesitates in the engagement process, as many times they see their colleagues shot down for raising their head above the parapit or voicing the unspoken criticism.
Competence lies with executive or senior management in that they have never been adequately trained or supported to handle the approaches needed to truly engage with staff in a way that is financially driven to provide results for the Company.
Put the two things together and you have the “us and them” like placing a stick of dynamite next to an open fire. Something’s going to go wrong soon!
From a psychology point of view, we have the “soft stuff” of HR meeting the “hard stuff” of numbers based management – just how do we bring the two together?
The answer lies in the principle of fairness- long considered being in the top three as a factor for human emotive response… Just how do we install fairness as an operating platform in a business organisation?
The answer as in the problem, is two fold
Provide a safe method for efficient two way dialogue with staff.
Train the top team to handle and manage this into business focused outcomes as opposed to simply being a social nicety.
Then establish and perpetuate communications in both directions to ensure the fairness principle is maintained.
Team Action Management is the proven programme that establishes both;
Providing a safe framework for bringing the voice of the staff together with the KPI focusses of the business to deliver a profit or performance based uplift.
Four Master Class workshops for the identified senior appointed Change Committee are brought together with an organisation wide anonymous data collect of the views and opinions (the Voice) of all staff.
Train – Engage – Deliver
Because this is a licensed rules based framework it provides a safe way to establish this connection and finally join up the power of your workforce with the aims and intentions of the Boardroom. The really great news is that this can be achieved in just one quarter, and the financial results are guaranteed.
For more information contact us at www.tamplc.com and ask us how this can work for your organisation too.