“We don’t do employee focus groups because we’re afraid we won’t be able to implement what they ask for.”
I hear this a lot.
If this represents your stance on employee listening — know, I’m not throwing shade. The anxiety is reasonable. It’s just also misplaced.
I run dozens of Pulse Checks each year. And yes — sometimes there’s a unicorn ask — a wish for a new benefit or program or platform.
But also, always (like 100% of the time in my experience) there are impacts we can make with simple behavioral tweaks.
The important thing is to understand the impact they need — the change in experience. And then we can be creative in choosing steps to move us there.
- If your teams are asking for more leadership development, but you don’t have $ or bandwidth for a formal program? Then launch some job shadowing or peer coaching circles or cross-team meetings. Or just help them carve out an hour a week to do some grassroots learning.
- If your teams are struggling with overwork and more staff isn’t in the cards? Do some basic prioritizing, streamlining, or better collaborating to infuse some ease into the system.
- If your teams are wishing for more recognition but building out a whole programs feels out of reach? Set up a simple thank you wall, invite leaders to write notes or do shout outs (or personal phone calls for the shy ones), or just remember to recognize all teams — even the back office ones — when the glory hits.
There are always things within your locus of control.
Not inviting the employee voice is the biggest risk of all.