Are companies listening to their people?

One of the primary tasks of the internal communication function of a company is to inform co-workers about the organisation. It tells the people about its significant decisions, achievements and values on a business-as-usual basis. Almost all large businesses have mechanisms to ensure co-workers are well-informed about the company's vision, mission and strategies.

This, no doubt, is a sustainable practice of uniting the people together on its march to success. However, one question that keeps looming is whether the companies listening to their people. Do we know how engaged they are with their work? Do we want to fathom how satisfied or happy they feel working for us? How often do we seek their opinions and assess those?

Yes, some HR managers, who do not consider themselves administrators, try to understand the challenges of their co-workers. During townhalls, Q&A (question and answer) sessions often provide a sense of their thoughts about the company. Line managers, though they may be biased, can also provide the pulse of people's psyche, but that is only a tiny bit. The rest of the data is unknown.

We may think of determining to what extent our people feel engaged, heard, or valued. If they can feel so, as our common sense guides us, they are likely to be more involved and be more productive in their work with greater ownership.

In such an environment, our colleagues would certainly think twice before leaving us for a better paycheck. We already know that financial compensation is not everything. Feeling emotionally loyal can go a long way than what money can provide.

Listening to people can cultivate a culture of open communication in which we can fearlessly share our ideas, leading to an innovative and collaborative working atmosphere, paving the way for collective wisdom.

Makes sense? Yes, that ambience would give birth to an ecosystem where the management could make an informed decision with their eyes wide open. Our front-liners may have more experienced solutions than those at the top of the pyramid.

Yes, it does make sense.

A satisfied team should be more motivated and would become eager for the company's success. They become brand ambassadors when they see they are valued by the company. At this realisation, they can become constructive guides to steer our business. The echelon's life is bound to be easier, then.

Research has already proved that businesses with engaged and satisfied people can outperform those with less engaged co-workers.

This feedback model needs to be a BAU, a must. Such mechanisms help develop a reputation as a great workplace, making attracting and retaining talents easier.

Why do we need to retain talents? Because talents are talents, essential companions for us to take us to a higher level.

Knowing our co-workers means to have a holistic view of our organisation. The ground-level view is more important than the higher-level to understand us.

Now, how to go about it? Well, this is an app era, an AI age. Almost all of us have an app for internal communication. Let us use that to design a set of questions, at least ten, for our people to respond anonymously. It is simple.

The responses would be brilliant, and our businesses will benefit.

The author is a communications professional.