What is employee voice?
Employee voice is defined as giving employees space to express themselves, to highlight any concern they may have and to share their ideas. Through this open dialogue, they can influence the business processes, culture and even strategic decisions.
A good employee voice is when an organisation listens to its employees and employees feel they are heard without judgement. In recent years, many organisations have implemented systems to ensure that their employees feel empowered. Along with employee voice, some talk about care for people and user experience. Organisations who genuinely promote employee voice by making their people the solution rather than the problem are more innovative, faster at addressing market conditions and overall, more competitive. Employee voice can fuel business growth.
How does employee voice fit within organisation performance?
Employee voice is not to be taken lightly. It can be a large factor in the organisation’s success. Employees are often closer to the business than senior leadership teams are. They have more visibility of what happens on the ground. They experience the hurdles of heavy processes and are closer to customers’ needs and wants. Organisations that encourage open dialogue with their staff are more aware of what happens on the ground and are able to address issues swiftly and efficiently. Leaders are provided with insights that are invaluable for the good functioning of the business. They are able to address small hurdles before they snowball into larger challenges that would be difficult to overcome.
Employee voice is also a key factor in building positive social partnerships between leaders and workers. When well balanced, it strengthens the relationship between them and smooths the hierarchical structure, creating a culture of trust and collaboration.
Employee engagement and productivity are linked and naturally promote each other. Businesses that engage and empower their employees have better productivity and therefore tend to be more competitive. Organisations with strong employee voice are more resilient as the workforce is engaged and connected to the company’s purpose. As such, these organisations can handle the pressure better and act promptly and efficiently in their environment.
There is a direct correlation between business performance and employee voice. The domino effect brings revenue growth through employee engagement.
Why promote employee voice? Benefits to your business and to employees
We have seen above why employee voice is important and how it benefits the business overall. Below we highlight some specific benefits of employee voice for both the company and for employees.
Contributes to people development
Being heard increases self-confidence. Employees will feel free to share their skills with others or to request training if they trust that action will follow. Leaders should regularly reach out to their teams and openly ask what training or support would help them deliver in their role more efficiently. This will have a direct effect, both on the business where efficiencies will be gained and for employees who will see their skill set enhanced.
Increases motivation
Employees who are happy at work and have positive experiences are often more motivated. In a healthy business with good employee voice, staff can raise their potential challenges and feel heard. They trust that their issues will be addressed. This means they will spend less thinking time on their challenges and will focus on delivering their work.
Reduces complaints and negativity
In a business, a negative atmosphere can have a large impact on productivity. For leaders, maintaining a positive atmosphere is constant work. A big part of that work is ensuring that they listen to their team members and address their concerns. A good leader always has an open ear. With that, employees are less likely to be negative and spread that negativity to other members of the team.
Enhanced wellbeing at work
Wellbeing at work is a big topic. Nowadays, a lot of companies have implemented wellbeing committees that promote work-life balance as well as help manage stress. Employee voice has an impact on workers’ wellbeing as they will feel happier knowing that the business they work for will act.
Builds a trustworthy environment
Having an organisation where employees evolve in a trustworthy environment means there is a culture of honesty and mutual respect. It opens the door to a healthy employee voice as workers feel safe to express themselves and secure in their job. Ultimately, turnover is reduced.
Boosts business performance
Investing in people is key for businesses that constantly seek talent. An organisation that combines positive relationships, respectful leadership and employee voice will attract talent and retain it. This has a direct impact on business performance as the workforce is highly motivated, sales increase, production accelerates and revenue grows within this company culture.
Greater employee engagement
Employee engagement is the relationship between the business and its employees. It is about ensuring that workers feel connected to the business, that they understand its purpose and adhere to it. It promotes the values of the company. Having strong engagement goes hand in hand with employee voice. One is difficult to achieve without the other. Check our article on employee satisfaction surveys and how they can help drive engagement.
Stronger talent retention
For a business, talent retention is critical. It ensures high performers stay in the business and avoids costly recruitment processes. In an organisation where employee voice is well applied, talent feedback may enhance the company culture, change work processes and improve the overall experience. As a result, talent often stays in the business for the long term. For insight on talent retention, check our article here.
How to encourage employee voice in your business
There are several mechanisms that businesses can use to generate and drive employee voice. Below are some examples of actions that can be taken by organisations who wish to improve their employee voice.
Employee engagement survey
The purpose of employee engagement surveys is to ask employees what they think about the organisation and how they feel about it. It is an open door for feedback. Employers should ensure that the results of employee surveys are communicated together with an action plan on how to address the feedback and any improvement needed. Learn more about satisfaction surveys with our dedicated article on this topic here.
Face-to-face team meetings
Although more and more workers are now based at home, having face-to-face meetings can bring a lot of value to the business and positively influence the employee voice. Meeting colleagues and leaders face to face builds a different environment, one that is less digitalised and more human. It will lead to more openness during the face-to-face meeting but also after it.
Communication strategies
To feel a sense of belonging, employees need to be informed. They should be kept in the loop on what is going on at all levels of the business and the actions of the leadership team. Town halls, weekly meetings or video updates are all means of communication that are available to leaders so that they can inform their teams. Emails and company intranet should also be used. The communication strategy should be planned for the long term and a communication plan should be followed to ensure consistency throughout. Check our ultimate guide to employee communication for more details.
Leadership style
Having the appropriate leadership significantly influences the employee voice. Employees tend to behave like their leaders. This means that openness and transparency from leaders should result in the same from workers. Even senior leaders in the business and executive teams should display openness and encourage open dialogue. Leading by example goes a long way.
Suggestion boxes or “ideas street”
Suggestion boxes give staff the opportunity to submit their ideas or complaints anonymously. It is in essence a feedback box. These can be physical, in the office, or virtual. The “ideas street” is a more modern version of suggestion boxes. There, anonymous comments are published for all employees to see. It opens transparency and allows other employees to progress the conversation.
Open forums
An open forum is an event created for the audience to share their thoughts, ideas and stories on controversial issues. Leaders should listen to these issues and address concerns in an open discussion. The idea is not only to open the discussion but also to move towards solutions and compromises.
“World Café” or “Happy Hour” events
Not all environments encourage open conversations. Some employees will feel more comfortable in a casual environment, one that is less formal. “World café” or happy hours where employees are invited to attend voluntarily can create an auspicious environment for conversations. The mingling should flatten the company’s hierarchy.
Overall company culture
Company culture plays a big part in employee voice and vice versa. Having a culture that promotes diversity and inclusion and that is open minded will lead to a strong culture of employee voice.
Employee voice is crucial for the success of the organisation. By opening the dialogue and taking in feedback, organisations are able to address business issues or employees’ challenges, resulting in better productivity and creating a spontaneous smoke alarm. We encourage businesses to implement a variety of ways in which they can promote employee voice, for happier employees and boosted business success.
