“I’ve heard sounds 20 miles away. If you do the math, that is the size of 1,276 square miles. Do you know what it’s like to listen to 1,276 square miles when the sun is rising?” – Gordon Hempton, acoustic ecologist
Close your eyes. Close your mouth. Now try closing your ears. Our ears are always working, always awake. We are exquisitely designed to listen. Yet vast swathes of employees exist in organizational cultures that don’t hear them.
Any definition of a corporate culture of engagement will include a two-way relationship between employer and employee. Typical engagement surveys ask about open, honest communication and whether an employee’s opinions are heard. The data tell us we have failed. It tells us that we do not cultivate human workplaces. It tells us that one group talks and the other is silenced.
“There is no correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.” – Susan Cain, author of Quiet
Stop talking and start listening. Build authentic engagement. Here’s my guide to help you on your way to listening actively and attentively to employees.